Need ideas for enchanted mundane items.

[psychotick]

Hi,

I'm about half way through my second Wizard at Law novella and am looking for some ideas as to mundane items a lawer / investigator might carry, with useful magical enchantments on them.

To give a little background, my lawyer, Thomas Crow, is an urban Londoner who practices law both in the real world and the Circle.In the first book I gave him a watch that was spelled to show whether someone he was interviewing was speaking the truth and their emotional state, and a bunch of rings with useful spells on them as well. In this book he now has a laptop which does a heck of a lot, a briefcase that can reveal a persons thoghts and memories, cufflinks of persuasion etc. I'm trying to keep him away from the wizardly cliches of wands and pointy hats.

If I use any people's ideas I'll besure to mention that in the acknowledgements in the book.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers Greg.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Tricky.

The problem is setting limits to the things the enchantments can do.

I'm having trouble relating the watch (as in timepiece) to its magical properties. I could understand a watch that affected time in some way, but why would it be a lie detector?

Laptops that do a heck of a lot implies that the spells are unrelated to normal function and to me seems a bit too handy. IE lumping more magical functions into one device means one all in one basket and two makes it look too much like a Swiss army knife.

In other words if the spells can be attached to anything why bother with a 'device' at all? Just attach it to the bloke's hand or belt.

 

[hopewrites]

Personally I think the more mundane an object the more likely it is to be enchanted. pencils, pens, tic-tacks. MM! Tic-tacks (you know the breath mints in the clacky plastic case) that make your presence perfectly plausible.
there is one that might be punny, Red Tape: placed over latches makes them nearly impossible to open, across doorways only the most skilled bureaucrats may enter with ease.
A day planer that tells the future might be helpful, but I wouldn't want one. (its skills might be limited to the kind of notes one might enter into a day planer)
Depending on the kind of law he practices I could come up with more.

 

[Pyan]

How about a pen that writes the truth, even if the user is trying to write lies?

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

If you REALLY want to get outlandish, enchant the fork he uses during his lunch break each day to keep his food hot.


Actually, I was about to suggest an enchanted pen but Pyan beat me to the ink.

 

[Pyan]

That's my enchanted computer, that lets me know what people are thinking 5,000 miles away...

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I thought your tentacles did that.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I would think some enchanted clothing might be handy, say as a "suit of invisibility", or shoes that lead you to people you need to talk to, places you need to go, or things you need to find. That would be for the investigator side. Perhaps the lawyer would need a suit that gives him the aura of truth and justice, for the courtroom.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

As I have my day job in a law firm, I would say the most useful things would be:

Automatic dictation, straight to the page (and no, ipads aren't good enough yet) or gloves that enable him to super speed type;

Reading glasses that enable him to absorb immense documents instantly (with all the affidavits, legislation and so on that lawyers have to trawl through); and

A briefcase that always has the document he needs in it.

The problem with anything 'of persuasion' or anything that may make a jury or judge more disposed to take his side would be wildly unethical, and he may have issues with such things on a professional level (or even, which I think would be awesome, go up against an opponent who has no such scruples).

The truth stuff is fine, as the truth has nothing to do with the outcomes of cases (unfortunately), however much Tom Cruise wants it/ can't handle it. However, it can give him an edge in that he may be able to change a line of questionning and so on to focus on the 'truth' that he has learnt. It doesn't outright change opinions so he wins.

I have one question though- why he is a lawyer if he has all this cool stuff? There are much more effective ways to achieve justice outside a courtroom. Though it is largely my cynicism raising its head again, any western legal system, regretfully, has very little to do with actual justice.

One last thing on truth- one can only ever know the 'truth' that the witness perceives it as. Best example is if one asks an atheist or a christian whether God exists, one gets two wildly opposing 'truths'. Everything is perspective, and people are so easily led by counsel to fill in memory 'blanks' that most testimonies are a waste of time. It may be more effective if he has something that allows him to experience the witness' memory.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Guys,

Great ideas so far. The pen that writes the truth is fun and someone else suggested it in another thread. Only problem I have is trying to work out how to plant it on a suspect etc. And I agree the cufflinks of persuasion are unethical, which is why they are never allowed to be used in a Circle hearing, and there are rules about the magic that can be used in the mundane world as well. Besides, my MC is highly ethical or else he wouldn't have been appointed as an advocate. (It's one of the things that worries my about my characters in general - I find it very hard to write them as bad and Thomas Crow is no exception.)

The spells on the laptop are largely extensions on what a laptop can do normally - so it doesn't fly or levitate things. It has a holo like projection function which it can show 3d maps on and which people can walk through pointing etc, can use a camera to show / record truth / emotional break down of an entire crowd, cna show various magics in effect in the world around, and a few other things. Basically I decided that on a laptop if you can write a spell down and read it out, then you can convert that spell into a program and icon,and then run that spell simply by clicking the icon. Why should you need a dusty old spellbook in the 21st century after all?

