We are all still alive so you can settle up the bets for this trip

[Anne]

Hi, I have a tale to tell....

Our trip started well. We made good time towards the Temple of Power, noting with pleasure that the surrounding forest continues its return to normality now that the spider menace has been contained. Shortly before arrival we noticed a pair of elven scouts. We hailed them once we were close enough. They wore the device of queen Meriel and sure enough it turns out they were dispatched by her. Their names were Naivara and Shava. They were a little startled to see us and seemed uncomfortable when we asked the purpose of their visit. We suspect that they were a bit embarrassed because they didn't want to say that their queen had been alarmed by what she heard from the clearly dangerous and suspiciously-vague-about-where-they-came-from visitors she'd received. But they were friendly enough, reluctantly coming with us into the temple. They were keen to ask what we knew of the place though. A mistake since Tagariel was present. He explained and expanded until their eyes glazed over and they remembered a pressing engagement somewhere, in the name of holy Korellan anywhere!, else.

Once Tagariel's familiar reported that they had definitely left the area we went downstairs to turn the power on. Someone had been fiddling with the taps and left the broken one open. Kallista expressed a wish to experiment with what might happen if the broken one was left on and then powered but the wizard was loathe to do things that might cause his internal organs to become zorched. He turned the broken tap off and put a stern note in common 'Danger! DO NOT USE.' He seems to be suffering from the delusion that this is going to help with safety.

After we switched on the power we went down to Klippika where we were once again welcomed. Once again we saw the lights. We had some pleasant chats and good sleep. We decided to travel on through the forest from Klippika. We enquired about its name but apparently it doesn't have a name, or at least not one known to the folk at Klippika. We meandered a bit in the forest but emerged by late afternoon. There was swamp to the left and we didn't feel like going that way. Eventually we decided to go over the rocks. They were barren but you get a nice view from the top. Watch out for vultures though. We saw three and they were as big as us. They flew towards us looking hungry. They were undeterred by the blast of arcane badness I sent more or less in their general direction, so Aila shot and killed one. After that the other two decided that there was now an easier way to get their dinner so we left them to get on with it, before their minds began to turn towards dessert. I wonder what it is that they normally feast upon. I think it unlikely many adventurers pass that way.

After a bit more travelling we approached Riverglade. We'd earlier decided to speak with the gnomes there before heading off to 'Desh. There have been interesting developments since valley folk last visited. From quite a distance away you can now see gnomes swarming all over the tower at 'Shan. They've enthusiastically built masses of rather rickety scaffolding. There is gold metal all over the roof now. We were later told that it suddenly grew around the time we were poking at things elsewhere. When we got to the village, young master Pog and his friend ran up excitedly to Kallista and she and Tagariel rushed off to the tower to see 'all the really cool things' they discovered. Our companions later related tales of various bolt empowered tools that were being played with and experimented upon. An everlasting torch, a green energy shield, a red-bolted device that someone let Tagariel play with. Apparently he blasted some rocks with it.

Anyway the rest of us ventured into the mostly deserted village of Riverglade. We found someone who directed us to the village elder, who is named Dimble. He told us that about a month ago the tower became active. The metal regrew and later bursts of light smashed through the first scaffolding they built but fortunately no one was hurt. The new one has a hole for the light to travel through. The tower itself is now, literally, 'really cool' too. He warned us that 'Desh is a place where they don't dare to go. It is unfriendly and populated by 'lizard people' who seem to be having a minor feud with the gnomes. We are told that they dislike sunlight. We said we were going there anyway, regardless of the danger. He pointed us towards a lady called Briena who was sat at the top of the tower (I do love my grappling hook, particularly when it means I do not need to use the gnome's ladders) and she told us many things. She pointed out the 'ghost mountains' and the 'sunrise peak' to us. I expect Aila's account of our travels will include more details. She also described the road ahead. Basically following the river down past the fork to the west and then turning at the black and jagged Metraka's rocks that mark the entrance into the ravine. These rocks are named after the last big expedition to venture that way. Their leader was a dwarf named Metraka and this took place around three hundred years ago. Apparently they all vanished without trace and were never heard from again.

Naturally we were keen to travel onwards after hearing all this news. However since the gnomes had warned us about the lizard people, who dislike sunlight, we spent the night with the gnomes and left bright and early the next day. We quite soon arrived at the rocks to discover that they had been decorated with carved wind-chimes. Made from bones. Oh and there were heads on spikes, including a massive kobald one. We considered the situation, concluded that the lizard people were probably not likely to welcome uninvited guests smashing through their front door. We decided to try and see if we could sneak in a back way, or at least have a look to see how the land lies.

