To Lady Juliet, Royal Witch of Calatini
Royal Palace
Ormas
Merrilea

Dear Lady Juliet,

Thanks for all that helpful information about wards—as always, your letter deepened my understanding of magic, and I truly appreciate that. Now that I understand wards, I’ve begun studying offense spells, starting with the more passive ones. Could you write me about trap spells?

Thanks again,

Mordred Thyme
Upper Warden
Oakmoor

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To Mordred Thyme
Upper Warden
Oakmoor

Dear Mr. Thyme,

Although wards are defense spells while trap spells are offense spells, they’re set similarly, so that’s an excellent place to start your study of offense spells. Trap spells contain individuals or objects to a specific area, and if they somehow manage to escape, the witch who created, set, or renewed the trap spell will be alerted. Like with wards, ’tis easiest to set trap spells to a physical boundary such as walls, so the trap spell’s specific area is often a room or a building. However, it is possible to set trap spells to an area without physical boundaries—it just requires more power.

Once trap spells are set, they must be powered, recharged, and renewed similarly to wards. Also, trap spells where the focus attempts to escape more often and with greater vigor require more power. Breaking trap spells is again similar to breaking wards. However, there is an additional method to overcoming trap spells—shifting their focus to another individual or object. ‘Tis best to shift the focus to someone or something as close as possible to the original focus, like one lady with another lady or one sword with a different sword. Like with weaving openings in ward or trap spells, shifting the focus of wards spells can be done without alerting witches associated with the trap spell.

Now that you understand ward and trap spells, do you have any specific plans to use them? Understanding them in theory is one thing, but performing them is another, and only practice can help you acquire mastery. Perhaps we should arrange a mirror call to discuss everything since ‘twould be easier to communicate directly. My communication mirror’s call signature is enclosed at the bottom. I’ll ensure my communication mirror transfers my calls to a hand mirror whenever I’m away from the palace. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Lady Juliet, Royal Witch of Calatini
Royal Palace
Ormas
Merrilea