Ambient Casting

A highly influencial work that revolutionised the way spells are cast.

Purpose

This volume is the best known of Phorm's work and the one which most revolutionised spell casting. In it Phorm discusses how spellcasting can make use of the energy around the caster rather than trying to draw the energy in from other planes or storing it in a mental trigger.
Phorm then goes on to provide several examples of how some basic spells could be adjusted to draw on ambient energy. The formula he provided for converting the spells from their original form to the new less draining one is now perhaps the best known in wizarding circles.

Historical Details

Background

In the early ages of the world the study of magic was at first treated as an art rather than a science. Individual mages developed spells and theories with little discipline or rigour. In almost all cases mages worked to increase their capacity to cast ever more powerful spells. A casters standing largely determined by this and how many spells they knew.
This situation changed when Phorm Dessin started publishing his work. Phorm devoted his time to studying how spells worked and how they could be cast more efficiently. His theories and the way he codified magical lormulas met with much resistance by many wizards but in the end the results spoke for themselves.

History

What Phorm never revealed was that he wasn't the author of this work. It was one of his apprentices, Percival Longfoor. Phorm had taken Percival on as an apprentice as the young halfling had shown an unusually high capacity for magic. However, a miscast spell from Phorm robbed Percival of much of his spellcasting potential. Keen to avoid the embarresment of admiting he had harmed his apprentice Phorm kept Percival as an apprentice, even though there was little chance the halfling would ever become a full wizard.
Percival devoted himself to studying all that he could, and researched ways he could cast spells even with his limited capacity. The results were this volume. Recognising the value in this work, Phorm quickly claimed ownership of the work and set Percival to researching other topics, persuading his apprentice that it was only natural that Phorm take the credit for the apprentice's work.
The secret of the true author of the work was only revealed when a diviner, keen to learn about what had led Phorm to work on this tome used a spell to take a look back in time. When the true author was revealed a decision was taken to suppress the information lest it interfere with future study of the work.

Legacy

Wizards were not the only ones to benefit from the theories covered in this document. Most spellcasters were able to adapt them for use in their own casting, even those who drew on divine powers.

The study and refinement of the work covered in this volume were a popular topic of private study in the Colleges of Magic with many wizards hoping to apply it to more powerful spells. However, the Archmages eventually banned such study after a few too many accidents.

Part of the problem with applying this to more powerful spells was that it removed some of the parts which protected the caster from their own spell

Type

Manuscript, Magical (Tome/Scroll)

Before this work was published wizards were considered a liability by many military leaders and even mercenary companies would think twice about employing them. Wizards could cast some highly destructive spells but only once or twice a day, after which they were of less use than the average raw recruit.
When wizards learned to cast their lesser combat spells almost continuously their value increased tenfold and warmages became a regular sight on the battlefield.