We walked along the top of what is a massive sinkhole. The network is extensive, most of it out of sight. The drop is sheer and grows as you travel. Anyone without the ability to fly would be extremely ill-advised to try to get in that way. We retreated back across the river and camped out of sight that night. I slept peacefully but those on watch reported seeing three kobalds heading gnomewise and later on, two battered kobalds limping home. The next morning we woke up, reconsidered our position and came to the conclusion that smashing our way in through the front door wasn't actually quite as bad an idea as we'd first thought. Not that we intended to start out with the smashing though.

We made futile efforts to be stealthy. Sneaking through the gloom, trying to pick out a path to avoid the watch-mushrooms. Yes you did hear correctly, watch-mushrooms. And what's more they make a godawful shrieking and wailing if you get too close. They don't seem to mind arrows though (we experimented. Kallista wanted to zorch them but we didn't let her.)

It all came to naught anyway. The kobalds had gone to the trouble of building a pile of rocks that creates an overlooked choke point. This suggests to me that they might feel threatened in their home. We had just clambered over these rocks when a terrified kobald screamed and ran, setting off the watch-mushrooms as he went. He wasn't running from us. We hid and waited to see what came. Spider like machines of dark grey metal with six legs, three arms and long pointy sticks. We named them the murderbots. A brief but extremely noisy fight ensued. They blinded Tagariel, although not permanently. I missed a lot and even when I hit it didn't do much. If I run into more I'll have to stay away from ice magic. Kallista finished them off. There is no way the kobalds didn't notice us. Once we'd thoroughly smashed the murderbots up, we looted their corpses. We found two orange bolts, of the illusion school according to the wizard. Then we left, before something bad had the chance to happen.

We returned to Riverglade with the intention of placing all the bolts to see what might happen. Kallista wanted to try to sneak into the tower. I felt this would be rude. Tagariel said that it would be likely to make the gnomes hostile and we should try to avoid extreme solutions like slaughtering entire gnome villages just to get access to a site. Practically we needed their bolts to try it anyway. We spoke with Dimble again and Kallista and I managed to convince him to clear everyone away for their own safety as we had no knowledge of what was going to happen, while we tried our theories out. There was some grumbling but the gnomes fetched beer and withdrew from the tower to have lunch.

It was cold in the tower. Kallista was being cautious and suggested that we all stay clear of the circle and near to a bolt so we could remove it if badness started happening. This made sense so we tried that. Once all the bolts were in a wall map appeared with what we believe is a representation of the builder network. Tagariel poked it with mage hand and there was an announcement in builderese and the circle began to glow. Certain of us were in favour of just jumping in but in the end we placed Kallista's pet rock into the circle and it vanished. Next we sent Tagariel's familiar through. After a few minutes he flew back unhurt. After that we couldn't resist any longer and went in ourselves.

We were transported to a cold, rectangular building of builder style. It didn't seem to have seen light or life in a very long time. We activated the door by saying 'Daresh' and then the name of the new place just like in the announcement. There was a bright sky to light the gloom and piles of snow. We were atop a mountain range. Far, far from anything we know back home. Looking down there was a lake surrounded by forest and oddly glassily melted looking rocks. Kallista and Tagariel speculated about the existence of some builder inspired device of uber-zorching. Even better there was a massive building in the not excessively far away distance. And there were lights on. It all looks very promising from an exploring point of view. Although there are obviously potential dangers too.

People were being annoyingly reasonable though. They kept pointing out things like we don't have provisions for not freezing in the snow, we should report back what we've learned before people start worrying that we all met a grisly end, we shouldn't start zipping around all over the network and instead should try to deal with one thing at a time. That sort of thing. So we went back inside. Shut the door and then warmed up the air with heated debate.

I wanted to tell the gnomes all about it and take them to see the snow. Others wanted to lie to them and tell them that our experiment didn't work. Eventually we compromised and agreed to just tell elder Dimble in private, stressing the dangers and not the delights. We said we needed to consult with wise people at home and actually we should do that. Dimble insisted on seeing for himself though. He came back out and threw a snowball at his friend. I'm sure he knows better than us how to handle his people. We left but he was keen for us to hurry back.

