The Chromatic Chord

Record Magic

The Harmonic school of the Eternal Record, resting on the idea that nothing stable can be repaired, judged, or inherited without memory. See The Schools of Magic.

Philosophy

Record Magic, which draws its strength from the Eternal Record, rests on the idea that nothing can be mended, avenged, or inherited without memory. Its mages concern themselves with what endures: names, forms, histories, old craft, and traces of what something was before damage or forgetting altered it.

They tend to be archivists, restorers, teachers, and lore-keepers, and the ones a lord sends for when a killer must be named. Even their battle magic often works by restoring an earlier state, holding something crucial unchanged, or dragging a hidden memory into the light.

Example Places of Study

  • The Mnemonic Conservatories: The most respected schools of recovered memory and the living memory arts.
  • The Archive-Monasteries: Cloistered houses devoted to sacred preservation.
  • The House of Copper Leaves: Specialists in memory inscription and recoverable storage.
  • The Halls of Memory: Houses of sworn rememberers who hold what was said at oath-takings and blood-price settlements; their word has hanged men and started feuds.
  • The Pale Librarium: A recovery school for damaged texts, relics, and inherited spell forms.

Common Spells

Recall Thread · Archive Mark · Page Seal · Pattern Glimpse · Mnemonic Knot · Remembering Ink · Restore Script · Echo Reading · Heritage Sense · Memory Vault · Lesson Imprint · Name Retrieval · Record Stitch · Preserve Form · Truth Residue · Pattern Restore · Ancestral Murmur · Truthline · Forget Gate · Burden Shelf · Reconstruction Circle · Legacy Binding · Continuity Ward · Last Sight

Typical Cost/Power Source (every spell): Usually fed by existing memory traces, records, remembered forms, and the caster's concentration; damaged or conflicting records force heavier use of personal reserves.

Recall Thread

Purpose/How It Works
Recall Thread strengthens a fading short-term memory by holding it in a clearer sequence before it slips.
Notable Exceptions
It cannot recover what was never noticed.
Example Use
The one survivor of a roadside ambush recalls the raider-chief's ring before shock wipes the detail away.
Casting Methods
Brow-touch cast, a few heartbeats. Mnemonic cord focus, a few breaths.
Range/Duration
Touch. A short while to most of a day.

Archive Mark

Purpose/How It Works
Archive Mark tags an object so it stands out to the caster's later memory or linked search magic.
Notable Exceptions
Weak if too many items are marked at once.
Example Use
A delver marks the one chest worth dragging out before the tomb roof comes down.
Casting Methods
Touch mark, a heartbeat or two. Ink sigil, a few breaths.
Range/Duration
Touch. Days to months.

Page Seal

Purpose/How It Works
Page Seal preserves text against moisture, fading, insects, and casual time damage.
Notable Exceptions
It cannot save pages already ash or pulp.
Example Use
Couriers keep the truce-scroll between two warring clans dry through the wet mountain passes.
Casting Methods
Hand sweep over pages, a few heartbeats. Reading-desk rite, a minute's chant.
Range/Duration
One document or stack. Weeks to years.

Pattern Glimpse

Purpose/How It Works
Pattern Glimpse shows the recent prior state of an object, surface, or arrangement.
Notable Exceptions
Frequent changes blur the image into uncertainty.
Example Use
A thief-taker sees that the strongbox was opened after midnight and closed again.
Casting Methods
Touched reading, a few heartbeats. Lens focus, a short study.
Range/Duration
Touch. One brief reconstruction.

Mnemonic Knot

Purpose/How It Works
Mnemonic Knot ties a fact to a repeated sensory cue so recall becomes easier and more reliable.
Notable Exceptions
Too many knots tied in one mind tangle with each other.
Example Use
Delvers bind the way out of an old working to the smell of lamp oil and copper.
Casting Methods
Spoken anchor with touch, a few heartbeats. Cord or ribbon knotting, a short working.
Range/Duration
Self or touched learner. Days to years.

Remembering Ink

Purpose/How It Works
Remembering Ink fixes sworn words to the page as they are spoken, so later alteration becomes harder without leaving signs.
Notable Exceptions
It preserves what was said, not whether it was true.
Example Use
A captured raider's confession is inked so that no lord can scratch out the names he gave.
Casting Methods
Ink-and-speech cast, a few breaths. Oath-taking rite, a minute's recitation.
Range/Duration
One sworn telling. Lasting record.

