lifes_sake: (tranquil)
[personal profile] lifes_sake
Cam's in the library, waiting for Renée. "Waiting" here means "browsing until a quarter hour after ostensible meeting time". Renée is supposed to meet him here - on the way home for both of them, him from high school and her from elementary where she teaches kindergarten - but she is rarely punctual. Her co-workers or stray parents or the principal keep her after and Cam does notebooking, does homework, looks at the contents of shelves. It's a fine arrangement.

Today the contents of shelves don't seem so pleased with the setup, and one attacks him when he stumbles into a stack. Specifically, it tumbles onto his head. That's gonna hurt for a while. He picks it up to tuck it away again.

It says, So You Want To Be A Wizard.

Heh. Mis-shelved. This is a nonfiction row. Or maybe it's about stage magic or something? Cam's not going to find any use in that either, he can just about eat dinner without impaling himself on a fork and certainly shouldn't be handling delicate props, but it could be diverting while he waits for Renée and he wasn't finding anything else. He flips it open.

It's more interesting still than that; it's presenting itself like an actual guide to wizardry. This'll kill a whole afternoon with pleasant escapism. Cam checks it out, then turns around and spots Renée coming down the sidewalk. He bags the book and goes out to meet her.

At home, he takes it out of his backpack. The plastic film on it - it did have some, right? Just like every other library book? - is gone. Maybe it didn't have any. He didn't write it down; he's not sure. It doesn't look like a library book now. But it still says So You Want To Be A Wizard and he still wants to pretend to be a wizard for a bit, kill some time, put off U.S. History homework. He flips it open. He reads.

Date: 2013-03-24 01:12 am (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
There are several spells for enchanting books; the first one listed is for his exact purpose, combining multiple volumes into a single book with a manageable physical size that nevertheless contains all the preexisting information. There is a note that it's a variant on one of the spells used to enchant wizards' manuals themselves.

The required technical vocabulary is provided. There are no obscure special materials, like there are for some of the more difficult spells in later chapters. All Cam needs is a pile of books, enough paper to wrap them in, a writing utensil, and his voice.

Date: 2013-03-24 01:15 am (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
This particular spell advises beginners not to try combining pre-enchanted books.

(The manual, if asked, will tell him it can look like a spiral notebook if it wants to. There is a reason not just anybody picks these up.)
Edited Date: 2013-03-24 01:40 am (UTC)

Date: 2013-03-24 02:48 am (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
It's a simple enough procedure: assemble, using the provided vocabulary and structure, a spell description that names each of the books and asserts that they will be collected into a single volume with the desired properties. Write the spell on the paper. Wrap the books in the paper. Speak the spell out loud.

Date: 2013-03-24 02:55 am (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
The result isn't flashy: abruptly, the Christmas paper contains a significantly reduced amount of book. Or rather, the same amount of book, compressed into significntly less space.

"Ooh," says the newly unified voice of Notebook. "I feel all sleek and stuff."

Date: 2013-03-24 03:06 am (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
The manual has plenty more to tell him. And since he can talk to it now, it obeys direct requests for more information by expanding the sections that interest him or advising him on which page to turn to for a particular subject. Naturally, these page numbers are not going to remain constant, but they stay put long enough to be useful.

Date: 2013-03-24 03:09 am (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
"I don't have a name, or an opinion about having one," says the manual. "I'll keep post-its attached to the right pages, and I won't get rid of pages with post-its on them."

Date: 2013-03-24 03:10 pm (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
It's reorganized itself slightly; the primer on the Speech is noticeably thicker, and includes a lot more specialized vocabulary for dealing with minds. Maybe it's been talking to Grace about Cam's needs, or maybe it just observed what he tends to focus on.

Date: 2013-03-24 03:24 pm (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
He is strongly advised not to try it.

Date: 2013-03-24 03:35 pm (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
The only information the manual will give him about self-modification is that it's an advanced practice that can be dangerous to novices.

Date: 2013-03-24 03:42 pm (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
Yes. There are no preset spells for acquiring superpowers, although there are spells that let him mimic them in various ways - walk on air by making it solid under his feet, repel injury by warding his person against physical harm, breathe underwater by creating a magical air filter. Most of them are not meant for long-term use, even the ones that are focused on him instead of his environment; the personal wards are the most durable out of all of them.

Date: 2013-03-24 03:50 pm (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
Talking objects into existing is also not something wizardry is equipped to handle. It's possible to talk a computer into being a much better computer, but he'll have to understand computers pretty well before it will have much chance of working out to his satisfaction.

Date: 2013-03-24 03:55 pm (UTC)
pythbox: A book. (Default)
From: [personal profile] pythbox
He is theoretically capable of having a conversation with just about any object or creature he chooses, if he addresses it in the Speech.

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lifes_sake: (Default)
Campbell Mark Swan ҂ "Cam"

August 2013

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