| augur | 
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| augur |
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Posted by beam on August 12, 1999 at 19:07:49:
Hello,
New skill idea. Augur or augury. Would work similiarly to the locate spell.
Could be done so that you need certain materials to use the skill, or it
could use something immovable on the mud. Or it could be made like a
local weather event, ie, 'a flock of birds takes off as you approach'
augur beam, you determine through you divination that Beam is located in
the druids grove.
Heres the definiton of Augur:
1. A religious official among the Romans, whose duty it was to predict
future events and advise upon the course of public business, in accordance
with omens derived from the flight, singing, and feeding of birds, the
appearance of the entrails of sacrificial victims, celestial phenomena,
and other portents.
2. Hence extended to: A soothsayer, diviner, or prophet, generally; one
that foretells the future.
Heres some uses of the term that may lend historical credibility.
1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 115 The Phrygians, Cilicians, and Arabians were
very skilfull augurs, or diviners by the flight of birds.
1549 Hooper Commandm. vi. Wks. (1852) 327 There were some called augures,
that by observation of the birds of the air..made men believe they knew
things to come.
1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. ii. 37 What say the Augurers?
1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 68 Then did the Priest divide the
intrails, that so he might make his augurism.
1618 Bolton Florus i. v. 14 Hence the Augurship became sacred among the
Romans.
1612 Drayton Polyolb. xii. 206 From their flight strange auguries shee
drew.
c1400 Mandeville xv. 167, I have seen of Paynemes and Sarazines, that men
clepen Augurynes, that..wolde telle us the prenosticaciouns of thinges that
felle aftre.
Also other forms of the same thing:
Pyromancy- divination by the study of fire
Geomancy- divination by the study of the earth
Hydromancy- divination by the study of water or waves
Crystallomancy- divination by the study of crystals
Necromancy- The pretended art of revealing future events, etc., by means
of communication with the dead; more generally, magic, enchantment,
conjuration.
-mancy
a terminal element, repr. OF. -mancie, late L. -mant_a, Gr. _______
divination, f. ___________ to prophesy, f. _0____ prophet, diviner.
Some of the words with this ending go back to compounds recorded in
classical or post-classical Greek, as chiromancy, necromancy, ornithomancy,
pyromancy; others appear in late or med.Lat., and represent regularly
formed compounds which prob. existed in late Gr., or were formed by
persons familiar with that language, as geomancy, hydromancy; others have
been formed after the revival of Greek learning on assumed Gr. types, as
crystallomancy, lithomancy.
Oh, yah I finally got the Oed on cd. hehe can you tell?