Restore Script

Purpose/How It Works
Restore Script recovers damaged writing from fragments, faded impressions, or partial loss.
Notable Exceptions
Burned-away meaning cannot always be inferred from ash alone.
Example Use
Delvers bring back the half-worn warning cut above a sealed door before anyone puts a bar to it.
Casting Methods
Page-touch reconstruction, a few breaths. Lamp-and-lens rite, a slow working.
Range/Duration
Touch. Instant restoration if successful.

Echo Reading

Purpose/How It Works
Echo Reading pulls residual impressions from used tools, rooms, desks, and objects that have held repeated action.
Notable Exceptions
Busy sites produce overlapping noise.
Example Use
A scribe-mage finds that the knife was whetted an hour before the killing, not in the heat of a quarrel.
Casting Methods
Touched object reading, a few heartbeats. Ash or dust tracing, a short working.
Range/Duration
Touch. Brief read while concentration holds.

Heritage Sense

Purpose/How It Works
Heritage Sense identifies lineage marks, inherited craft habits, or family marks in objects and bodies.
Notable Exceptions
Adoption, forgery, and mixed traditions can confuse the read.
Example Use
A delver learns that the sword pulled from a barrow came from a royal forge-line, and is worth more than the barrow's gold.
Casting Methods
Touch and observe, a few heartbeats. Seal or bloodline focus, a short study.
Range/Duration
Touch or close line of sight. Brief reading.

Memory Vault

Purpose/How It Works
Memory Vault stores a memory outside the active mind for later retrieval, protecting it from fatigue or intrusion.
Notable Exceptions
Poor storage can distort emotional tone and sequence.
Example Use
A courier locks a king's message in a mental vault before riding through bandit-held passes.
Casting Methods
Self-sealing concentration, a few breaths. Reliquary or token vaulting, a minute's chant.
Range/Duration
Self or linked vessel. A night to many years.

Lesson Imprint

Purpose/How It Works
Lesson Imprint reinforces recently learned knowledge so it settles more securely and can be recalled under stress.
Notable Exceptions
It does not replace understanding; it only strengthens retention.
Example Use
Medics fix a new triage sequence into apprentice memory before battle.
Casting Methods
Teacher-to-student touch, a few heartbeats. Classroom recitation rite, a minute's recitation.
Range/Duration
Touch or small class. Days to months.

Name Retrieval

Purpose/How It Works
Name Retrieval recovers a forgotten proper name from the edge of memory by following what remains of its trace.
Notable Exceptions
It struggles with names never learned well in the first place.
Example Use
A delver recovers the barrow-king's forgotten name in time to speak it at the door that asks for it.
Casting Methods
Self-focus cast, a few heartbeats. Linked token or portrait focus, a few breaths.
Range/Duration
Self-perception. Instant if successful.

Record Stitch

Purpose/How It Works
Record Stitch reassembles a broken sequence of events from scattered notes, survivors' tellings, or traces.
Notable Exceptions
Contradictory or false records can produce several competing stitches.
Example Use
A lord's huntsmen piece together how raiders took the keep over four rooms and a stair, and who let them in.
Casting Methods
Evidence-circle cast, a minute's chant. Full record table rite, a long rite.
Range/Duration
One event chain. Lasts until reinterpreted.

Preserve Form

Purpose/How It Works
Preserve Form slows degradation of a body, text, relic, or sample by holding its present shape against time and environment.
Notable Exceptions
It delays decay; it does not reverse existing ruin.
Example Use
A murdered chieftain is kept fresh until his kin arrive to see the wounds for themselves.
Casting Methods
Touched preservation cast, a few breaths. Chest, case, or vault rite, a lengthy rite.
Range/Duration
One object, body, or document set. A night to many months.

Truth Residue

Purpose/How It Works
Truth Residue detects where a lie, forgery, or false account has overwritten what was there before.
Notable Exceptions
It reveals disturbance, not always the full original truth.
Example Use
A hold-elder's scribe spots the altered line in an inheritance roll before two brothers go to war over it.
Casting Methods
Finger-trace read, a few heartbeats. Ink and lamp focus, a short study.
Range/Duration
Touch. Brief investigative use.

