Well reading through the eqemu site, apparently the cheesy way around all the c++ coding is to make "auras" in perl however they would go in main buff window or something...
2.) The unknown spell effect - this requires C++ knowledge to fix(and what Chaos was talking about). If you wanted to make auras function 100% then you would need to do a shit load of work, not only C++ coding but also figure out the opcodes and shit for the aura window.
3.) Me - If you just want auras to work in a hackish way, which is pulse an effect on nearby allies or mobs, this can be accomplished easily using the perl spell coding. Of course they won't go to the aura window, but making them work 95% of the way they do on live is quite easy with perl.