User:Hithrael/Enchanting

The following article contains player-created lore or theories. It is not necessarily an accurate reflection of official game lore.

Stories of Lunar Enchantment

Mirkik Sokis

Smoke swirls around a fire with meat roasting above it. A young girl sitting upon the lap of a shaman wearing beaded leathers asks, “Where does your glowing light come from?” as she points at a small sphere of light circling around his head. With a smile, he replies to her.

“The Dwarves long ago taught us this secret of the star-stones. Perhaps they can tell you more of it.” He then half-turns towards a stout figure who has appeared at the edge of the camp. Only the glint of the firelight off the figure’s eyes is visible.

A deep voice issues from the figure, “Indeed… it be the dark sight, also known as the ‘Mikrik Sokis’ in the tongue o’ my people. I ken be tellin’ you tha lore o’ it right enough.” He then steps closer into the firelight, drawing his hood back to reveal his brown hair and long braided beard. Sitting before the fire, he tears free a piece of meat from the spit then reaches into his pack and tosses a peach to the young girl before gesturing her closer.

She walks over, unafraid, and settles down in his lap. With a chuckle he eats the piece of meat before gazing into the sky and pointing at blazing white star upon the northern horizon. “Long ago, Kertigen crafted a fantastic topaz, as clear as a diamond. It was so brilliant that the light of his forge was caught and purified from its ruddy glare to a bright yellow light. There it glowed for many a year, absorbing and casting out the light.”

“One day, he decided to see what else this gem could do. So he took it out into the skies, and let it absorb the sun’s light. He then returned to his forge and forgot about it. That eve, he heard a commotion and stepped outside to see what it could be. To his surprise, the gem was floating above the ground, and glowing as pure a white as Berengaria’s soul. However, its light soon faded.”

“Pondering this, Kertigen returned to his forge, where he crafted a marvelous silver chain and a peg of gold so pure it was white. He then returned to the gem, only to find that Katamaba’s shadow had caused them gem to go completely black. Muttering, he set aside the chain and peg and went to bed.”

“Well, he had hardly put his head down upon his pillow, before one of his ravens let out a mighty ruckus. Cursing, he stepped outside to see the topaz clutched in its beak, but the raven could not let go. With a swift movement, Kertigen’s hand flashed out and snatched the darkened stone from its beak. As he held it out to the side the light of Xibar and Yavash flowed into the gem, combining to produce a pure light white, similar to what happened when the sun’s rays struck it.”

The girl grins widely at this, her chin covered in juice from the peach.

“Not wanting to lose the light, he quickly took up the peg and chain, and flew into the heavens. There, along the northern horizon he attached the gem. However, he placed to so high in his joy at finding the light again, that it is only visible during the nights after the sun has been long and high in the sky.” The dwarf’s voice fades as he finishes the tale, winking at the shaman.

Frowning, the girl looks up at the dwarf, “But you didn’t say how the stone thing makes light!”

“Right you are lass.” He then chuckles heartily, “Jest makin’ sure you be payin’ attention.”

“Now, long ago in the ancient dwarven fortress of High Hold, dwarves mined the mountains for their wealth, using torches to light the way. In a peaceful time between conflicts, some degree of trade occurred between the Albarians in the distant south, and my peoples in the Hiimarhand Shel. Through this they came into contact with several astrologers who taught them new techniques for scribing astrological symbols onto items.”

“One day, a promising young dwarf, recalled the story of the topaz, and embarked upon the task of seeing if she could replicate to some extent what Kertigen had done. This was not in pride, but in honor to what he had done. The task took her the lifetimes of many humans to complete, some two hundred years.”

“However, it resulted in a topaz that could shed light in dark places, created almost entirely in the same manner as Kertigen’s accidental creation had done. First, a suitable topaz was selected and prepared. Then the symbol of the Shardstar was scribed upon it, allowing it to change light like Kertigen’s gem had. Then it had the sigil of the sun scribed upon it then empowered with magic so it could absorb and hold light. A mage then focuses light into the gem until it is so full of energy that not one more iota can be poured into it.”

