Magic & Mechanics
Learning a spell by tracing a glyph
- Find a fragment: in a ruin, on a shard, as a gift or a quest reward.
- Trace it with both thumbs, slowly if needed; no breath limit. A trace counts when it is recognised and clears the learning bar. When enough traces count, the spell is learned. (This is what the learning code already does.)
- Glyphs come in several kinds:
- Whole: one fragment holds the whole spell, since the other hand's stroke follows from it. Most mirrored and parallel spells.
- Split: each half of an asymmetric glyph sits on a different fragment, often far apart, and you need both. Facet Seal works this way: the circle is given in Lanternfall, the square is found in the Shardfield.
- Taught: no fragment exists; a teacher traces it with you, hand over hand, so the teacher decides who learns. Faction secrets and Facet gifts.
- Reflected: visible only in one reflection, such as a pool at dawn or a shard during a glass storm. You trace it while it shows.
- Warp-born: surfaces at a fresh warp and fades within days. The in-world form of time-limited content drops.
- (Idea) The first fragment is Coil, at the Drowned Steps at the end of the Prologue, with Aske teaching the method.
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