The Intricacies of Teleportation

[Excerpt from a spell tome about the specifications of the Mages Guild portal spell written by the Great Mage, Vanus Galerion]

#####III. Technicalities

You have doubtless seen mages make use of portal spells to travel vast distances across Tamriel almost instantaneously. I myself have made extensive use of this spell, and while it may have been the Psijics who first pioneered this magic, I can claim to have developed it into a more efficient process that is more accessible for the majority of magic users.

However, do not be mistaken or misled, this spell will require the caster to have a sizable reservoir of magicka that the spell can use. The initial casting will consume a sizable portion of one’s reservoir while draining further more to maintain the portal.

The actual design and processes of the basic form of this spell are relatively simple. Simply cast the spell, and while casting the spell, envision the destination, and release the spell to open the portals. That is assuming that the following checks are adhered to:

A space of approximately three feet by three feet by eight feet is recommended for the portal itself, another three feet in front of the caster excluding the space for the portal to ensure there is enough space for the portal and any travelers who may exit though it if it is a terminus. Therefore, the caster must ensure there is at least six feet of, preferably level, space in front of him and eight feet height-wise. Failure to do so can result in tragic consequences.

While casting the spell, the user must now specify a destination for the terminus by recalling its layout in his mind with reasonable clarity, and he must also know where it is located on the map. It is not unusual for the terminus to stray a few divisions of a foot from its intended location due to planar shift, which can be negated by referencing the position of the sun, moons and stars depending on the time of day, however it is usually unnecessary and negligible. And it bears without saying that travelling by portal to unknown or unfamiliar locations is extremely risky and dangerous, not to mention foolish.

The space requirements for the terminus are similar to the origin, except instead of a clearing of three feet in front of the caster, it is a three feet radius around the portal because one can never be sure in which direction the terminus will be aligned. Hence is why most mages hesitate to specify the terminus outside of a guild hall or large clearings, as all guild halls maintain a persistent terminus that all portal spells can target. While obstructions at the terminus are rarely fatal, it can result in injuries and embarrassing apologies – it is the responsibility of the guild hall to ensure the exit area is clear.

If a portal needs to be kept open for a period of time of more than a few moments, or a group of more than a few travelers need to use it, multiple mages may be needed to bolster the portal by supplementing their magicka to strengthen the portal. Fortunately, maintaining a portal requires much less magicka than opening one, therefore, only one or two mages should be required to keep a portal open for a fifth of an hour before their magicka is exhausted depending on their ability.

In the unlikely scenario that the portal spell collapses mid-travel, the traveler can become trapped in the in-between space of the portals for an unknown period of time, and can be ejected at a random location between the portals. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the caster ensures all his travelers are accounted for before entering the portal himself.

The portal spell can be learned and cast or inscribed on a large scroll for the less magically adept with a little more than one minute of usage to transport one person. Below is the basic spell logic. Of course, the specifics of how the spell taps into the Mages Guild portals are a closely guarded secret by our inscribers.

[Chant to confirm and initialize the spell]  
[Invocations of prerequisite clusters]  
[Invocation to draw magicka from the magicka reservoir of the scroll]  
[Sign to get the location of Origin]  
[Sign to get the location of Terminus]  
[Sign to open Portal-Origin at Origin]  
[Sign to open Portal-Terminus at Terminus]  
[Cluster to Identify Souls and assign Soul-Signatures when Portal-Origin is entered for all travelers]  
[Cluster to track and deliver Soul-Signatures on Mundus for all travelers]  
[Sign to discard Soul-Signatures when Portal-Terminus is exited for all travelers]  
[Invocation to draw ambient magicka in the event that the magicka reservoir of the scroll depletes prematurely]  
[Invocation to terminate all clusters and destroy the scroll when all available sources of magicka are expended]