Publishing (sage study)
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Publishing is a sage study in the field of Humanities, representing the mastery of written communication and the means by which knowledge, art and magical inscriptions are preserved and disseminated. In the world of 1650, publishing is an arduous and highly specialised craft, limited by the necessity of hand-copying texts or, where available, the painstaking process of movable type printing. Beyond the mundane dissemination of literature, this study extends into the realm of magical transcription, allowing those who master it to transcribe spells, wards and enchanted writings with precision.
At its foundation, publishing provides an unparalleled literacy, ensuring that the written word is not only accurate but conveys meaning beyond the surface of ink and parchment. A skilled publisher's hand ensures that a document's intent is as clear as its content, removing ambiguity and preserving knowledge across generations. This ability proves invaluable not only in mundane scholarship but in the preservation of arcane knowledge, allowing magical texts to be copied without loss of potency.
As knowledge deepens, the study expands into the comprehension of magical script, including the ability to decipher ancient or encoded magical writings, glyphs and sigils. The practiced scholar can recognise and transcribe magical symbols with exacting care, ensuring that spells are recorded without flaw. This expertise makes the publisher indispensable in the creation of magical scrolls, tomes and spellbooks, providing spellcasters with a means of storing and sharing magic beyond spoken incantation.
At its highest levels, publishing grants the ability to imbue written words with magic itself, weaving power into symbols and inscriptions that can store, trigger or even reshape reality. This level of mastery allows for the creation of potent magical documents, including scrolls of great power, arcane contracts and books capable of transmitting magic to those who merely read them. In the hands of a true master, publishing is not merely a tool for preserving knowledge — it is a method of extending influence, shaping thought and wielding magic through the written word.
Sage Abilities
The sage abilities below are those acquired by a character through the study, according to status.
Amateur Status
- Book Stitching: allows possession of rudimentary knowledge in the sewing and binding of books by hand, using thread, cord and glue to secure pages into a durable volume. The character can assemble simple folios, repair loose bindings and stitch together parchment or vellum sheets into a readable form. Though their work is crude and lacks refinement, it ensures that documents can be preserved and transported without falling apart.
- Printer's Devil: allows possession of rudimentary knowledge of printing and manuscript preparation, including basic typesetting, common ink preparation and page layout. Though their work is slow and prone to minor errors, they understand how to operate a printing press (if available) or assist in hand-copying documents efficiently. They can recognise common letterforms, scripts and symbols, making them useful in basic printing.
- Read & Write: provides a functional literacy sufficient for managing everyday tasks, engaging in personal correspondence and maintaining basic records. Allows the comprehension of books, pamphlets and printed materials, with ability to comprehend increasing as knowledge points accumulate.
Authority Status
- Cartography: enables the character to draw accurate maps, sufficient for others to use in navigation or making their way to a precise location. The character possesses knowledge of scale, symbols and topographical representation, ensuring that distances, landmarks and natural barriers are recorded with precision. Maps created by the character are reliable for military, exploratory or commercial purposes, improving travel efficiency and reducing the risk of getting lost.
- Editorialise: allows the character to refine, correct and enhance written works for clarity, impact and coherence. The character can craft powerful editorials, challenging authority, exposing corruption and swaying public opinion through well-argued, incisive critiques designed to confront and destabilise those in power.
- Printer: allows mastery of the printing press, enabling the character to efficiently set type, mix ink and produce clear, legible copies of text and woodcut images. The character understands how to maintain and repair printing equipment, ensuring consistent quality in published materials. Skilled in layout and spacing, they can format books, pamphlets and broadsheets with professional precision.
Expert Status
- Duplicate Spellbook: allows the painstaking, flawless duplication of any existing spellbook, ensuring that every spell, notation and sigil is transcribed without error. The process is exact, preserving all magical properties and inscriptions without risk of loss or corruption. The only limitation lies in the cost of ink and the time required to complete the work, making it an arduous but invaluable skill for those who seek to safeguard or replicate arcane knowledge.
- Pamphleteering: the craft of inciting conflict through the printed word, ensuring that a message does not simply inform but provokes action. A skilled pamphleteer knows how to frame arguments, plant ideas and manipulate language to stir dissent, rally factions or shatter reputations. Timing, placement and rhetorical structure ensure that their work spreads beyond its initial audience, sustaining agitation long after the ink has dried. Whether inciting rebellion, undermining authority or shaping public discourse, their words are designed to be unstoppable once released.
- Scrollmaking: the inscribing of magical energy into written scrolls, allowing a spell to be stored, preserved and later released by any who possess the knowledge to activate it. The process demands mastery of both language and arcane inscription, ensuring that the spell remains intact and undiminished over time. A skilled scrollmaker understands not only the structure of magical script but also the materials required — fine vellum, specially prepared inks and the precise gestures that bind the magic to the page. The skill includes the ability to collaborate with clerics, druids or bards to create scrolls attributable to those classes.
Sage Status
- Archivist: grants the character a permanent position within one of the great realms of the world, entrusted with the preservation, organisation and management of its vast stored knowledge. This role is one of immense prestige, recognised as essential to the continuity of culture, governance and magical scholarship. The character is expected to retire from adventuring, dedicating their life to the stewardship of texts, scrolls and records of profound historical or arcane significance. In return, the archivist is granted generous remuneration, a position of influence and the time and resources to fabricate tomes, transcribe spellbooks and pursue great works of publishing. Their wisdom is sought by rulers, scholars and mages alike, ensuring that even in retirement, their role shapes the course of knowledge and power in the world.
- Immutable Record: provides a means of engraving words so permanently into reality that they can never be lost, altered or destroyed. Any book, scroll or tablet inscribed using this technique resists fire, decay or even magical erasure. Entire libraries could be protected from ruin or hidden caches of knowledge could persist long after civilisations fall. This would allow the publisher to become a true architect of history, deciding what knowledge survives and what is erased from time.
- Scriptum Arcanum: allows the creation of librams, manuals and tomes, as described among works of miscellaneous magic. These massive books are among the most prestigious of magical items, granting lasting power through written knowledge, enabling the elevation of self, control over golems and other creatures and access to conjurations impossible through ordinary spellbooks. These works serve as reservoirs of arcane authority, bestowing knowledge, transformation or permanent enhancement upon those who read them.
