Inkweaving
Kako produced a slender, modest quill from the scraps of cloth that draped them, and from their body, they gave me the first Ink; I was first mortified that they had bled for me, but they assured me it did not harm them, and that I would find the Ink useful. When I wrote with it, it was smooth and clear, and followed my mind instead of my trembling hand. The ink did not blotch or spill; it seemed every mistake I made, the ink arranged itself on the page to fix it. Kathe smiled and told me the paper it was written upon would not rip, or burn, or decay. Any attempts at doing so proved them correct. It was perfect for my quest; I could continue recording people's lives before their memories were gone, through death or some other tragic incident.- The Book of Lies by Novian Weimer
Basics of Inkweaving
Inkweaving is the art and science of using specialized Ink to create magic within the province Protheroe. It takes intensive training at the Temple of Records, run by the Bloodweavers. One must have a quill or a brush, to direct the Ink, parchment that can handle the Ink's special properties, and of course the Ink itself. Inkweaving is done by creating sigils, or specific symbols made from Weaver; Weaver is a language that was created by Novian in order for others to create custom sigils. The Ink reacts to the shape of the sigil and can manifest in many different ways, including elemental reactions such as summoning water or fire, to creating illusions and changing objects into other items.
Ink
Forms
Ink is the most complicated tool used during Inkweaving. It comes in three forms; liquid, paste, and powder. Liquid Inks can have varying amounts of water in them, which can make them anywhere from clear with color tint to completely opaque. Inks made of paste are used during large-scale printing within the Temple of Records.
Paste Inks are the most stable type of Ink to work on surfaces other than parchment, though it is still an intensive and extremely difficult feat to draw the full power from Ink when it is not used on a parchment medium. Because of this, paste Ink is most often used to create special effects in artworks, or flashy markings on one's skin. Cosmetic magic is often easy to produce and does not require much potency. People in Protheroe often enjoy painting shimmering markings on themselves for aesthetic purposes.
Powder Ink is activated by water, or other similar liquids. These powders are dried and made into inksticks, which is the most popular way of using powder Inks. Insticks are activated with water inside of an inkstone; at times, people will use saltwater, but this is not required and is merely a tradition to honor Kako. Depending on the amount of water used and the time and intensity of grinding the inkstick, Ink can be thin or thick, dark or pale.
Recipes
Ink recipes are similar to mundane ink, however, other than pigment and a binder, magical Inks also need a third component that transform the Inks and draw out their magical properties. Clearcoral is a special kind of Coral that grows within the Protheroe province's ocean; when finely crushed, clearcoral reacts with ink in a way that produces magic, creating Ink. A popular myth about clearcoral is that they were created from Kako's tears when they first heard someone who was lonely speak to them for the first time.
Pigments are created from minerals or plants that are crushed and mixed into the Ink. These create vibrant colors within the Ink, and depending on the pigment they can also change the Ink properties as well. This includes things like flowers making Ink smell sweeter, or minerals like gold making Ink shine brighter. The most common binder to be used in Inks is egg whites or fish glue, but any animal glue can be used as well. Inks are sometimes mixed with other herbs, minerals, or animal byproducts for aesthetic or spiritual purposes. Mixing Inks with ground shells or pearl dust are popular forms of paying tribute to Kako.
Inks can be bound to an Inkweaver by mixing in a drop of their blood; this will restrict the Ink's use to only that Inkweaver. Having the Ink bound can be extremely dangerous, as it means only that Inkweaver can dispel the magic created by the ink. Because of this, binding Ink is highly illegal except specific circumstances, in which case one needs permission from the High Bloodweaver and Protheroe's Council. Inside the Temple of Records, small amounts of Ink can be bound and used to create protection or lock spells for others, though for a high price.
Though there are multiple Ink recipes for different uses in Inkweaving, none is as pure or as indestructible as Kako's own blood.
Grading
Inks are graded in five classes; General potency, specified potency, physical use, metaphysical use, and resilience. General potency grades the Ink on how useful it is with any type of sigil. Specified potency is how well it works with certain sigils and sigil types. Some inks will work just as well with specified sigils as they will with general sigils, but at times a more powerful potency is needed for complicated sigils. Physical and metaphysical use is how well the Ink works for those types of magic. Resilience is how well the Ink and parchment remain in tact; tearing, water damage, burning, and even folding lines can be considered damage. Grading from best to worst is Excellent, Adequate, and Poor.
Parchment
The name "parchment" is not technically accurate, as it's not made from animal hide; instead, it is called parchment to differentiate between regular writing paper and paper used for Inkweaving. Parchment is specially made paper that amplifies the magic of Ink and sigils the most accurately. Other mediums such as cloth or even skin can be used, but Ink becomes more unstable on other mediums and can be extremely difficult to wield. Pers the Inked is to date the only one who has succeeded in using Ink on anything but parchment or parchment stone to its full extent and power.
Creation
Parchment is created by Paperwelders from plants known as paperleaf, which grows abundantly throughout Protheroe. Though this plant also makes very good soup, it is mostly used to create parchment, which is the largest difference between parchment and other papers. The paperleaf was so regularly used for meals that there was a province-wide riot and boycott of parchment creation until farmers were able to get a larger crop by the next season. Saltwater is also used in the parchment-making process, though it's been proven that, like in the creation of Inks, the use of saltwater doesn't effect the potency of the magic produced and is purely tradition.