So there you have it. New exciting things to see but fairly obvious obstacles too. We are going to have to come to some sort of arrangement with the gnomes if we want to keep using their tower to go visit potentially dangerous places. I predict that Queen Meriel will soon learn of developments and is likely to want to discourage us from reckless exploration. Perish the thought. Anyway we'll all have to see won't we? I'm off to discuss things with my father. I'm sure the others will be along soon...

Birel.

[Ed Chivers]

Thanks Birel!

DM's note: I have added an entry on the wiki for Taurtaikatanur - https://thevalley.boreworms.com/wiki/Taurtaikatanur

Please feel free to expand it :)

[Richard Jackson]

Wow, thanks Birel!  As one storyteller to another, after that epic tale I have to say... you must be thirsty; can I buy you a drink?

I'm really sorry I wasn't able to join you all.  I had... things to take care of up in the Feygrove.  I really want to go visit Riverglade and meet those other gnomes (Yes, Tagariel, we should definitely *not* be slaughtering them).  And being transported to Another Plane sounds awesome!  Count me in the next time anyone's heading back out that way!

Dramble

[Rory Cullen]

 I beg your pardon, Master Sorceror, but if you'd care to check you'll see that I was in fact advocating peaceful relations with Riverglade. Pointless conflict over resources serves no-one.

 You may need to keep an eye on Kallista; her enthusiasm for "zorching", as she puts it, seems boundless.

- Tagariel

[Richard Jackson]

Well, that's alright then, Master Wizard.

I've yet to go on an expedition with Kallista.  I expect it will be an interesting experience when I do.

There's definitely a time and a place for zorching (like when you're trapped underground and under attack from giant spiders).  Not *every* time and place though.

- Dramble 

[Evie]

Why is the rock my pet rock?

[Anne Hytch]

Because you were so concerned for its welfare and didn't want to leave it behind. 

On Sat, 10 Aug 2019, 15:28 Evie, <fam.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

Why is the rock my pet rock?

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[Rory Cullen]

 Hello! Sincere apologies for the delay in relating my perspectives of our latest expedition, but getting a notarised account in to the archives of the Tower promptly saves a good deal of arguing over plagiarism and derivative works in the long run. Academia is, as they say, a snake-pit! 

 Except for the Herpetology department, who are ironically quite relaxed and amiable.

 In any case I see that Birel has provided a detailed and extensive account of our travels, so you need not feel too abandoned. I shall try to avoid re-stating most of the events she has already related - brevity being the soul of not only wit but also, perforce, clarity - and shall restrict myself to some additional descriptions, diversions and digressions in what may be regarded as a codicil, appendix or after-word, and in every case very much supplementary to, rather than substitutionary for, the original report.

 Travel to the "Temple of Power" was without major incident; our conjecture that the spider population had been effectively contained seems to be borne out by the increasing populations of birds and small mammals present in the area. The "Quiet Wood" may soon require a new name - I rather think "Northwood" has a ring to it, as well as being handily descriptive, but it is of little import.

 When we met the Queensguard scouts from Klippika, we found that their story of "just being in the area" and "often travelling to the north at this time of year" rang less than fully true. Based on some admittedly second-hand reports of their Queen's disdain for Elder remnants, I was slightly concerned that they might be unsupportive towards our aims of exploration or could even attempt to prevent our experiments - say, by waiting until we had left and deactivating the hydroarcanic generator.

 Not wishing to bring any potential disagreement to the surface by impoliteness or mendacity, I chose - as Birel noted - to disregard my usual pedagogical impulse, not to mention my innate tendency towards clear and unadorned speech, and "blind them with science" as the phrase has it. I am afraid to relate that I resorted to technical jargon and discursive tangents to such an egregious degree that our Klippikan friends became quite discommoded!

 They will certainly not, however, be able to report that we were evasive or uncooperative. Nonetheless we should be aware that there are other groups inhabiting this region and that their opinions may not jibe with our own. I will touch upon this matter further into the narrative.

 I must sound a note of quiet concern that an unknown party has manipulated the controls for the generator - this device is the key to the entire plains region and its Builder remnants, and yet it is essentially unsecured and unsupervised almost all of the time. I wonder if we should consider some sort of long-term semi-fortified encampment in the vicinity? Or, failing that, a door?