Thanks.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Toby Frost]

I'd have thought a magic wig that tells him which court to go to at what time would be good, as well as a robe that automatically straightens itself and doesn't slide off his shoulders (I'm assuming he's a barrister here). Perhaps a pair of glasses that enable him to see through waffle (very useful for statements of case), and a set of statute-books that can be commanded to turn to specific pages?

For a judge, a robe that can silence unruly defendants so they have to speak in turn, and a tea-machine that can be activated by thought alone (10 minutes before the end of the hearing) would be useful.

 

[Phyrebrat]

How about a brief backstory to why the item in question is enchanted. I don't know about the item itself, but you could have some thing that was made from the wood of the Tyburn Gallows, or metal from the executioner's axe that was used to execute King/Queen X

That gives a bit more gravity to why the item is so special.

Perhaps?

 

[psychotick]

Hi Phyrebrat,

Actually he enchants the items himself, but I haven't precluded the idea that he might buy some enchanted objects from other sources.

Toby - Is tardiness and geographic embarrasment a particuler problem among the legal fraternity?

Cheers.

 

[paranoid marvin]

A note pad that writes it's own dictations/memos when interviewing.

A brolly that could become an emergency broomstick/wand/weapon (depending on the world it is set in) - or even as an emergency parachute/glider if falling from a height.

A trenchcoat that camouflages the wearer against any background

A cigarette lighter that lightens the darkness...

Or a pair of spectacles with night-sight vision

A small familiar/enchanted animal (dormouse or similar) who lives in his briefcase and can help him...

Or how about a 'bug' (cockroach/ladybird etc) that can surreptitiously be 'planted' to hear private conversations, and who will later relay to him what they heard

Or he could have what looks like an ordinary London a-z map which also shows hidden/magic passageways

 

[Toby Frost]

Finding out which court you're in at what time is quite tricky, and barristers certainly seem to keep very careful diaries. Some of the older London courts, in particular the Royal Courts of Justice, are large and confusing (the RCJ seems to have been designed by Mervyn Peake).

Incidentally, depending on how seriously you want the background to work, it's worth noting that the England/Wales (not British - Scotland has its own legal system) does work slightly differently from the New Zealand model. I'm told the distinction in NZ between barrister and solicitor is less clear.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Toby,

In New Zealand our lawyers are both barristers and solicitors. (They're multi-tasking which probably explains why most of them are women!).

Cheers, Greg.

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

A note pad that writes it's own dictations/memos when interviewing.

A brolly that could become an emergency broomstick/wand/weapon (depending on the world it is set in) - or even as an emergency parachute/glider if falling from a height.

A trenchcoat that camouflages the wearer against any background

A cigarette lighter that lightens the darkness...

Or a pair of spectacles with night-sight vision

A small familiar/enchanted animal (dormouse or similar) who lives in his briefcase and can help him...

Or how about a 'bug' (cockroach/ladybird etc) that can surreptitiously be 'planted' to hear private conversations, and who will later relay to him what they heard

Or he could have what looks like an ordinary London a-z map which also shows hidden/magic passageways

That familiar animal thing seems the best idea so far IMO.

Cat for sneaking into places etc. It would also have to talk, but you'll need to avoid the

"What's that Skippy? The body was thrown down the well?"

 

[Dave]

How about a pen that writes the truth, even if the user is trying to write lies?

Actually, I was about to suggest an enchanted pen but Pyan beat me to the ink.

The pen that writes the truth is fun and someone else suggested it in another thread.

Would you believe I was also going to suggest it. Which either means that it is a damn good idea, or else it is hackneyed and obvious. Take your pick.

 

[Fantastyfan]

I really like the concept of a lawyer wizard. It sounds like your main character is a bit over powered. I kind think having items that give him the exact truth is a little too much. The laptop that shows the truth and records the truth seems too powerful. Lord of the Rings wouldn't be a great story if Frodo and Gandalf had just ridden one of those bird things at the end all the way to Mordor.
If I were writing something like this, I would give my character something that would help him get to the truth and win the case but not directly. I think that writers should put up obstacles in their way that makes it tough to get to their goal, and only give them help at critical moments.

I like the idea of an emotional reader. It still leaves the mystery that they may be lying very well or are stressed and that's why they failed the test. I suggest maybe some spectacles or an earpiece that can tell Tom if the jury is convinced of his or his opponent's argument. The speech to text spell is another good one too. He can use it when finding his own proof.

Also, what about other wizards? Can they use all the same spells? Can the criminals use spells to counter Tom's?

That's my two cents. You may have written really well and given it plenty of drama while he has those powers. I haven't read it so I wouldn't know.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Fantasyfan,

Actually for Thomas Crow I tried hard to make him less powerful then the wizards I've written elsewhere. I wanted him to rely more on his wits when working a case etc. But truth reading I thought was an essential tool for a wizard lawyer. Since his clients (so far) are innocent of all crimes, knowing that they're telling him the truth doesn't really advance his case very far, but motivates him to help them.

Cheers, Greg.