The Enchantment of Items

Even young children in the Realms —if they pay any attention at all to the tales their elders spin by firesides and over tankards) — know the basics of how wizards and priests imbue items—inani- mate, often quite normal objects—with the eternal fire of magic, making them mighty and valuable things that can last for cen¬turies and serve many hands to work major changes on the Realms. But few folk, even among experienced wizards and priests of high rank and long, devoted service, know the specifics of enchanting anything beyond a simple single-use or one-function item (that is, making an item that can do more than duplicate the effect of a single spell). Priests can pray to their deities for guid¬ance. In fact, they had better do so if they contemplate crafting anything beyond simple potions or wardstones, as most deities take a dim view of mortals who act on their own without divine consultation while professing to diligently serve a deity. But wiz¬ards are on their own, save perhaps for occasional moments of insight sent through the grace of Mystra or Azuth and prefaced by years of hard work.
This is, in the view of many other inhabitants of Faerun, a good thing. The lack of clear, widely known, safe instructions causes accidents that remove some of the most ambitious and dangerous wizards from the Realms. It also helps to slow the remaining sor¬cerers down in any wholehearted effort to produce items by forc¬ing them to spend much time in experimentation and in the procurement of rare, hard-to-find, and often ultimately unneces¬sary ingredients.
Despite years of searching, I have been unable to find a com¬plete, clear, fully detailed account of the making of a complex item. Such things are too well disguised and guarded by their owners. I have, however, unearthed scores of fragmentary processes, several chests worth of cryptic notes, and some talka¬tive learned priests, liches, archliches, and baelnorns who could explain things. Adding these aids to my own admittedly paltry experience as a wizard, I am now prepared to reveal in these pages two sample processes for the enchantment of a complex magical item.
So read on, and learn something that a few armies of wizards have died seeking knowledge about down through the ages. All spells mentioned in the process that are not already widely known are detailed fully at the end of the relevant example (wizard or priest). Bear in mind that the presented process is a general out¬line, not an ironclad one true way.

Beginnings

The process of making a complex magical item begins with an ini¬tial plan for what the item will do and preparation of the neces¬sary focal stones: gems that hold the spell powers of the item until its component magics are combined into a coherent, controllable whole. (The types of gems that are used in magical item construc¬tion, including those that make the best focal stones, are detailed a later section of this chapter.) The necessary spells to create the effects the future item will release are gathered or researched. Note that what spells can be best adapted may be a matter of some speculation and is not necessarily clear-cut and definite at this point—and mistakes made at the outset can doom an otherwise well-conceived item.

Primary Casting

When sufficient spells and focal stones have been gathered, the wizard or priest governing the process casts, or hires others to cast, the desired spells into the focal stones by means of dweomer¬flow spells that link the cast spells to the stones. In rare cases, minor magical items may be magically miniaturized and enchanted so as to be encased within a spell-generated focal stone. They can then be made part of a larger item—though it should be noted that such cobbled-together items are never as stable as one generated from the raw and are generally mis¬trusted.
Abeyance spells are then cast on the focal stones to hold the enchantments within them for a indefinite time while the rest of the item creation process is carried out. Many priests and wizards across the Realms have caches of focal stones that they have been adding to for years as they await the proper time, sufficient wealth, or the procurement of other ingredients necessary to cre¬ate the finished items they envisage.

