Enchanting

Table of Contents

Enchanting is the major way of performing passive magic and consist of attaching magic to an object so as to confer it special properties of its own. Basic enchantments are taught in all schools and can therefore be performed by all citizens of the empire. Complex enchantments, however, are the specialty of enchanters.

What are enchantments?

Steps: Enchantments are not quick magic but take time to be cast so that the magic can be properly shaped in all of its complexity before being attached to the object to be enchanted.
Forming: While fancy "magic words" can be uttered to help with focus and this is the way enchanting is taught at school, professional enchanters consider this a sign of amateurism. Real magic is done mentally, either entirely for people with good visualisation or by following pre-written instruction and schematics.
Attaching: In simpler enchantment, either the magic can be simply thrown at the target, or the enchantment contains a "glue" element to make them stick together. However, such enchantment degrade over time, with the magic twisting—with potentially dangerous consequences—or simply fading. In order to avoid this, anchors in the form of runic diagrams are placed on the target and the enchantments are linked to them.

Recent evolutions in the field

Gigantic architecture: Traditional anchors are runic diagrams traced with metals on top or inside jewellery and weapons. However, in an attempt to sustain enchantments of greater complexity, the runic diagrams were instead transformed into gigantic architecture that require a team of hundreds of expert to enchant, resulting in a boost of collaborations in the field.
Mass production: Mass production has been invented to craft traditional artefacts. This has been achieved by decomposing each element required in the creation of the physical object, its running diagram, and its enchanting. Machines powered by magic anchored in plants created the object and diagram, and humans cast the enchantment. Because they only have to cast the same simplified enchantment, non-expert mages can be trained to do this.
Organic magic: Based on the use of the metal atoms inside living cells to shape running diagrams, thus anchoring the magic inside plants and fungi such as domi moss. Methods from mass production are then used to decompose the steps required to cast the enchantment so as to be able to do so separately on a small area of the plant, with each small enchantment joining together to create an extremely complex one.

Place of enchanters in society

In the past

Previously each town had at least one enchanters, with them necessary for crafting all objects used in daily life.

Top enchanters were doubling as rune master to fully design and enchant artefacts by themselves.

Enchanter was an important job but not always prestigious

Nowadays

Mass production has taken away all small enchanting jobs.

Organic magic has greatly increased the work of rune masters and fully separated the field from enchanting.

Enchanters have rarefied and as a result increased in prestige.

Hélène frowned as she focused all of her attention on the shape of her magic. It had reached such a complexity that she was unable to visualise it all in her mind at the same time, and so she was forced to keep a finger on her notes to follow alongside the schematic there.
Her finger reached a new section, as subtly indicated by an enormous red cross. She exhaled slowly before pushed one side of the magic against the locket placed in front of her and its runic diagram. The metal vibrated as the magic made contact, and a second later that corner of the complex magical web was absorbed inside.
Only a dozen more such corners to go and she would have a fire ball locket. Always an indispensable when getting ready to head into enemy territory!

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Fields of magic Mineral vs organic magitech · Taboo magic and the dangerous mutated animals it creates · Enchanting · Runic diagrams · Herbonumenology—healing with magic-anchoring plants and fungi Materials Domi moss—the carnivorous household moss · Lime wood in magical artefacts Magitechs Communication hub · Fixed wards, clothes wards, and portable wards · Adjustable house technology · Magic reservoirs · Flying carriages · Programmed magic · Languages of the empire and translation magic · Magicless techs