 Klippika itself was much as described. I was surprised to find that the phenomenon known as "Corellon's Lights" manifested itself again, as it is reputedly a rare occurrence. Is there a Builder site under the pond? The possibility cannot be discounted, but I refrained from subaqeous exploration out of deference to our hosts spiritual sensibilities.

 The tall "cones" around the pond radiate a weak source of abjuration magic; they also glow a faint blue colour on the side nearest the pond. The water itself has no magical aura, but I was unable to get close enough to get a reading on the lights - whatever they may be - themselves. Again, swimming out to the centre of the pond was thought by the research group to be potentially detrimental to our relations with the Klippikan holy caste.

 Travelling south from Klippika we passed through a forest that the elves have apparently not troubled to name. I seem to recall that we saw several bears in the woods; although we took care not to disturb them and they seemed willing to overlook our trespass, their presence - and the inference that there are other large predators in this forest - should be noted by other researchers travelling in this direction. Perhaps we should start referring to this stretch of forest as "The Bear-Wood" as an aid to memory?

 The Stonelands are made up largely of bare sedimentary rock, geologically unremarkable to my non-specialist eye, but unusually barren and resistant to colonisation even by small ericaceous specialist plants such as heather. They are reasonably traversible but, as Birel has already mentioned, not as deserted as they may first appear. The elevation is such that fairly impressive views may be obtained, including of colossal peaks located tremendous distances away to the east and west - appearing, from our perspective, to be at either end of the "Queen's Road" astronomical phenomenon -  and which we would later learn are known by the gnomes as the Dawn Peak and the Sunset Peak. These are popularly supposed to be the homes of Pelor and the Raven Queen, respectively. I must remember to ask Kazkan if he's heard of them.

 The tower at Entatratashan is quite impressive, even with the slightly ramshackle scaffold the local gnomes have erected around it. It seems that the golden metal inlays that were largely destroyed at the time the previous expedition arrived have - probably prompted by the restoration of arcane energy flowing from the power station - spontaneously repaired themselves, reusing the remnants of the fallen inlays where available, and synthesising fresh metal apparently from nowhere in other instances!

 On any other expedition this would be interesting enough on its own to justify a monograph or an entire paper, but our further discoveries were so sensational that this barely merits a footnote. Restoration of magical power - even temporarily; some sort of arcane reservoir built into the structure? - resulting in parts of the Builder network engaging in autonomous repair is certainly fascinating, and I think improves our chances of discovering more about their interconnected network (or "inter-net" if you will) of structures, but more importantly raises some profound questions. 

 How does it perform the repairs? How does it "know" what to repair? What else does it know? Can it learn? And what, exactly, is doing all this "knowing" and "learning" - is there a centralised knowledge processor? Are there tiny subunits, like a swarm of ants, and if so is something directing them? Can we somehow talk to the inter-net - and what might it say in response?

 For now I have no answers, and so I move on.

 Since the arrival of the first expedition at Entatratrashan the site has been happily adopted by the gnomes of Riverglade. They seem friendly and approachable enough but I fear their enthusiasm outweighs both their commitment to scientific principles and, indeed, their self-preservation. We must maintain good diplomatic relations with the people of Riverglade; sufficiently irate gnomes could make it difficult or impossible to access the site and - as should be clear from Birel's description of what we found - Entatratashan is absolutely key to our ability to understand and access the Builders' network.

 I find myself slightly nonplussed by the decision of the first expedition to abandon the artifacts they found at the site rather than bring them back for further study. There is certainly an argument to be made in favour of leaving archaeological sites unaltered and I don't want to introduce a culture of blaming and second-guessing other research teams to our communal and co-operative endeavour... but perhaps a slightly more acquisitive attitude could prevail in future?

 In any case the items, like the tower itself, are now essentially claimed by the gnomes of Riverglade. This includes the only violet bolt so far discovered, without which the transport device cannot function. Since the gnomes do not yet have orange or red bolts, they in turn cannot operate the transporter without the assistance of researchers from the Valley.

 This interdependence may foster co-operation, or resentment - it is too soon to tell. It is nonetheless a complication that must be taken into account as we proceed; some gnomish participation in our endeavours is likely to be insisted-upon, and at some point the gnomes may wish to launch their own expeditions without our participation. I do not encourage this line of thought, and I shall lay out some reasons as to why later on.

 The devices as listed by Birel include:

- A "torch" or fire-producing implement powered by a yellow Conjuration bolt. Like some similar magics the fire produces little heat when initially conjured, to avoid harming the user, but once thrown or otherwise released from the mechanism it burns normally for a flame of its size. This could be used as a short-ranged offensive option.

