broodboy
Member
The Fracture: One Last Thing
[WC]: 1475
[WC]: 1475
It had to happen in the next few days when the constellations were in just the right order. He calculated that he had another day or so to prepare for the enchantment before the circumstances would be at their peak and his chance of success greatest. He had the delivery of various items rushed which cost him more than he was happy to part with but time was critical if he wanted to leave Cursus in a timely manner to meet Professor Albinon in the Autumn Forest. Eagerly he turned his thoughts to taking stock of the shipment he had received earlier this morning. Parchment made from a special tree with a predisposition to absorb mana. Leather tanned under the head of a magical fire and bleached with solvents. Lastly squid ink from the deeper parts of the Copiae Ocean. Various other things littered the crate but these three items were very anticipated by Vita.
Like a boy with a new toy the enchanter excitedly locked his store door closed the blinds and retired to the back so he would not be disturbed. Everything had been organized for this day. Various decanters filled with colored liquids each with a particular glow to them. The potions themselves took some time to concentrate but the results were well worth it. A number of mundane ingredients mixed with catalysts from each school of study and dahlitium volantis. Left alone to centrifuge the medium slowly pulled the catalytic properties and formed a homogeneous solution capable of enhancing magical energy passed through it. Vita took forceps and extracted the physical catalysts from each beaker. The process left each one looking faded some brittle and others almost completely dissolved. Each container was filtered through a silver mesh to remove any precipitate and leftover debris from distillation. He had the Castus vial against the backdrop of a white light. An iridescent orange sunset with tiny glints of mana coalescing as he swirled the mixture with pride.
The next step was to slowly incorporate each catalyst into the white leather. He discovered you could not just pour them onto its surface and let it steep unfortunately. The various concoctions fight for power during the infusion process. Some school had an aggressive personality while others were fine with going with the flow. He needed to start with the mildest school first and work his way to the most assertive one. Aquila, Occultis, Serpins, Castus, Bellator was the order of operation for this equation. Vita grabbed the deep lavender colored potion and placed it onto a ring suspended over a steady flame. The leather splayed above the glassware as it boiled and changed stated from a liquid to gas. The plume of smoke dispersed across the surface of the hide as it permitted throughout it. Exposing the skin to heat enhanced its nature to absorb the smoke that wrapped around it without dispersing. This resulted in the leather being imbued over time slowly from the small particles of smoke. Introduced too quickly the power would be overwhelming for the medium and it would dissolve under the strain. The air filled with a unique clean scent that reminded Vita of a cold winter day with a harsh wind. While the leather basked in the enchanted smoke the artificer turned his attention to his next task, squid ink.
A large jade colored bottle with a squid who’s tentacles formed a circle that surrounded its head. In its current form the ink was too thin to be of use to Vita. He would need to concentrate the substance into a tacky paste before it was ready for practice. Vita poured the contents of the jar onto a table with a shallow well about an inch deep. In a mortar and pestle he finely ground dahlitium pulveris until it was more of a powder than the sand he had received. The alchemist sprinkled a thin layer over the surface of the black ichor and gave it a stir. He lowered a large heat lamp over the surface of a table creating a makeshift dehydrator. Within minutes the surface of the ink bubbled lightly as it thickened. The pulveris would greatly speed up the process which normally took weeks into hours.
As the majority of his components underwent their development Vita turned to the hundred pages of parchment he ordered. Usually the careful artisan would not grossly over order however this last portion of his project has yet to be perfected and only yielded success half the time. He ran the numbers over and over countless times and still had no understanding of the effect that was eliminating his enchant onto the pages in the first place. Unfortunately he did not have the luxury of time to discover the underlying problem that was so close to him he could taste it. Enchanting something was tricky business infusing the item with personality of the magic being attached to it. The problem being a similar one he had already encountered during his leather treatment but had not applied. Enchanted things in close proximity to each other did not agree so easily. The energies either repelled each other neutralizing the enchantment or attracted more energy like a feedback look quickly shorting the medium and burning it up. Vita attempted a number of spells and enchantments eventually getting the results he desired for the pages.
A day later the finale vial of concentrated arcane essence had finished permeating the leather. Notes of ember and soot hung in the air. Vita looked closer at the hyde and it now had a pixelated prismatic shimmer to it under his trained eye. The binding of the book was successfully infused with the enhancing properties from each disciplines catalyst. PLease with its construction he stretched the skin over a table the size he desired for the tome. He reached for a large bowl and stirred the thick resin like ichor he made from the squid ink. He took a brush and spread a thin adhesive layer onto the backing of the leather. Dextrous hands placed two thin pieces of wood on the left and the right and then added a spine in the middle. He folded the edges of the leather around the cover and backing of the book. He wasn’t masterful in his execution yet one could tell upon inspection of its construction that a skilled hand had been used. He measured a piece of of burlap to lay between the inner part of the book and its pages that would be glued to it using the black ichor. The whole execution of the book wook days to make but it was still just a little more than a uniquely crafted tome with magic potential pouring out from it. IN fact just touching the book drew in ambient magical energy and channeled it through Vita. The magnification of his power exhilarated him and drove him to finalize the process of his arcanium.
Vita drew a diamond tipped with smaller diamonds at the four corners. Inside he measure out a square until its edges sectored the larger diamond from the inside. From top to bottom and left to right the arcane formula took up a five foot span. A book stand stood in the center of the drawing with the tome closed on it. Within each of the outerlying shapes were clusters of sky quartz a mineral used to regulate and stabilize magical energy in a localized area. A glass ball placed at the base of the stand with distilled enchanters water to absorb flux, a by product of high end enchanting. The arcanist stood just outside of the engraving and began to chant in an unrecognizable language. He clasped his palms together in front of him and opened them like a book. The quartz began to vibrate producing a low twang that would build in intensity until they reached ressence with the channeled energy. He broke his hands apart stretching them out palms down before grabbing firmly on an invisible energy. The water boiled vigorously and become cloudy with a neon green liquid as the energy of the room caused the air to feel heavy and taxing on Vita’s body. Steadily and deliberately the machine brought his clenched fists together in front of him knuckles facing away from him. The arcane formula systematically began to shrink around the book stand as each moment passed. Closer and closer it got until it seared itself onto its cover and backing scaring the pure white leather with a burn mark of the formula. The sizzle of magic tingled the enchanters fingertips. The book smoked and the lights blew out as his eyes struggled to see past the brightly glowing tome of arcana in front of him.
He whispered in ragged breath. “Formula Arcanium.”
Craft