Category | Engines |
Type | ship engine |
Forge | varies |
Smith | none |
Enchanter | none |
Cost | 550,000 GP |
A Sphere of Arcane is a fragment of arcane energy cut from a Cube of Arcane.
Spheres of arcane are unpredictable, sometimes erasing the spells memorized by a those practiced in dealing with arcane energy, or worse, de-magicking items brought to close to it, feeding something that is hungry to repair itself. One theory is that every Sphere of Arcane has the potential to become a Cube of Arcane. The problem is finding enough arcane energy to feed it, something that will remain in the hands of the Creationists.
- Netch'a, 11th Order Instructor at Belras Foroderch - "Scion of the Cube"
In 2612 LE, a special unit of demons fired a sphere of arcane at an inter-system rift. This closed the rift, leaving in its wake a smoking canyon that came to be called Toth Coeus.
One of the first devices to use a sphere of arcane as a power source is the Earthspear.
In the 1800s, the Giff League started using Spheres of Arcane to power their Giff Platforms. Another ship that uses a sphere of arcane is the Pillar of Horns. That ship's Sphere was taken from a salvaged giff platform. This practice of harvesting magical power from the Cube is of major concern to some (c.f. Cube Zealots). They believe that taking from the Cube weakens the magic available to this world and could possibly lead to a Cube Collapse.
In 1833, documents found in Geledh Arcanum, along with first-hand accounts of Hulkurân Zagar, prove the Šukhan used a Sphere of Arcane to turn lava to water; on a much smaller scale than the ocean water to lava conversion done at Felân-Akthûl.
Spheres of arcane come in many sizes. The larger ones, like the one powering the Pillar of Horns measures 6' long by 2'6" in diameter. Since a sphere of arcane is composed mostly of arcane energy, it is light. The only thing giving it weight is the hardened membrane that encases it. This membrane is just like what is around the Cube of Arcane, a substance that is nearly indestructible, and impenetrable without specially designed magic tools. The Pillar's engine weighs about 220lbs.
Tetchgud's job title, Chief Arcane Engineer, is a new one. He's had to learn the workings of something that very few across the world have experience with. He knows a few things about his Sphere of Arcane, like that it's a parcel of energy cut out of something thousands of times bigger, that being a cube fifty miles on a size, a sort of battery for all of the world's magic. This battery powers the world's Web of Magic, a field of arcane energy that encompasses the world and all within it. The Web of Magic also serves as field to keep things out, like those that try to hop across worlds and systems by way of teleportation magic or rifts. He dissertation was on Throndar, a world with no Cube of Arcane, and no Web of Magic — a magic-dead world. It was a depressing thing to study, yet it has been that way for so long that Throndar's denizens know no different.
- from the Godspawn Saga
One device that has been used to carve a Sphere from the Cube of Arcane is the Matter Penetrator.