Enchanting Researches, Book One
As Written by Xathvier Calvaradde, Gnomish Enchanter
Prologue:
It thrills me to place quill to parchment and write
this treatise, enlightening mages with my researches.
As a small child, my aptitudes lay with the
mechanical and magical arts. I studied and
experimented, always dabbling with runes and stones,
and by the time I came of age I had already become
well known as a creator of magical devices. Yet like
all youngsters, I longed for travel, and with my
assistant Bhothfin, I eventually journeyed to
Therengia during the Gorbesh War of 354. Here, while
the fighting ravaged the lands all around, I learned
from all the ancient texts that Throne City's vast
libraries had to offer, and like a sponge I absorbed
as much as I could. Before long, I was well known
among the Moon Mage population as a skilled
Enchanter. I proudly count Councilors Elvaka
Kre'Domar and Erzebet Crowther among my peers.
Enchanting is a glorious art. Normally reserved for
the elite in the guild, the skill has never really
been taught to students. It is viewed as both a lost
ability and an unknown. This writing is intended to
change all of that, and I feel my talents more than
qualify me as an authority on the source material.
Chapter and Lesson One: The Sigils in the Skies.
Throughout the ages, enchanted objects have been held
in high regard. Stories and myths abound, glorifying
the existence of such strangely flawed objects like
Deeder's Lockpick, the horrifying Death Mask of
Tu'yuloa, or the unusual walking Pi'houmun. Every
warrior wants an enchanted weapon, and every mage to
be known as an enchanter. Not all magicians can
achieve this lofty goal since most acts of enchanting
are not only magically draining, but physically
draining as well. Historically, and with the
exception of the Elven arts of Lifesculpting and some
items from pre-Imperial times, only Clerics, War
Mages, and our own Guild of Moon Mages have ever
managed to create any works of note.
Each of these different Guilds have used their own
means to create valued magic items, which is no doubt
linked to their uses of different mana types. For
Moon Mages, we search the skies for our portents, and
it is little different when seeking the nature of
Lunar Enchantment. Enter what we term the sigil.
The keystone of Moon Mage enchantment, sigils are
pictorial representations of the constellations,
drawn to such precise geometric exactness that they
can be used to evoke the raw power of the
constellation upon which they are based. Then why
cannot just anyone with a healthy dose of artistic
talent copy a constellation and start evoking Lunar
magics? A sigil is, by far, more involved than
merely a drawing.
There are a few rare members of our Guild who have
developed their magical senses to such a honed level
of refinement that they can sense details about our
constellations and stellar bodies. A craft learned
and jealously guarded since the years before the
collapse of the Empire, it has been invaluable to
developing enchanting. These mages have learned that
the constellations are not flat, but in fact have
width, height, and depth. Imagine positioning
several gems so that they float in the air, then
walking around them -- our constellations exist in
three dimensions, as do we! Luckily, those who have
been trained in the ways of Lunar Enchanting can
study the constellation or celestial body to briefly
memorize its sigil.
When a sigil is placed on an item, it must be re-
created accurately on a smaller but precise scale,
and it must be drawn in all three dimensions.
Obviously, this cannot be achieved with a simple
quill or pencil, which is why an Enchanter's best
friend is his enchanting burin. The burin, through
the gem in its tip, allows a sigil to be drawn both
upon a target object as well as in the space around
it. Due to this, scribing a sigil is quite a
difficult thing to accomplish, even for those of
simplest design.
The most basic sigils are called Foundation sigils,
and represent a single constellation. If an
enchantment is made with only one sigil, naturally
these types of creations are referred to as
Foundation Enchantments, or Foundation-based.
Similar to the Foundation sigil is the Celestial
sigil, though these types are representations of
heavenly bodies such as the three moons, the sun, or
the thirteen planets. They tend to be more difficult
due to the foreign nature of such objects.
Greater sigils can be made by overlaying Foundation
or Celestial sigils over one another. When two such
sigils are combined, the result is called a
Conjunctive sigil. Some mages like to name these
combinations, though this is not a widely used
practice and owes more to pleasantries and politics
with Clerics than anything else. For example, the
constellation of the Shrew overlaid upon the sigil of
the Vulture has occasionally been referred to as "the
Sigil of Discord." The name actually means nothing,
being derived from theology and owing little to
nothing to the nature of the sigil itself.
Yet more powerful enchantments can be made through
the creation of Trines, which are three Foundation or
Celestial sigils scribed upon one another. These
have historically been named for the creator, but
this practice has fallen out of use in recent times.