Shell CreaTion

The physical form of the item is then planned. It can be an exist¬ing item or several items magically melded together if such are properly purified, but more often it is a newly created item crafted of magically prepared materials. If an item is to be made perma¬nent, as is most common with multifunction items, it is important that inorganic substances — such as gems, metals, or stone —pre¬dominate in volume over organic components in the created shell. The exceptions to this principle are wood —or rather certain woods which have an affinity for enchantment—and items pri¬marily concerned with necromancy, which can have bone as their principal component.
Most staves, wands, and rods are made of wood, as the old say¬ing goes:
Of these three are great magic born, With silver cut: oak, ash, and thorn.
To these famous three woods, known in many magic-using planes and worlds, can be added certain Faerunian varieties: blueleaf, calantra, chime oak, duskwood, felsul, hiexel, laspar, phandar, shadowtop, silverbark, suth, vundwood, weirwood, and zalantar. The "silver cut" of the saying refers to the fact that wood intended for magical uses can be carved with anything, but should be initially felled or severed from its living tree with a sil¬ver-bladed implement such as an axe, hatchet, saw, adz, or sickle.
To be used to construct an item, inorganic principal compo¬nents of an item must have been affected by or in contact with a similar type of magic as one of the properties the finished item is intended to produce or command—for example, energy dis¬charge, healing, or translocation. Or, at the very least, these inor¬ganic components must have been soaked in tinctures of substances that have been affected by or been part of such magics or natural powers (such as lightning, fire, or decay).
Organic components of an item must have been gathered or harvested in a manner related to a finished item's powers or themselves be of something akin to those powers. A wand whose powers are concerned with the sea, for example, could be fash¬ioned of driftwood or simply of wood cut by a sailor; a wand of lightning could be fashioned from wood cut from a bough that was blasted from its parent tree by a natural lightning strike or by a lightning bolt spell. Failing all else, an organic component can be immersed in the liquid of a completed, operable potion whose magic is concerned with a similar subject or effect as the com¬pleted item is intended to exhibit.
Substances bearing a previous dweomer that must be pre¬served for use in the new item must be treated with Azundel's purification spells. All other substances involved in the creation of the magical item—and all liquid components of a tincture or sub¬stance bath—must also be treated with this spell or with Obar's lesser purification. Priests typically use a higher consecration spell to obtain a similar effect.
When the various pieces that will make up an item have been fashioned, they must be strengthened or the item will be no less fragile than an unenchanted object composed of its various parts. Typically a Veladar's vambrace or holy might spell is cast on inor¬ganic pieces and a Nulathoe's ninemen on organic components. Priests typically perform rituals unique to their church to strengthen organic components.
Up to eight substances can be used in the making of an item, and these can be used in or formed into as many pieces as neces¬sary. The pieces can be attached to each other by the usual straps, bands, bolts, plug-and-socket fits, wire wrappings, encagings, prong/claw or bezel settings, or left separate, as desired, to be held together entirely by magic, but in any case it is customary to make every contact between two different pieces of an item that are to bear an enchantment into an unshakable join by means of a Merald's meld spell. If more than four different substances are to be part of the same item, a crown meld spell should be employed after all of the various lesser melds are cast to weave the melds together into what sages call a harmonic fusion. Additional pieces or later repairs can also be added by the casting of a Merald's meld and a crown meld for each piece to be bound onto the item. (When magical items explode through abuse or circumstance, it is usually because these melds call forth the powers of the item into an explosion as they fail, even though the item's powers may not normally be explosive or violent. )
If the magical item creation process must be interrupted at this point, a time stop spell can be cast into any crown meld existing on an item in such a way that the item is protected against decay, physical damage, or spell failure until it is next touched by a living creature (or a specific living creature) — which ends the time stop. In this manner, completed but not yet empowered items and the focal stones holding the powers they are to later be imbued with can wait for years for the crowning steps of the item-making process. Often their creators perish in the interim, and so numer¬ous raw components of incomplete items are stored in tombs, caverns, and other hiding places all over the Realms.
EnstARmenT
When the item's shell is judged complete and all of the focal stones holding its powers are gathered in the same place as the shell in a setting where rest, drinking water, and freedom from interruptions are all available, the infusion of power into the item can begin. A mage covers an inorganic surface (usually a stone table, casket lid, or floor) with a mystic design enclosing the assembled item shell at its heart and linking it with a circle of its focal stones. Each stone must be in a circle, and the shell in a closed outline; each circle must be linked to the shell's outline by an unbroken line, and an unbroken circle must enclose all of the other markings. A priest repurifies an altartop by washing it with water or other liquid consecrated specially to his or her deity and places the shell in its circle of stones so that all components are within the washed area.
At this point, items that will unleash healing or necromantic powers must be anointed with an ointment (purified with Azun- dels purification, Obar's lesser purification, higher consecration, or a religion-specific ritual) composed of powdered gems of a type favorable to the magic, pure essential oil, and herbs harvested with a silver weapon or a weapon consecrated to the item cre¬ator's deity (if a priest) in particular and obscure conditions, such as under a full moon on Midsummer night, in the shadow of an oak inhabited by a dryad, or from the grave dirt of a vampire in the dark of the moon. The all-important eternal flame spell is then cast, rendering the shell ready to receive enchantments, followed by a wondrous web or holy vesting spell linking the shell with the focal stones. If cast properly, eternal flame makes the shell glow with an eerie deep blue, powerful radiance, and wondrous web or holy vesting creates a humming network of white lines of light encircling each focal stone and linking it with a straight beam of light to the blue radiance surrounding the shell. Priests can also transfer powers from an altar, artifact, or item or directly cast spells into an item as a part of this process by using a ritual of transference spell instead of or in addition to holy vesting.

