Magic Gems and Totems
Enchanted Gems and Totems
The Magic that most people encounter takes the form of enchanted gems or intricately carved enchanted totems. The more powerful the spell, the bigger the gem or totem and the more intricate the carvings. Bigger gems with intricate carvings serve to attract the attention of Fairies and help the enchantment's power, longevity, and recharge rate.
Since the power of an enchantment is related to the strength of the Magic and Magic is tied to the Fairies, great effort will be made to keep the enchanted item clean and beautiful so it will shine with Fairy dust. Often people will place flowers at their town's enchantments or surround their town's enchantments with gardens or other art. Enchanted gems will be carefully polished and any runic carvings will be brushed off and cleaned as part of the morning ritual.
Adventurers will often have at least one enchanted item like a small camp light or a binding rune of sharpness on a weapon.
Creating Enchanted Gems and Totems
A mage can create an enchanted gem or totem that is usable by anyone for any spell he has gained proficiency in that is at least 2 levels below the level they can cast at.
So a mage who can cast level 3 spells can create an enchantment for a level 1 spell.
In addition, the mage must specifically research the specialized ability to cast the spell as an enchantment.
The requirements to enchant the spell will vary by spell, but usually involve more powerful versions of the ingredients normally used to prepare the spell in question, although the higher the level the mage, the easier it will be to perform the enchantment.
See the spell lists for more information on enchantment.
Using an Enchanted Gem or Totem
Enchantments are designed so that the user does not have to have a connection to magic in order to use, and the effect does not require additional materials.
The mage can create the enchantment with any kind of trigger, but usually the trigger will relate closely to the purpose of the enchantment.
For example, a simple glow gem might require it to be shaken to activate it. While a water purification totem might activate by stirring it in water.
Some cruel mages will require the user to yell curse words or to place the totem in filth to activate.
A mage will usually be able to tell what spell is enchanting an object and how to activate/de-activate it unless the casting mage makes an effort to make the activation obscured (obscured in a magic/detecting sense, it can still be obvious via labeling or other clear purpose activation).
The duration of the effect will vary by both the skill of the mage and by the quality of the initial ingredients used to create the enchantment but will rarely last longer than the normal duration of the original spell.
How long the enchantment takes to recharge will depend on the local mana conditions as well as the quality of the gem or totem enchanted. A larger and more flawless gem will charge faster than a carelessly carved rune on a random stick.
Because enchantments store magic similar to a battery, they can be used even when the magic level is too low to normally use the spell. However, if taken into a lower magic area, the bound spell will discharge quicker and may not be able to be activated if there is not enough local magic to "kick-start it".
If taken into a magic depleted area, the bound spell will eventually evaporate.