A Brief Treatise on Attack Runes

by Arsyn Thireloth

4E 199

Attack runes are a vital part of any self-respecting warmage and witch-hunter's arsenal. There are many types of attack runes, but the most popular and easiest to use are the Fire, Frost and Shock runes.

A drawing of an attack rune is an attack rune. This is a constant.

If you can, draw a rune around twice the size of a dinner plate. Make sure it's not significantly larger or significantly smaller: I'll explain this later. Use anything to draw it. Once it is done, do NOT touch it without protection.

Any mage knows that magicka exists all around Mundus in the form of sunlight. A rune acts as a magnet that draws in surrounding sunlight and allows it to flow through its structure. An incomplete rune is an incomplete structure and thus invariably implodes.

Once a completed rune comes into direct contact with a soul, it activates, resulting in a detonation. It can detect souls through clothing, armor and even enchanted apparel. The only way to truly be safe from attack runes is to enchant your clothing so your soul cannot be detected by them.

Most modern soul gems are enchanted to protect the soul within from runes, which is why attack runes do not detonate when a soul gem is dropped on them.

The average attack rune is around twice the size of a dinner plate. This is to maximize distribution of magicka without sacrificing output. A larger rune will have magicka more thinly spread around its structure, and will thus be less efficient. A smaller rune, on the other hand, will be unable to contain magicka effectively and (in extreme cases) will explode out of instability.