- A shield of flickering green energy powered by a green Abjuration bolt. As I am not skilled with the use of such  items I cannot say whether or not it presents an advantage over the standard wood/metal disc - perhaps one of the warriors might like to assess it? If it seems useful and you are persuasive, you may be able to convince the gnomes to let you "field-test" it.

- A projected force device, powered by a red Evocation bolt, that seems likely to be a weapon. I tested this briefly and it seems to emit a narrow straight-line blast of magical force sufficient to chip solid stone. I chose not to make more elaborate tests so as not to over-excite my audience of gnomish "scientists", and to make it less obvious that I had not the slightest intention of leaving behind a red bolt.

 A less emotional observer might argue that a few accidental bodily perforations, fatal or no, might encourage the Rivergladians to treat the Builder artifacts with rather more respect and care than they presently do - but for myself I would prefer not to be the enabler of such painful lessons.

 For this reason I have little hard data on the weapon's range and effectiveness compared to, say, a crossbow. More testing - perhaps away from an audience of amateur enthusiasts - is certainly warranted.

 The expedition to Entatratradesh attempted to bypass potentially hostile kobold settlements by travelling along the top of the ravine in the hope that we could climb down once we reached our destination, but the steady deepening of the ravine makes this impractical. It would require significant lumbering, engineering and construction activity to produce any remotely viable winch/pulley system, and even then I would be wary of trusting such a device with descents of a thousand feet or more.

 Entry to the ravine floor was made as unobtrusively as possible, and we proceeded - as per advice from the gnomes - in the morning sunlight as much as possible. Avoiding or destroying the "shrieker" mushrooms - they will react to living creatures within approximately 30 feet, so use ranged attacks if the necessity arises - is essential to passing by without being noticed by indigenous kobolds, who seem to live in narrow passages in the rock. Since they are presumed to be hostile, this is likely to result in a fight. 

 Based on our experience with the giant spider at the power station, creatures larger than gnomes or halflings should avoid trying to fight in the tunnels, and smaller warriors should be alert to the possibilities of being lost, cut off, ambushed or affected by booby traps if they try to engage the kobolds in their homes.

 The multi-legged mechanical constructs - I shall refer to them as "guardians", for brevity, since they were presumably originally created to guard Entatratradesh - are mobile, dangerous combatants both at range and in melee thanks to their spear-like weaponry. They also have the capacity to project a dazzling cone of light that blinds its targets for a few seconds - if faced with guardians researchers should avoid gathering in groups where possible.

 Since the guardians contained blue and orange bolts (one of each, per machine) we decided that rather than risk pressing on and being attacked by further guardians or the kobolds - by now certainly aware of our presence - we would accept our good fortune and retreat back up the ravine. In truth I think we were all eager to see what Entatratashan would yield with the proper keys!

 Birel's account has already revealed that my hypothesis regarding instantaneous magical transport was correct; the Builders could travel instantly across their inter-net more or less at will. 

 When activated, the six varicoloured bolts all twist so that the point at their head face towards a point on the ring corresponding to 01232b - or Entatratashan. It seems likely that each builder installation has a six-digit designation that serves as both name and, as far as the transport network is concerned, co-ordinates.

 Rather than creating the portal or glowing gate of current general magical practice the device is a "transporter" type (Some Modalities Of Conjuration-Based Transport; LaForge, Barclay et al, TAW Press) - once activated by a touch, a connection is formed between the current location and the intended destination. A magically projected voice confirms the destination, and for a short time afterwards any object or being in or entering the circle vanishes, reappearing - subjectively instantly - at the destination.

 One destination was available from Entatratashan; Taurtaikatanur (242629) proved to be a much larger version of the facility we had just left. Was it busier, a more central part of the network? Does it have more capacity? Is there another reason why such facilities are not uniform? Although Taurtaikatanur's transporter proved to be active, the lights were not on. I suspect that Taurtaikatanur is far enough away across the network that it is not supplied from our "Temple of Power" but from a different one - perhaps the large building visible from the terrace? - that is running at a reduced level of function for some reason. If we can improve function, will more destinations become available? For that matter, if we increase the energy available to Entatratashan, will it be possible to reach more installations from there?

