Alchemical Sigilcraft

Introduction
The prevalent arcane teaching in the great city of Fiorre, Alchemical Sigilcraft is an aberrant discipline which has fallen under fire in its classification by some scholars, who argue the practice is more closely associated to Sorcery than traditional Alchemy. Theurgists understand that Sorcery, at base, involves two things operating in tandem: power and an idea. When the study of magic emerged as a discipline, it was postulated that the ideas utilized by Sorcerers to weave spells were more primordial than language or the spoken word – that there exists a natural language with the power to bring ideas to form. The art born when this language is divined is termed Alchemical Sigilcraft by scholars and its practitioners. An etching in this language – elaborate, pictographic, and universal, these etchings are referred to as Sigils – made upon any fixture which intersects a Leyline or is otherwise in contact with a source of ambient magical energy is effectively able to perform the same supernatural operations that a Sorcerer is. As a Sorcerer can shape Juice into a projectile under any condition they choose, so can a Sigil do so under any condition woven into its symbolism. In Fiorre, these Sigils are used for even the most mundane purposes; they cool homes and heat bathwater, strengthen walls and ward off pests.

Obviously, the use of Sigilcraft carries a number of its own limitations. Though it is capable of emulating Sorcery (which in itself can emulate other disciplines of magic), it is highly diminished in its versatility compared to true Sorcery; rather than merely think and act, one must carefully craft a Sigil to meet their specifications. This pictographic language is highly complex, and can’t easily be memorized (very few Sigilcrafters work without a literature reference on hand); the time required to craft a Sigil is further limited by that Sigil’s own complexity, as disaster can result if the dimensions of each individual element of the image (rather than just the Sigil as a whole) are not exactly correct. The magnitude of such a disaster, of course, depends on the intended purpose of the Sigil, and how much room for error exists on the axes of the spell’s effect, its scope, and its strength.