Horse Magic of Krondahar

The Magic of House Singhabad

The Virayana Tome of Horsecraft

The Virayana Tome of Horsecraft is the most important Krondaharan classic of horse lore, history, horsemanship, and horse magic. This book was first written in AC 856 by Lord Taranis Virayana, a member of the ruling family of the Principality of Krondahar in Glantri. He was a brilliant military wizard and an avid lover of horses, and Prince Toktai Virayana trusted him with command of the Krondahar cavalry and the royal stables at Singhabad. Lord Taranis gathered together the expert knowledge and extensive lore about horses, known to the Ethengar people—everything from practical skills of rearing horses to the obscure arcana of horse-related magic—and compiled them in this comprehensive book.

A person who reads and studies the book can gain considerable skills relating to horses. After one year of study, the person can gain one of these proficiencies: animal lore (horse), animal handling (horse), riding/land-based (horse). Subsequent proficiencies can be learned after two more years of study of the book.

The tome also contains several useful spells that can be used by magic-users in dealing with equine creatures. Among the common horse-related spells included are mount (1st), phantom steed (3rd), and Jherek's (Bloodstone's) spectral steed (6th).

Some versions of the book also add a list of common low-level spells that are useful for a rider and his steed in combat. The list would typically include the following: (1st) feather fall, jump, protection from evil/protection from good, protection from hunger and thirst, shield; (2nd) cat's grace, protection from cantrips, protection from paralysis, protection from poison, strength; (3rd) blink, delay death, fly, haste, invisible mail, protection from evil, 10' radius/protection from good, 10' radius, protection from normal missiles, spirit armor, and wraithform.

The rare Krondaharan spells of horse magic are introduced below.

Speak with Horses

Level: 1

School: Alteration

Range: 30 feet

Duration: 2 rounds/level

Area of Effect: All equine creatures within 30 feet

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 5

Saving Throw: None

This is a simple spell that allows its target to communicate with horses, and other equine creatures, such as unicorns, hippocampi, and pegasi. This spell also works with horse-kin (centaurs, chevalls, and pegataurs) if their human parts cannot speak the same language.

The material component of this spell is a stick of hay or straw and a bit of salt.

Horsebinding

Level: 1

School: Enchantment/Charm

Range: Touch

Duration: Special

Area of Effect: 1 equine creature

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 5 rounds

Saving Throw: Negates

Horsebinding is an exotic enchantment that has its origins from the spirit magic of the hakomons and shamans of the Ethengar. This strange spell binds the spirit of a rider and his steed, much like a familiar is bound to a wizard or a sacred warhorse is bound to a paladin. For the duration of the horsebinding, a rider and his horse will share a special magical bond of empathy. The horse will be loyal and obedient to the will of the rider.

Most riders that cast this spell regularly on their favorite steed have discovered a further benefit. Every time the spell is cast on the same normal horse, there is a 2% chance per level of the caster, plus a 5% cumulative chance for every subsequent casting, that horsebinding automatically becomes permanent. This benefit does not apply to magical or monstrous equine creatures.

Taranis' Spellsharing

Level: 2

School: Enchantment, Alteration

Range: 0

Duration: 1 turn/level

Area of Effect: 1 rider and steed

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 1 round

Saving Throw: None

This enchantment was authored by Lord Taranis Virayana, a military wizard and commander of the Krondaharan cavalry. He had fought in many magical battles and knew the importance of casting magic upon his own steed, as well as himself, but found the practice of memorizing and casting spells twice too tiresome and costly. Lord Taranis thus came up with this spell to eliminate the task of doubling spells for a rider and his mount.

Taranis' Spellsharing must be first cast when the wizard is upon his mount. For the duration of this enchantment, the wizard can choose that the spells he casts upon himself will be doubled and also affect his steed. The spellsharing only affects wizards spells cast by the rider himself, not priestly spells or magic cast by other spellcasters. At its end of its duration, any shared spell still in effect will remain only on its primary target, until its natural duration.