 Three destinations were available from Taurtaikatanur - back to Entatratashan; another point almost adjacent on the ring "map" that I suspect will prove to be Entatratradesh; and a third, entirely unknown destination that - although deeply tempted - we forbore to explore, reasoning that we had learned so much already that we owed it to our colleagues to carry our findings back to the Valley.

 Having returned safely to Entatratashan we were questioned quite insistently by the gnome elder, Dimble, as to what we had discovered. Reasoning that subterfuge was likely to harm our future diplomatic relationship with Riverglade we explained the existence of the transporter, and took him on a brief trip to Taurtaikatanur as demonstration.

 Although he seemed persuaded by our concerns regarding unrestrained exploration of the network, and agreed to keep the existence of the network quiet for now, his inability to avoid a snowball-related prank suggests to me that he will in reality be unable to stop himself telling his fellows all about the - admittedly fascinating - new discovery. The residents of Riverglade do seem quite motivated by novelty, and the status and attention Dimble may command as the only local to have travelled through trans-dimensional space is likely to be too great a temptation.

 Accordingly it will be wise, before the next expedition sets out, to come up with not merely a policy on the use of the transporter - recall if you will that we require the violet bolt from the gnomes just as they require the orange and red bolts from us - but also compelling arguments as to why. I suggest we begin to discuss the matter now.

 First, a wider concern. The Builders were clearly an extremely sophisticated society, magically and technologically far in advance of our own - and they are gone, at least locally. We do not know why. We do not know what happened to them. The presence of builder skeletal remains at the Temple of Power suggests a relatively sudden breakdown in society - otherwise the bodies would surely have been removed, on either spiritual or hygiene grounds - but beyond that we have little to go on.

 The lake we could see from the terrace of Taurtaikatanur had glassy, melted-looking rock around the shores and a shape that reminds me of the blast patterns of certain Evocation spells - but on a vastly more impressive and terrifying scale. The foliage has returned and the crater itself has filled with water so the discharge clearly occurred a long time ago, but consider that - unless the blast was caused by some natural phenomenon as yet unsuspected - it was caused either by the Builders themselves, or by some enemy.

 The prospect of meeting entities that could wield such shattering power - or of other beings that could destroy such entities - should send a chill down the spine of anyone giving the matter even passing consideration.

 This is to say nothing of the prospect of plague, infestation, psychic malaise, self-replicating hegemonising swarms or memetic incursion - all theoretically possibilities for the apparent abandonment of the Builder network, and all likely to prove utterly devastating for a comparatively simple society such as our own.

 We must therefore ask ourselves: do we even want to continue exploring the lost Builder relics?

 If so, what precautions can we take to minimise exposure of our society to the terrifying dangers that may well lurk somewhere on the inter-net? What of the impact on the people of Riverglade, of Klippika, the herdspeople said to cross the plains in the summer? The Dwarf caravans (and inmplied Dwarven communities) that visit Riverglade?

 You may see now why I am leery of encouraging the enthusiastic but incautious exploration of the Riverglade gnomes. These are discussions we must have, before it is too late. I invite contributions from all.

-Tagariel

[Evie]

You're a Wizard, so can you look in The Bumper Book Of Magic or some similar book and find a spell that could make something repair itself?

[Rory Cullen]

On Wednesday, 14 August 2019 16:38:57 UTC+1, Evie wrote:

You're a Wizard, so can you look in The Bumper Book Of Magic or some similar book and find a spell that could make something repair itself?

 There's only one common spell that deals directly with repair - a cantrip called "Mending", which will repair small simple items.

 "Unseen Servant" will create a semi-autonomous magical entity that is capable of basic repairs, amongst other simple tasks.

 There are also creative uses of spells such as "Heat Metal" or "Stone Shape" that might be used to effect repairs in a pinch, and I suspect skilled Transmuters can achieve similar results without use of a specific spell. 

There may also be rare spells that fix specific items, but they would not be found in the - ahem - Bumper Book Of Magic, as you term it. I suspect that few spellcasters master the degree of magical facility to create such a spell alongside the depth of artisanal skill to understand the necessity. Additionally, it's not that much more difficult - comparatively speaking - to create something outright, rather than alter an existing form.

 However all this is somewhat tangential to my point: all these spells require a caster, a mind to direct them. If a Builder is not present - and we assume they are not, for the moment - who sets the repair in motion, and directs it to do what it does?

 I do not yet have an answer, but the question intrigues me.

-Tagariel