Pattern Restore

Purpose/How It Works
Pattern Restore returns damaged material to a recent intact arrangement by calling it back towards a remembered state.
Notable Exceptions
Missing matter still limits the restoration.
Example Use
A shattered clay seal from a looted tomb is restored well enough to show whose grave was robbed.
Casting Methods
Touch and recall cast, a few breaths. Diagram-assisted rite, a minute's chant.
Range/Duration
Touch. Usually permanent if the restored object holds.

Ancestral Murmur

Purpose/How It Works
Ancestral Murmur draws faint stored memory or emotional residue from heirlooms, bones, or long-kept family objects.
Notable Exceptions
The impressions are fragmentary and coloured by reverence or trauma.
Example Use
A family blade whispers enough of its old battles to tell which of two claimants is the true heir.
Casting Methods
Quiet listening touch, a few breaths. Shrine or relic rite, a minute's chant or longer.
Range/Duration
Touch. Brief murmur while sustained.

Truthline

Purpose/How It Works
Truthline reveals the line of hands an object has passed through, from what each hand left on it.
Notable Exceptions
Frequent trade or deliberate laundering muddies the line.
Example Use
A stolen reliquary is traced from market broker back to tomb robbers.
Casting Methods
Touched chain read, a few breaths. Ledger-linked investigation, a minute's study.
Range/Duration
Touch. One investigative reading.

Forget Gate

Purpose/How It Works
Forget Gate shields chosen memories from casual intrusion or accidental recall by placing them behind a controlled retrieval threshold.
Notable Exceptions
Severe shock, deep magic, or self-inflicted confusion can weaken it.
Example Use
A captured scout keeps the hidden camp from the warlord's irons.
Casting Methods
Self-gating cast, a few breaths. Word-and-token lock, a minute's chant.
Range/Duration
Self. Days to years.

Burden Shelf

Purpose/How It Works
Burden Shelf offloads traumatic recall into a ritual container so a person can function without being overwhelmed by constant re-experiencing.
Notable Exceptions
It is not healing by itself and may delay necessary grief work.
Example Use
A survivor shelves the worst of a massacre long enough to lead the avengers back to the burned village.
Casting Methods
Guided transfer, a minute's quiet guidance. Vessel-shelf rite, a long rite.
Range/Duration
Touch and linked container. Days to months.

Reconstruction Circle

Purpose/How It Works
Reconstruction Circle rebuilds a scene from several memory traces, survivors' fragments, and object residues.
Notable Exceptions
A lying teller fouls the reconstruction.
Example Use
Temple hunters replay a cult's ritual murder in the cellar where it was done, and learn how many knives there were.
Casting Methods
Evidence circle rite, a long rite. Full forensic reconstruction, an hour's ritual.
Range/Duration
One scene. Lasts while the circle is maintained.

Legacy Binding

Purpose/How It Works
Legacy Binding preserves a technique, sequence, or craft process so it can be relearned accurately generations later.
Notable Exceptions
It captures form better than genius; improvisational artistry still fades.
Example Use
A dying swordsmith binds the tempering of his blades into his apprentice before the raiders reach the forge.
Casting Methods
Teacher-led transfer, a short lesson. Archive reliquary rite, a long rite.
Range/Duration
Student, text, or vessel. Years to generations.

Continuity Ward

Purpose/How It Works
Continuity Ward keeps a fragile working from drifting off course, preserving sequence and consistency in medicine, ritual, or craft.
Notable Exceptions
It cannot save a process already founded on bad assumptions.
Example Use
A hedge-alchemist holds a venom cure at exact stages while the bitten hunter turns grey on the bench.
Casting Methods
Bench or station cast, a short chant. Workshop ward, a slow working.
Range/Duration
One process or workspace. A short while to a day's work.

Last Sight

Purpose/How It Works
Last Sight retains the final memory of a dying person briefly for farewell, or to name a killer.
Notable Exceptions
It captures only what survives clearly into the end.
Example Use
A murder victim's final sight is preserved long enough to identify the killer.
Casting Methods
Deathbed touch, a few breaths. Vessel capture rite, a minute's chant.
Range/Duration
Touch at the brink of death. Stored for a short while to several days, depending on medium.

In the Writers’ Guide

See Also