Starmetal Stylus

A writing implement for the magical arts

A starmetal stylus is a writing implement that utilizes the properties of Starmetal to create magical writing that only a spellcaster can see. It utilizes a tiny fragment of mithril, along with a stick or thin core of starmetal, to produce tiny Airt currents that look like glowing trails of light to those who can see them. A spellcaster must consciously concentrate to see these lines of energy, but anyone familiar with these energies, from mages to witches to clergy to psions, can do so.
While this has obvious practical uses for those who study and practice the magical arts, this also has some applications for Nymphs and other water-dwelling sentient species, as the "invisible" writing left by starmetal is not dependent on its material surface. Writing can be made in thin air or open water, and it will remain for several weeks to a few months before it dissipates, depending on how active the current or weather is in its location. When more permanent writing is required, starmetal can be mingled with clay or other elements to leave a longer-lasting residue.
Star-Pilots and spellcasters who study at starfaring communities, such as Symmerin University, have started using a combined dip pen and starmetal stylus, such as the one pictured above.

Spellbook by Noupload

An example of how magical writing drawn by a starmetal stylus appears to spellcasters

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Starmetal has the unique property of creating its own Gravity Wells and Airt currents when brought into contact with Mithril. This is the technology behind Starfaring Engines.
But there are other uses for this reaction, and one of them is to create written works that are, effectively, tiny manufactured Airt currents. Only spellcasters can see these currents, so utilizing this makes it possible for them to exchange messages intended only for each other, or leave hidden signs and runes in a book of spells.
It is also possible to create such "writings" when a spellcaster is calling upon magical energy to create runes, protective signs, or personal glyphs. While these marks may be invisible to those who cannot use magic, or even magic-users who are not consciously making the effort to interact with them, they can have effects in physical reality, as long as the will of the spellcaster is applied to this purpose. These signs and sigils, or protective barriers, may be used as a method of directing magical energy in any specifically-applied way, just like a magical wand or an athame.
What is perhaps most interesting is that the colour of the writing made with a starmetal stylus appears as intended by the spellcaster who wrote it. If, for example, a mage decides that they will inscribe a gas-flame blue pentagram, anyone capable of seeing magic and Airts who stumbles upon that pentagram later will see it as gas-flame blue as well.

Examples of Writing with a Starmetal Stylus by Ahmed Samir GFX

Magical doodles made with a starmetal stylus, as they appear to spellcasters

Manufacturing process

A starmetal stylus can be made, in its simplest form, out of a pointed stick of starmetal carrying a tiny vein of mithril. However, the magical currents drawn by the stylus will not remain for longer than a few months.
A more complex form is created by forming powdered starmetal, mithril and quartz in a medium of clay and baking it in a kiln. Writing made with this form of stylus leaves starmetal residue behind, forming more permanent magical marks. The drawback of this is that the starmetal/clay core becomes somewhat brittle. This core must then be protected to be used, either by forming wood around it like a pencil, or by encasing it in a more permanent pen design, which is either carved of wood, or molded of a hard metal, such as brass.

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Styluses by Numisantica

Item type

Tool

Related Technologies

• Starfaring Engines

Related ethnicities

• Alfar
• Balorian
• Bar'Tor
• Bela'Wani
• Nymph
• Opal Wing
• Rua'alfar
• Sidhe
• Sluagh
• Sylph

Rarity

Uncommon

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Weight

16-20 g / about half an ounce

Dimensions

150 mm long / 5.9 inches by 10-15 mm / about a quarter inch

Base Price

25*N (gold Novae)

Related Materials

• Mithril

Not Required

A starmetal stylus is not required to form tiny magical Airt currents with specific effects. The will of a spellcaster does that effectively enough without the need for mechanical assistance. But it can be much easier on a spellcaster's reserves to use the starmetal's energy to fuel their spells, rather than their own. Because a starmetal stylus is small, it also means that a mage can be much more precise with the details of the glyph or art they are trying to create.

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