Trines are among the most powerful sigil combinations
and are harnessable by only the most adept of mages,
but there is an even more potent type: Grand
Squares, most commonly seen in artifacts of
devastating ability. The notorious sphere known as
the Deceiver which was capable of breaking the
boundaries between the Plane of Abiding and the Plane
of Probability employed no less than three Grand
Squares on each of its three components. This helps
explain why it took over five hundred years to create
as mages capable of such feats are few and far
between.
Once a sigil has been successfully scribed upon an
item, it must be activated. This is done by sending
a jolt of Lunar magic coursing through its design.
Several common spells are handy for this, including
Unleash, Dazzle and Shadows. I would like to warn
practitioners to be fairly cautious, as the choice of
spell can have a direct impact on the quality of the
final enchantment.
Activated sigils must be bound to the device in
question, or else they will soon fade and flicker
away as the sigil loses cohesion. Any Moon Mage who
understands the principle of basic enchanting
knowledge can do this easily enough in fashion
similar to adjusting the power levels in a runestone.
A final note about sigils -- not every combination
results in a usable enchantment, and some may even be
outright detrimental! Recall the lessons learned
about the Construct of Ras'Kon and how its heart of
granite, while similar to the design of a Pi'houmun,
nearly destroyed half of a village when it exploded!
Chapter and Lesson Two: Sigil Scrolls.
Now that we've discussed the nature of sigils, we've
reached the point where most students will quickly
realize the limits to using them. One of the biggest
hurdles is the same we face when observing any
constellation -- the daytime! Sigils, being three
dimensional and therefore so much more than mere
pictures, were effectively impossible to store on
parchment. Weather and timing were all important in
those days, as Enchanters relied on directly viewing
the skies to learn sigils. Overcoming this had
always been something of an enigma until the days
when the Empire was on its last legs and strife was
becoming commonplace. A young Moon Mage, rather than
risk the increasing attacks of brigands and other
lawlessness of the time period, managed to find the
way that we still use today. By scribing the shadow
of the three-dimensional sigil, one could, with a few
mathematical conversions, store sigils on scrolls.
This opened new doors for Lunar Enchanting. Scrolls
could be kept for rainy days and studied from the
safety of an indoor area. Many even took to selling
sigils to younger Moon Mages who were not capable of
learning the sigil directly from the constellation
itself. Even now, the Phelim Club occasionally meets
for the sole purpose of trading sigils and enchanting
tips among its members.
Unfortunately, only a single Foundation or Celestial
sigil can ever be scribed upon a scroll. More than
one sigil simply tears the scroll apart -- a
testament to the power of a sigil if even the shadow
of two can destroy paper!
Chapter and Lesson Three: Predictions in the Palm
of Your Hand
A prime example of how sigils interact with one
another are the devices known commonly as
Constellation Amulets, or Constellation Jewelry. The
name is actually a misnomer, as the enchantment can
manifest itself in forms other than decorative
baubles. One mage I know from Muspar'i seems to
enjoy making these from desert stones while another
on Mer'Kresh is fond of shark teeth. This
versatility proves to be a boon, since the rich often
will pay more for items that are aesthetically
pleasing to their varied senses of style despite the
fact that a "Constellation Ring" might create the
same results as a "Constellation Snail Shell."
The power of Constellation Jewelry is highly
desirable. Such items are enchanted to hold a
singular yet complex matrix that, when activated,
gives the user brief hints about the future. This is
very similar to the process that occurs when a Moon
Mage predicts, and such imbued devices are prized
among those who do not have an astrological advisor
handy.
They are also excellent tools for the Enchanter
himself. I've come across numerous reports and
historical debates about the aforementioned Construct
of Ras'Kon. At the center of this heated argument
among scholars is whether the creator used multiple
jewelries to enhance his own abilities to a level
necessary for the creation of such a monstrosity, or
if he was simply naturally an utter genius.
The constellations of the Wren, Coyote, Phoenix and
Owl are all well suited for beginning a piece of
Constellation Jewelry, though scribed by themselves,
they do nothing. All Constellation Jewelry is, by
its a nature, a Conjunctive sigil -- or in some
cases, a Trine. Vigorously rubbing an incomplete
piece of such jewelry can result in any layered
sigils dissipating, which is handy for those
combinations that simply don't work. If a functional
Conjunctive sigil has been scribed, rubbing will
activate the sigil's astrological magic.
Not all combinations create desirable results.
Experimentation is the student's friend, and I
encourage the effort necessary to learn which
Conjunctive and Trine sigils do what when creating
Constellation Jewelry.
And with these lessons given, I end this first book
in what I hope will be an educational and promising
series of research books. Enchant and reach your
potential!
- Enchanter Xathvier Calvaradde