Prayer bead
General information
Introduced to Elanthia on March 18th of 2001, prayer beads are a method by which a Cleric can gain Devotion while learning Mech Lore and Scholarship. Non-Clerics may also carve beads, but the difficulty is roughly triple to quadruple what it would be for a Cleric. In order to create a prayer bead, a few items are needed:
- A wood shaper
- A carving knife
- Some Holy water
- The Bless spell
- A prayer bead chain (optional)
- A prayer bead primer (optional, but must be used to learn Scholarship.)
Supplies
Supplies can be purchased from wandering sellers in Dirge, Riverhaven, Therenborough, Shard, Aesry, Mer'Kresh, Ratha, and the Vela'tohr Valley. The Theren Cleric Shop also sells unique material blocks. The cost doesn't change across provinces, but the currency changes depending on the province of the seller. Below is the list of items the bead sellers have for sale.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| A carving knife | 200 K/L/D |
| A wood shaper | 300 K/L/D |
| A silver chain | 500 K/L/D |
| An onyx block | 150 K/L/D |
| An ebony block | 100 K/L/D |
| A crystal block | 250 K/L/D |
Primers
Primers can be purchased for the neutral, light and dark aspects -- the difficulty of creating any given bead depends on the aspect and type of wood you're carving. Neutral is the easiest, light is medium difficulty and dark is hardest to carve. Neutral aspect primers have 5 pages, light aspect primers have 7 pages, and dark aspect primers have 10 pages. Primers can be purchased from the same vendors who sell bead carving supplies. The cost doesn't change across provinces, but the currency changes depending on the province of the seller. Below is a list of available primers.
Neutral Primer: 250 Kronars/Lirums/Dokoras
Light Primer: 500 Kronars/Lirums/Dokoras
Dark Primer: 750 Kronars/Lirums/Dokoras
| Neutral | Light | Dark |
|---|---|---|
| Raven | Welkin | Raccoon |
| Unicorn | Cow | Adder |
| Wolf | Owl | Shrew |
| Panther | Nightingale | Shrike |
| Boar | Wolverine | Centaur |
| Ox | Magpie | Weasel |
| Cobra | Kingsnake | Viper |
| Dolphin | Albatross | Shark |
| Ram | Donkey | Coyote |
| Cat | Dove | Spider |
| Wren | Phoenix | Heron |
| Lion | Mongoose | Goshawk |
| Scorpion | Jackal | Vulture |
Non-pantheon beads, such as triquetra, can be carved.
Materials
Materials that can be carved, from easiest to hardest:
- Wood
- Pine
- Apple
- Maple
- Spruce
- Birch
- Fir
- Mahogany
- Willow
- Ash
- Crystal
- Alder
- Elm
- Hickory
- Redwood
- Walnut
- Oak
- Cherry
- Teak
- Rosewood
- Onyx
- Cedar
- Ebony
- Yew
- Mistwood
- Osage
- Bloodwood
- Copperwood
- Silverwood
Materials of unknown difficulty:
- Deobar
- Amber
- Acanth
- Jade
- Saffron Topaz
Making the block
Unless you have a great deal of money, you'll want to make your own block from which to start. First FORAGE LIMB or STICK at a place like outside of the Northeast Gate of Crossing -- if you have the Foraging skills, you may forage a limb or stick of any wood; however, whether or not you'll be able to successfully carve the block will depend on your Mechanical Lore skill.
- SPRINKLE VIAL ON MY LIMB or STICK (of holy water)
- PREP BLESS, then CAST MY LIMB or STICK
- Draw your knife and CARVE MY LIMB or STICK WITH MY KNIFE
- Continue to CARVE MY LIMB or STICK WITH MY KNIFE until you have your block.
Making the bead
If you study your primer before carving the bead, you have the potential to learn scholarship from completing the bead, though it is optional and makes the bead harder to complete if you don't read the primer. For a Cleric to carve a bead without a primer it takes approximately 60 ranks of mech lore for the neutral gods, 100 mech lore for the light gods, and 140 ranks of mech lore for dark gods.
After some testing about studying the primer, it appeared that I was able to successfully study a neutral primer with 47 in Scholarship and an intelligence of 13.
To make a bead, follow the below process:
- OPEN MY PRIMER
- STUDY MY PRIMER (On successful page study, continue to #3).
- TURN MY PRIMER
- Continue steps 2 and 3 until you've completed the primer.
- Get your block and wood shaper and SHAPE <block> TO <animal>
- Repeat until the block breaks or you complete your prayer bead.
Appraising the bead
Appraising a bead will let you determine the quality of your carved bead:
You are completely positive that a wood adder bead is of exemplary quality for its material type, and poor quality overall.
The quality of the material type reflects the skill of the carver. From the least successful carving to the best:
- poor
- average
- good
- fine
- exemplary
The overall quality of the bead reflects the skill of the carver as well as the quality of the material itself. Certain materials cap out at certain levels. For example, a wood bead will never have more than poor overall quality, no matter how skilled the carver. Only copperwood, silverwood and bloodwood can obtain flawless overall quality. From lowest to highest quality:
- poor
- decent
- average
- good
- superb
- flawless
Storing and using beads
Once the bead is complete you can PUT BEAD ON MY CHAIN with each chain holding 10 beads. Chains can be worn on the wrist.
When you've completed your bead, travel to consecrated ground -- the Crossing Chapel for instance -- and kneel. Remove the chain and type: MEDITATE MY CHAIN
The devotion gained from a bead when used is dependent upon the quality for its material type and its overall quality.