The Pride of the Mountain: Ancient Dwarven Arts

This short text is written in dwarven, by a modern gem cutter and runecarver, Brass Goldgrin.

The ancient craft of gem cutting and runecarver both survived the War of Ashes, although many of the documents detailing the methods did not. Artisans passed down the information for generations, hidden in stories and myth, with new generations being taught how to interpret them. Now that the danger of the war has passed, I have chosen to once again record these methods, as well as detail a new method that combines gem cutting with rune carving.

The primary goal of combining gem cutting and rune carving is to unlock the potential stored within gems to house arcane power. In general terms, we can further increase the value of our gems by carving them, allowing them to become vessels for the storage of spells. Some experts can then even bind those gems to other items, like armor or weapons, to create masterpieces that will sell for tens of thousands of gold.

First off is the gems. There are many of them out there and there are some substitutes. Lapis Lazuli, Amber, Jade, and Pearl, many of which are not even true gems, are still suitable vessels for the lowest level spells. Next you have Topaz, Amethyst, and Citrine, followed by Aquamarine, Opal, and Spinel, and then Garnet, Peridot, and Zircon. These three groups are more of your middling spells, but where profit starts getting more lucrative. The next sets are Emeralds, Sapphires, and Rubys, then Diamonds and Abyssal Pearls. These are known to be able to store some serious spells when the runes are carved very carefully, but this is where caution needs to be applied, you can easily ruin the gem with a poor carving and having to replace an Abyssal Pearl from the bottom of the ocean is no easy task. Finally are the three big spells.

Some gems have an affinity for types of magic, some call schools. Find the right school for the gem and you might gain a little benefit. When it comes to the most powerful spells though, you need some of the rarest, purest gems, and also need to match them with their schools. For conjuration and evocation you are going to need a Dragon Ruby. For transmutation and enchantment, a Star Sapphire. Abjuration, illusion, and divination require a Fey Emerald. And I don’t recommend it, but those looking to use necromancy or occultic magics, you need Void Onyx. Take care with that last one, they are outlawed in the Celestine Empire of this reason, plus they have some ties with the demonic. Your only chance at finding one is on the dark markets or digging one up yourself, but I can’t say that I know where you would even begin to look.

As to the acquisition of gemstones, well there is quite a bit we still know on this topic. Many of the gemstones can be found anywhere in the world where their conditions are right to form. This is often in volcanic areas, mineral rich lakes and rivers, thermal vents, or areas with igneous rock. Often finding these precious metals is just a combination of knowing the geology of the region and luck. The same cannot be said for the rarest of the gemstones. Fey Emeralds for example are thought to have been brought to this plane by the elves from the Fey Wild itself, which if true means that there are a finite number of them in existence today. Dragon Rubies may be in a similar situation. They are said to have been forged from a unique formula of precious metals heated in dragonfire. It is postulated that dragons, if they did ever truly exist, would melt down and fuse together their great wealth into the smaller, more compact, ruby. It is thought that they did so in order to better guard their massive troves of treasure. That being said, no one alive has ever seen a dragon to my knowledge, and it sounds like this could be more myth than fact. Another thought of the origin of Dragon Rubies is that they may come from the elemental plane of fire, which seems much more likely. It seems likely that planar travel may have been more common in our past, and is one of the great arts lost to us after the war. Either way, it seems that some king or emperor in Golgolthyr was able to acquire quite a bit of the stuff, as it is much more common in that part of the world. Finally we come to Void Onyx. There has been tale that some Void Onyx has been recovered from the deep sea by divers looking for Abyssal Pearls. It could be that Void Onyx is only formed under the massive pressure of the deep sea in the correct conditions, however others say it is from the void between the worlds, which is where it gets its name. If such a place does exist, I do not know of how a gem like this could form in a void, or how it would have made it here to our plane, but it is certainly a strange gemstone.

Type

Manual, Professional Skills