The original spell was a well-kept secret by the Khans of Singhabad and a select few military wizards of the Krondaharan cavalry, and the spell was only cast on very special missions. However, like all Glantrian secrets, some versions of the spell have leaked through the rest of the Glantrian Army and even beyond the borders of the Principalities. These versions have certain features altered and tweaked, such as allowing for the spell to affect non-equine mounts, expanding the spell to affect clerical magic. But many of these copies are said to be flawed, such as halving the spell effects or duration for doubling the targets, affecting only protective spells, or compromising magical resistance (save vs. spells using the lower saving throw between rider and steed). The Krondaharan military wizards maintain the original spell is superior to all others and always includes the name of its author.

Horsekeeping

Level: 3

School: Alteration, Abjuration

Range: Touch

Duration: 1 turn/level

Area of Effect: 1 equine creature

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 1 round

Saving Throw: None

According to Krondaharan legend, when the great ancestor of the Virayana family, Jherek Virayana I or Jherek the Dreamwalker, had traveled to the World Mountain in Ethengar, he sorrowfully had to abandon his horse at the foot of the mountain in the hostile Land of Black Sand. So great was his grief of losing his beloved steed, that in the Spirit World, the Horse Spirit Lord met him and taught him the magic that would ensure a master would never have to leave his horse again. While this poignant tale may or may not provide the accurate origins of the spell of horsekeeping, it does reflect the Krondaharan spirit and their deep love for their horses. Needless to say, this spell is one of the most popularly used by horse owners and riders in Krondahar.

Horsekeeping is cast on a steed to shift it bodily into a pocket dimension, where it lies is stasis until it is called forth again. This dimension is accessed with a piece of fine silk, such as a sash or veil, although silken hats and purses have been known to work. (Krondaharan silk is said to be best for this enchantment.) In the tragic event that the fabric is damaged in any way, the magically kept horse is irrevocably lost.

Aside from the piece of silken fabric, a handful of sugar is needed to cast the spell.

Pegasusform

Level: 3

School: Alteration, Enchantment

Range: 5 yards

Duration: 2 turns/level

Area of Effect: 1 horse

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 1 round

Saving Throw: Negates

This is a specialized polymorph spell that gives a horse wings like a pegasus. The spell also grants the horse natural use of the wings, thus the ability to fly like a pegasus for the duration of the spell. The horse will be able to sense the ending of the spell (1d6+4 rounds before the exact end) and will instinctively try to land or stay on the ground. This is not foolproof and a demanding rider may insist that the horse take flight; rider and steed have been known to plummet from great heights when the spell wore off.

The material component of this spell is a feather from a true pegasus.

Hippocampusform

Level: 3

School: Alteration, Enchantment

Range: 5 yards

Duration: 2 turns/level

Area of Effect: 1 horse

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 1 round

Saving Throw: Negates

This spell is a version of the polymorph spell for horses, similar to pegasusform. It grants the horse the fish-like tail to swim like a hippocampus and a natural ability to breath underwater. Nearing the end of the spell (1d6+4 rounds), the polymorphed horse will try to surface and if possible, swim towards land for fear of drowning.

The material component of this spell is a scale from a hippocampus tail, and the horse must be in contact with a body of water at its casting.

Centaurform

Level: 4

School: Alteration, Enchantment

Range: Touch

Duration: 2 turns/level

Area of Effect: The caster and 1 horse

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 1 round

Saving Throw: Negates

This is another specialized polymorph spell, akin to pegasusform and hippocampusform, but this spell not only affects the horse but also its rider. First, the rider and the horse must have a mystical link, such as a paladin and his warhorse or a rider and horse enchanted with a horsebinding spell (Taranis' spellsharing does not count). When the centaurform is cast, the bodies of the two beings merge, under the mental control of the rider, but with the full instinctual faculties of the animal part. Like the polymorph self spell, the caster can end this at any time.

The material component of this spell is a strand of mane hair and a piece of hide from a true centaur.

The Virayana Tome of Horsecraft also contains information on the proper crafting and usage of equine accessories, such as barding, saddles, stirrups, and horseshoes. The book also describes the creation of certain magical items, such as horseshoes of a zephyr, horseshoes of speed, and bridles of taming. Among the unique and distinctly Krondaharan magical items discussed are these three treasures.