Mastering

Time now becomes critical, for this step must be completed before the wondrous web or holy vesting spell expires. This is the point at which the maker, when in direct, bare-flesh contact with the item shell, enunciates the precise controls to govern the completed item, speaks any words of activation that will be involved, speaks com¬mands the item will obey, and gives the item a name (if applicable). If the mystic design has been prepared to allow for such things, parch¬ments inscribed with words or phrases of activation can be intro¬duced into the wondrous web or holy vesting in the same way the spells held in the focal stones are slowly drawn from them into the item, dissolving the stones, such parchments shrink, shrivel, and dis¬appear as their contents are absorbed into the item. These parch¬ments must either be spell scrolls or bear writings done in magically formulated inks of the same sort that spells are written in.
Errors, omissions, or contradictory commands introduced at this point can leave an item unusable, uncontrollable, or possess¬ing unforeseen side effects or power loopholes. Wizards and priests experienced in the crafting of items can often identify these immediately merely by observing how the item is mastered.
Any magical item or spell crafted so as to operate only when the caster touches it, holds it, or enters its area of activation must by definition involve a truename linked to the caster in its con¬struction and mastering. "Truename" is something of a misnomer; such names are identifiers that must apply correctly to the caster but may be pseudonyms, pet names, or favored titles or phrases. They are usually not innate, unchangeable, unique names that define the caster from birth. "The Sage of Shadowdale," for instance, is a truename for Elminster. If a skilled mage or priest of high rank gains the time and opportunity to study the finished item or spell at leisure and manages to slowly unravel the magic without triggering it, she or he can derive the truename (or true- names) used in its making, and thus can learn of the item or spell's origins and something personal about its creator.
Pulsings in the radiance surrounding the item shell herald the acceptance of the various elements of the mastering; a fading to darkness indicates failure of the entire process. Most often, the focal stones and any parchments fade away entirely, the mystic design follows them into oblivion, and the item glows brightly, turns and spins slowly by itself, and then settles into immobility as the glow fades. The item's infusion with magic is then complete.

AwakeMiwg

Finally, the empowered item is awakened by application of an awak¬ening spell. This more powerful alternative to the enchant an item spell is less likely to end in a failure of the item. If it does cause item failure, however, the empowered shell explodes spectacularly!

VeiliNg

Although this stage of enchantment is named for the possible alteration in an item's appearance, the most crucial of its two optional elements is permanency. This step can be omitted entirely if concealment of the true appearance of the item is not desired or the item is not intended to be permanent. A nonperma¬nent item often requires the use of charges, and if not recharged —or if by its nature not rechargeable — it crumbles to worthless dust when exhausted. Other nonpermanent items fade in efficacy with time or use until they fail entirely, and a few are so enchanted (or misenchanted) as to drain life energy from their wielders or other nearby creatures to power their continued operation. A rare few nonpermanent items are even enspelled so as to destroy themselves in a spectacular manner when their capacities are exhausted.
If a change in an item's appearance is desired, another eternal flame spell must be applied immediately before the necessary illu- sionary or shape-altering magics are applied to the item. Note that a magical item can be altered in size, hue, shape, and apparent compo¬sition, but cannot be made to appear alive if it is not composed wholly of organic materials, or vice versa. In other words, a staff made of wood could be made to look like a (lifeless or comatose) human body, but a long sword could not. The true materials of which a magical item is composed are not altered by veiling, only the item's external appearance, including smell, texture, and weight.
An item can be made permanent at any time after first being enchanted, but it assumes its present powers in its permanent state, not its initial ones. If some of the item's abilities have been used up or lost, the permanent item will have only those lesser powers remaining. Again, eternal flame must be cast on the item. With this spell still in operation, permanency is then cast on the item. Priests can achieve permanency by the use of eternal flame followed by a permanency prayer spell. Wizards or priests of vile and evil bent can even avoid the permanent detriment to their Constitutions involved in casting the spell by employing a blood link spell to steal the physical heartiness from another creature. Devout followers of a good or neutral deity may volunteer the sac¬rifice of their own stalwartness to make an item permanent; it is up to the individual deity to decree whether or not the priest cast¬ing the permanency may accept such an offer without jeopardiz¬ing his or her alignment or standing in the faith.
If an item has been awakened before veiling is attempted, there is no chance that permanency will fail. If a change in an already- awakened item's appearance is demanded that is beyond the bounds of what can be done—for example, a wizard trying to turn a wand of illumination into a moving, speaking flesh-and-blood companion—and the veiling therefore fails, the item is not harmed in any way. For these reasons, veiling is usually the last step in the preparation of an item —but either element of a veiling (altering an item's appearance or rendering it permanent) can occur before awakening if the item creator so desires.

The Random Element

Although there is always a chance for magic to go wild or simply to create or exhibit something its wielders did not intend or antici¬pate, there has always also been a place in the Art for deliberate randomness. Accordingly, there is a school of thought in magical
item creation that insists that the most durable items —and almost all of the rare few that surprise their makers with superlative advances in performance beyond what was planned for —are those that include a random ingredient in the making, usually as a tincture in which the item shell is bathed just prior to the casting of the last meld before enstarment on it. Some random ingredi¬ents from which tinctures have been made include: the tongue of a griffon that was severed from its body with a blade of whipgrass soon after the griffon's death of natural causes, a cluster of drag¬onslumber berries cut with a silver-bladed sickle by the light of a full moon, the caps of three faerieglow mushrooms that sprouted from ground that was struck by lightning, six tears from a sprite weeping from happiness, one eye from a silverfin fish caught with a silver hook, and three acorns scorched by spellfire. This mystery ingredient is considered part of the crazed search for a universal material component by those who do not subscribe to its inclu¬sion in the making of items, but adherents to the practice of its inclusion regard it as a offering to Mystra that is essential to the success of all items—and its inclusion, in their opinion, is occa¬sionally rewarded by the goddess of magic through the infusion into an item of an unexpected extra power or property.