“Finally, in order to seal the light in, the dark moon is scribed upon the gem and sealed into place. This then holds the light until it is ready to be used. When the user is ready, they merely have to raise the sokis into the air, and the bindings of Katamba fill fade, allowing the light to pour out. The gem will then follow whoever raised it until its energies are snuffed and the gem fails, the light spent.”

Looking down, the girl has fallen asleep. With a gentle smile, the dwarf picks her up and carries her to a tent where he settles her amongst the furs. Returning to the shaman, he nods before resting a hand upon his shoulder and walking back into the night.

Sigil Scrolls

Several young folks of various races are gathered around a fire, their common theme being the simple robes of apprentices. They appear slightly sqeamish at the sight of a strung up angiswaerd before them, hanging from a pole. On a stump next to the pole is a finely honed knife, a telescope, and a burin.

A broad figure stands beside the dead angiswaerd, sleeves rolled up and his beard tucked into his belt. In one massive hand is held an ornate knife, which he alternates jabbing at the gathered students, and his strung up prey.

"Now this 'ere be an angiswaerd. Mean little bugger, big teeth as you can see," he grabs the lower jaw and yanks it open, revealing rows of sharp teeth. "Ones this size ken swallow an elf whole." He chuckles briefly after this statement, before jabbing at the scales along the angiswaerd's flanks.

"However, for this lesson, the important part are the scales." Grasping the corpse with one hand, he slams the pommel of the knife against its side, and a sheaf of scales fall free. He sets the knife on the stump and grabs the clump, before swiftly breaking a scale free and tossing it to the closest student. He repeats the process once more before tossing the rest into the bushes behind him.

"Now, the first one there, it is entirely intact. Notice how smooth the surface is. No blemishes, or worse yet, cracks along the surface. The second one, as you can see has been broken. It is subtle, but notice the crack across the bottom part of the scale. That makes it worthless." Patiently waiting for the magelings to finish looking, he tosses the broken scale with the clump he had tossed earlier. Holding the perfect scale up in his hand, he taps it once before putting it on the stump.

"Only the latent energies available from observing Xibar carries the necessary force to properly prepare a scale for enchantment." He then drones on about how to properly observe the necessary information from studying a celestial object before picking up both the burin and the scale. "Once you have properly identified Xibar's signature, you then scribe the sigil upon the scale." As his hands swiftly and surely scribe the sigil upon the scale, blue lines flare up. Upon finishing the sigil, he briefly holds the scale so the class can see, the lines rapidly fading into the material.

Placing the burin on the stump, he then graps the knife again, "Carefully cut away the edges of the scale. You need a nice rectangular surface upon which to place your runes. A sloppy job here will harm your ability to fully capture the sigil's significance, and either make the scroll hard to read, or so bad that you can't even read it." With four deft strokes, the dwarf makes a nearly perfect rectangle. He hands out the trimmed scale. "Notice the dimensions. Feel them with your hands and your senses. Cutting it precisely, as that is, best captures the energies."

"Feel as well how rough the surface is. Still feels, and looks like a scale." Receiving it back, he hits it with his knuckle, showing little bend in the scale. "Now, you take your knife, or a hide scraper for those of you who know how to use one, and carefully start smoothing down both sides of the scale." He starts doing this, delicate curls of scale flaking to his feet as he continues talking. "We ultimately are looking for something parchment thin. It needs to be even like parchment as well. No lumps, and particularly no holes in the material."

The class watches as he spends several minutes in silence, trimming away material. Then almost like magic, a thin piece of material is revealed. With deft movements he rolls up the parchment. "And that is how you make a scroll. From here, you can study a celestial body and then scribe the sigil upon the scroll, and gently scorch the name on the outside of the scroll. One thing to keep in mind is that you can study from the scroll at best twice before the energies will be too wasted and the scroll disintegrates. This is less than most scrolls you might purchase from a fine store. However, those cost coin, while these," he taps the scroll, "are free."

Tossing the scroll into the crowd, the dwarf quickly gathers his telescope, burin, and knife, and stows them away. He then sits down, packs his pipe with tobacco, and waits for any students to approach him with questions.