Area of Effect
Parchments have an area of effect when it is activated with a sigil. A "box" is created over the parchment, which is the same size as the parchment, plus the added height that equals the length of the parchment. This area of effect will always be activated on the side of the parchment that has been marked with sigils. Ink will not work outside this area of effect, and anything inside this area will be influenced by magic; this is why parchments are rolled in order to be stored, as stacking them or filing them flat would layer the areas of effect from each parchment.The art of stacking parchments correctly and effectively can create powerful books which can hold multiple spells at a time within them, able to be activated at any moment by merely opening the page. The area of effect in parchments is amplified when overlapping, meaning that a thick book can cover up to a ten foot cubed area.
For physical uses (magic working on or summoning a physical subject), this means that nothing larger than the size of the parchment will be acted upon. For intangible uses, these boxes of influence create an affect only inside the parchment's reach. Intangible uses for Inkweaving is not often used, as it isn't permanent and will only be useful while inside the influence of the parchment. Parchment sizes can be changed, but becomes more difficult to create the larger it gets. This is often solved by the use of parchment stone, which is a special type of stone that mimics parchment's abilities, though not quite as effectively. It is often used for creating buildings that have a need for spells.
Sigils
Sigils are used for directing the flow of Ink. They were discovered by Novian Weimer, who also discovered the use of Ink in Protheroe. Novian originally created the first sigils through trial and error when he discovered that Ink reacted to the way it was laid on paper. From this he continued on to create Weaver, a visual language that would help create sigils in a much simpler manner. Though creating custom sigils is still difficult, the process has become more streamlined and potent with the Weaver language. The Book of Sigils has an in-depth guide to creating custom sigils, and also has the current list of created sigils. The book is printed in regular ink, so the sigils aren't activated.
Memory Keeping
Originally invented by Frei Anastasio, Memory Keeping is the act of using Inkweaving to record and store memories; the Inkweavers who perform Memory Keeping are called Stoneweavers. Using small, rectangular blocks of of parchment stone, engraved with special sigils that do not use the Weaver language, these stones can be activated with a permanent magic that transforms them into memory stones. These memory stones are capable of reading someone's mind and storing it within the stone, and then translating the memory into words through a quill or brush that an Inkwelder is directing and onto parchment. Though the creation of memory stones is extremely difficult, activating one at each stage is quite simple. Often Stoneweavers will focus purely on creating memory stones, and leave the translating of the stone to parchment to pupils, assistants, or novices. The Temple of Records has a large hall dedicated purely to books filled with peoples memories.
Restrictions
Inkweaving's biggest restriction is the range of effect. Parchment acts as the medium for Inkweaving, and all magic performed is limited by the size of the parchment and area of effect. This can be circumvented with the use of parchment stone, but as this material is difficult to get and use, it is often only used by the Temple of Records. The way sigils work is also a restriction, but one that can be worked around. There is a book of all known sigils, and it is possible to create custom sigils with Weaver, though this is difficult to do.
Education
The Temple of Records offers the best and only education for Inkweaving, apart from finding a master Inkweaver outside of the Temple who will accept apprentices. All beginners start out as a pupil, where they will take classes for four years before deciding on their specialty. Special roles include Stonewelding, Inkwelding, Sigilwelding, and Paperwelding. Once a pupil has chosen their specialty, they are assigned to a master Inkweaver and become an apprentice. A master Inkweaver can take on up to five apprentices at once, though most will only take two or three. Another four years of training and the apprentice will graduate into a novice Inkweaver, at which point they will choose their own studies for at least two years, though most novices will take five years before going in for their final test.
All novices must take a general Inkweaving test, where their ability to Inkweave is tested by several given prompts. These prompts change every year, and are offered with a wide range of tools to choose from. Once this test is over, they give a presentation of their personal studies; Stonewelders must present an entire book of memories they've recorded along with the self-crafted memory stones, Inkwelders must mix a given recipe of Ink as well as present their own original Ink, Sigilwelders must present their own original sigils and its purpose or make an existing spell more efficient, and Paperwelders must present a personally-bound spellbook made of self-gathered materials. Once a novice passes these tests, they are officially given the title of Inkweaver.
To become a Master Inkweaver is a long and incredibly difficult process. An Inkweaver looking to earn the Master status must show an affinity for their specialty, as well as being able to perform other specialties with ease. They must then prove their skills to the High Bloodweaver, who will make the judgement call on whether to offer Master Inkweaver status or not. This often takes decades of intense training, and as such Master Inkweavers tend to be older. The youngest known Master Inkweaver is Frei Anastasio, who achieved Master Inkweaver status at the age of 17. The next youngest was Pers the Inked at 28, and then Novian himself, who was 32 before he was satisfied enough with his abilities to call himself a Master Inkweaver.
Type
Provincial Magic
Creation Range
Protheroe province only
Effective Range
Worldwide
Organizations
Bloodweavers
Skill Ranks
Provincial Magic
Creation Range
Protheroe province only
Effective Range
Worldwide
Organizations
Bloodweavers
Skill Ranks
- Pupil
- Apprentice
- Novice
- Inkweaver
- Master
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