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~The book appears to be a lightweight paperback book with an illustration of a charming-looking sorcerer drawn on the cover. In the bottom-corner, an emblem of a mechanical hand clenched into a fist is drawn.~

The school of enchantment is, in fact, one of the more powerful (yet highly circumstantual) spell schools usable by casters of the arcane. Many young magi and innatists don't realize this right away, as Enchantment spells often lack of sheer offensive power that schools such as Evocation and Necromancy offer. Indeed, this offensive power is what attracts most young men and women to the arcane arts to begin with. Not only that, but many of the lower-circle Enchantment spells may appear to be rather useless in terms of practical applications (for example, the First Circle spell "Charm Person"), making it even less appealing to those just beginning their studies.

In truth, the school of Enchantment is one of the most versitile spell schools avaliable to a caster of the arcane, though it -must- be used in a manner different than that of say...evocation; you can throw spells around willy-nilly and expect instant results.

Lets take a look at the school of Enchantment first. Enchantment spells, by nature, are those that attack the enemies mind, forcing them to bend to the will of the caster. Obviously, many of the offensive Enchantment spells will be useless against mindless opponents, such as undead, constructs, and the occasional Cordorian citizen.

That said, even with that disadvantage, a clever enchanter can use his spells to disable an opponent regardless of this...handicap, lets call it. For example, as early as the second circle, enchanters can learn the spell "Blindness/Deafness". Working on sentinent and shambling alike, this spell (when successful) will immedietly blind and deafen the target, as the name implies. This is a factor that can decide a battle; a blinded mage cannot cast its offensive spells effectively.

As an interesting sidenote, Blindness/Deafness is one of the few enchantment spells that attacks the physical body and the mind.

Confusion is often used as the staple-spell of the enchantment school; low enough for many to use relatively early on in their studies, but useful enough for even the most seasoned archmagi to regularly use. For those who aren't familiar with the spell, Confusion spells work by releasing a dehbilitating blast of arcane energy around a general area, rattling the mind and sense of those caught in the blast.

Often times, the debate has arose between Enchanters and Necromancers as to which spell is more useful; Fear or Confusion. Both are of the same level, and have similiar effects.

From my personal observations, I would have to say confusion is slightly more useful; when fleeing in terror, its not uncommon for an enemy to run straight to the nearest group of reinforcements for aid. No only that, those skilled only in melee combat tend to chase after those that flee in terror, dividing the party or support, leaving the more vunerable members of a group exposed.

Confusion, on the other hand, will cause one of three affects; mindlessly walking around, attacking a comrade, or attacking an ally of the casters. These affects are at random, and the likeliness of each happening depends entirely on the targets reaction to the spell. While it can be argued that this won't completely stop an enemies assault, i'd like to point out that having one or two minotuars attacking you is -far- better than six or seven. Especially when two of the remaininig minotuars are attacking each other.

The second "Staple Spell" group would be the spells of Holding; Hold Person and Hold Monster respectively. These spells, unlike evocation, do -not- loose potency as the caster progresses in their studies;

While Evokers, Necromancers, and Conjurers constantly have to learn newer and more powerful spells to maintain their higher damage output, Enchanterment spells have a consistant performance that only improves with time. The spells of holding are, in fact, help prove this point, as they are mercilessly efficent in disabling a single sentinent target. While it doesn't damage the target, it doesn't need to be constantly "upgraded" or interchanged with more powerful spellls of similiar effect (for example, fireball vs firebrand).

The two main flaws of the hold spells however are that they are worthless against non-sentinent beings, and cannot disable more than a single person at a time.

As a counterpoint, i'd mention that no single spell school is flawless, as each will run into something its completely ineffective against. In addition, while a hold spell can only disable one enemy at a time, that "one enemy" can change the tides of battle.

For example, there are three "generic' guards, one higher ranking guard, and a far-more-powerful leader facing your group. If you've managed to get that far into a stronghold, chances are the guards won't be too much of an issue. No, its more likely that the real threat will be their leader, who may be several times more powerful than the guards; If you manage to disable him, the fight is as good as won!

Disabling, of course, is not what truely makes the spell school of Enchantment famous. No, perhaps the most famous aspect of the Enchantment school would be its "domination" spells. For those who aren't familiar with such, these spells force an enemy to act as an ally, forcing them to aid the caster in their plight.

The same concepts of holding spells apply to domination spells, with the added fact that dominated allies can be used for multiple encounters (if the caster is skilled enough to maintain the spell for that long).

It should be noted, however, domination spells aren't absolute; you cannot command someone do to something they would -never- normally do, nor can you generally allow them to commit blatantly harmful acts (for example, "stab yourself in the heart").

Lastly, there are defensive wards avaliable to enchanters as well. Yes! Defensive warding isn't something just for abjurers!

The spell "Protection from Spells" is a high level spell that alters the recipeints mindset and perceptions, allowing them to react at a far higher level when assaulted by magical attacks than they were able to prior to. While this isnt an absolute protection like Spell Mantle and Globe of Invunerability, it is still a powerful defensive ward that mustn't be taken lightly.

I do hope that the reader has throughly enjoyed this book. If other spell schools are of interest to you, i'd recommend looking for my other writings "Advanced Conjuration", "Birth of an Undead", and "Death of an Undead". All of these are excellent books to study, and have been read and approved of by the Archmagi of the Arcane Tower prior to publishing. Best of luck with your studies.

-Terry

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