Silken Kerchief of Horsekeeping

A silken kerchief of horsekeeping is made of the finest Krondaharan silk decorated with an exquisitely detailed image of a proud Krondaharan steed. Its magic may like the typical kerchief enchanted with the horsekeeping spell, but its effects are actually more powerful. With this item, an equine that is shifted into the dimension of keeping is not merely kept in stasis, but it is nourished and rested fully, cured of any injury, poisons, or diseases, and relieved of any curses or harmful magic effect. The steed however must be kept in the dimension for a definite period of time (1 turn per HD of the horse, plus 1 turn for every poison, disease, curse, spell or other special effect) only after which it can be recalled. This is a minor inconvenience to Krondaharan horse masters, for this treasure has been known to rescue and save the life of many a precious steed in precarious and life-threatening situations.

Despite its superiority over the popular horsekeeping spell, a silken kerchief of horsekeeping is very hard to come by, and even more difficult to actually fashion. This is because it is not crafted merely with wizardry, but with the magic known only to the shamans of the Ethengar. It is believed the dimension that the steed enters is not just any pocket dimension but actually the home of the Horse Spirit Lord within the Spirit World. Despite the hints of religious mysticism associated with this treasure, a silken kerchief of horsekeeping is a much-coveted prize to the Krondaharans of Glantri.

Stirrups of Ultimate Balance

As any Krondaharan horseman knows, the secret for a rider to maintain his balance on horseback is not on the saddle or bridle, but in the stirrups. As history would attest, it was their Ethengarian ancestors who first introduced the stirrups to the Known World, which gave the rider greater control of the horse, as well as freed the hands from merely gripping the mane of the horse for other actions. The Krondaharans of course have infused this ingenious invention with magic for more wondrous effect.

The stirrups of ultimate balance have three magical effects when placed on an equine creature and used by a rider.

Riding. An unskilled rider can control the steed as if he had the riding proficiency. A +2 bonus is granted if the rider already has the proficiency.

Steadfastness. A rider can never accidentally fall off or be knocked of his steed. When such a force hits the rider, such as with a lancing joust, the force is merely deflected, with a possibility of rebounding.

Adroitness. While riding, a rider can perform actions normally difficult to do on horseback without penalty. These would include shooting missile weapons (horse archery) and casting spells (horseback casting).

The magic of these stirrups of ultimate balance are so powerful and devastating that the Virayanas have kept the techniques for crafting such precious items a family secret. Only six pairs are known to exist, four within the Virayana family, one with Prince Urmahid Krinagar of Bramyra, one with Oktai Khan of the Taijit tribe of the Ethengar (Prince Jherek's secret ally); there are rumors that one unpaired stirrup is in the possession of the Warden of the Marches, Prinz Jaggar von Drachenfels of Aalban, a fervent enemy of the Ethengarians. These treasures are virtually unknown outside of Krondahar, and the few ingenious Krondaharan wizards who have tried to duplicate these stirrups have only managed to come up with lesser versions, usually with just one and infrequently two of the three powers of the true stirrups of ultimate balance.

The Carousel of Krondahar

The Carousel of Krondahar is a miniature carousel, about a foot in diameter and a foot in height, with ten finely-detailed figurines of magical horses: a unicorn, a pegasus, a hippocampus, a nightmare, a giant seahorse, a ki-rin, a coltpixy, a centaur, a cheval, and a pegataur.

It was crafted for Lord Taranis Virayana by his first and favorite wife, Lady Temulin Krinagar, a skilled wizardess and a famous lover of horses. However, when Prince Toktai Virayana of Krondahar saw the carousel and greatly admired its workmanship and wondrous enchantments, Lord Taranis was obliged to offer it to his liege as a gift. It has been an heirloom of the Princes of Krondahar even since—until its theft during the reign of Prince Jherek Virayana III.

The magic of the Carousel can be used by one person once in a season (three months) and only for a particular quest or mission. With the Carousel, a person can conjure a magical steed, one that fulfills the desires of the user or one that is most suited for the quest (such as a coltpixy to visit the Faerie Realm or a nightmare for a quest in the Pits). The steed will serve its rider loyally and to the best of its abilities, despite any alignment differences, until its death or the end of the mission.

Rumor has it that just before the Carousel was claimed by Prince Toktai as his own, Lady Temulin cursed it, such that should a scion of the Virayana family summon a steed of a different alignment, the steed will betray him at the worst possible moment. Alternately, it is also rumored that Prince Toktai bestowed his own curse on the Carousel, preventing its magic to work for any woman from the Krinagar family.

Author: Kit Navarro