Of Bindings
The class of magic known as Binding is a curious art, pushing at the outmost edges of what one may deem to be the field of Evocation and into the realm of Dwimmery. Most scholars agree that a standard binding can be performed through nothing more than particularly ornate and artful evoking, while the higher art of the Complex Bindings are dwimmers in their own right, but the exact line is the subject of much debate among arcane taxonomists.
At its core, binding is the magic of locking a body into place with magic, reinforced through the direct application of one or more elements in their banality. A binding in Fire may wreath a victim in coiling flames, where a binding in Life may do the same with thorny vines. The end result is largely similar, leaving the target of the casting chained into position and unable to move until the caster dismisses the hold. Very simple, in a relative scale, though compared to most evocation it is quite involved indeed.
However, where a binding in Fire may wrap a person in flames to burn them should they move, it does little to keep them from putting those flames out with an evocation of their own. A little Water, or Ice, or Earth will quash such a thing rightly quick, and so, a truly effective binding must have additional aspects to its performance. Traditional bindings do this by way of reinforcement; allowing the caster of the initial binding to channel more and more aether into the hold, to counteract the attempts to fight it, and turning the entire exercise into a test of attrition and stamina.
Complex Bindings, to contrast, do this by way of artful design and casting. Proper Complex Binding, then, will include some manner of self-reinforcement woven into the magic, that the caster need not sit there and manually fuel its attempts to foil escape, as well as a complicating factor to foil attempts to counter the effect. Complex bindings are termed such because their function is aptly complex, gnarled and layered, to trap an opponent in a heinous puzzle of a snare, inescapable without the knowing of its make, that a prey may not loose but only be loosed. It is this level of complication that raises a complex binding, in the eyes of many, to the category of the dwimmer, worthy of name and record, and not simply an elaborate method of evocation.
As an example, two of the more commonplace and effective bindings in Complex Ice are Rimu’s Religative Rime and Rimu’s Rigescent Raptus. The first taking the form of lashing chains of solid ice, to drag a person to their knees, and the second heavy blocks forming around the extremities, both operate on a similar principle. First, to prevent escape by force, the Ice magic is supported by a lacing with Life magic and intensifies when exposed to pressure or heat, the chains growing heavier and tighter or the blocks constricting closer and colder. Second, to prevent escape by magic, the ice cannot actually be removed by the direct application of magics of Fire, as the Ice is doubly reinforced by powerful Shadow, causing the fire to be snuffed out by the cold and the ice to intensify. To escape Rimu’s binds, one must approach counterintuitively, using the direct and careful application of Void to leech the cold out of the Ice, so that the application of fire can have a chance to take effect. This is incredibly precise and slow work, as slightly too little Void will cause the Shadow snare to activate and reinforce the Ice, but slightly too much will snuff out your own Fire, siphoning the heat of the one trapped even as it takes the cold. For someone trapped within the bind, it is maddeningly exact work, and under the strain of a binding, extraordinarily difficult to pull off. Even by the standards of Complex Bindings, Complex Ice is a profoundly challenging binding to enact, but few short of a Metric can free themselves in short order.
As further example, let us look to the binding in Complex Radiance we know as Sesban’s Searing Solarium. Lances of light rise from the ground, locking the target in place, even piercing their flesh if the spell is cast with proper hostility in mind, but such an effect would be easy to shatter with the proper application of Shadow. It is the reinforcement of Fire that causes the Solarium to be as effective as it is, each brilliant beam burning its way through the spirit and casting light not only upon the victim, but upon each other, that Shadow can find no place to root. The countering of the Solarium, then, must occur through Earth, allowing the banality of soil to quench the flames even as you impress the untapped potentiality of Earth upon the awakening urge of Radiance, forcing the light to spread further and further until it is too scattered to hold its form, and falls apart on its own.
Even Charlock’s popular Cyphonic Claustrum is technically a Complex Binding, bringing Wind and Void to bear in a binding of pure force that constricts if struggled against. The counter, then, comes not in Ice to slow the motive restriction of the force, but in Water, to soften the rigidity of the barrier until it can be brushed aside.
Complex Binding, as a field, is predictably complex, populated by tects of entries of varied utility and effectiveness. Many underestimate their twisty natures, due to the roots of binding in evocation, but a true scholar will quickly see the reality of the situation. Much study is necessary before one can claim to be a master of the genre, and yet, should one seek their Metrical or merely a Magus in Evocation, this faculty will prove quite necessary. In my tenure, I have presided over countless boards for countless Metric candidates, and not a one has passed my scrutiny without escaping at least one complex binding in the turn of an egg timer.
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