Magic Items

Magic Items come in two types: trinkets and artifacts. Artifacts are made from five or more star fragments, magic from an arcanist, and a material component from a tier 3 or higher mystical creature. Trinkets are made with fewer star fragments, cheaper materials, or both. Despite the name, trinkets can be quite powerful.

The search for material components for magic items has resulted in the extinction of several species of mystical creatures, and has been the cause of more than one murder.

Sometimes it is possible to "repair" shoddy magic items made from high quality materials by adding more magic and more star fragments.

...We’ve studied evocation, manipulation, and augmentation. Those are the basics. He doesn’t need to learn anything advanced right now.”

“Tsk, tsk.”

Zelfree gritted his teeth, his glass of wine clenched in one hand.

Gillie laughed and waved away his attitude. “Oh, you. Relax. I’ll just give him the rundown.” Then she returned her attention to me. “You make trinkets through *imbuing*. Evoking creates magic temporarily, like fire or your terror. But imbuing is like fusing your magic to an object so that it’s permanently magical.”

I nodded. “Amazing.”

“First, you need an object you’re going to turn into a trinket.” She held up the phoenix feather. “Then you need a magical adhesive.” She held up the shiny crystal she withdrew from her pocket. “This is a star fragment.” The crystal itself was no bigger than my thumb nail, and it glowed with a gentle inner light.

“A star fragment,” I muttered.

“They’re rare, but very powerful. It’ll be our glue. Once you have those two things, you use the star fragment to stitch your magic into the object of your choosing.”

I had heard of star fragments only in stories. Swashbucklers would search the world over for such magical resources, much like explorers searched for gold.

Gillie twirled the feather in her grasp. Then it and the star fragment, glowed a gentle white, along with the arcanist mark on her forehead.

With rapt attention, I stared, amazed by the powerful energy that flowed through the room like a subtle breeze. Papers rustled, and glass jars clinked together, but she didn’t create a mess.

After a controlled breath, Gillie took the glowing feather and twisted it around the star fragment, forming a circle. She tied the ends with a bit of string from her pocket, all while the magic continued to shift through the room. Her caladrius remained on her shoulder, examining her work.

Finally, after a few minutes, the power waned. Gillie took a deep breath, and the feather stopped glowing. She smiled wide as she showed off her phoenix feather bracelet—a trinket. The star fragment had disappeared during the process, and I wondered if it had been “burned up” to create the magic item.

“There,” she said. “I could have used a piece of wood as the base item, instead of the phoenix feather, but wood doesn’t conduct magic as well. You want to use objects with an affinity for your type of sorcery. Phoenixes can heal, so imbuing this feather with caladrius magic—peak healing magic—enhances the restorative effects.”

Then Gillie handed me the trinket. I held it in both hands.

“Why didn’t you use a caladrius feather?” I asked.

“A caladrius feather already has caladrius magic. You need something else—something that resonates with your sorcery.” Gillie petted her eldrin. “I hear knightmare arcanists make the world’s best weapons and armor. The shadow they imbue is both hard and lightweight. Truly, a material unlike any other.”

“Really?”

Gillie motioned for me to put the bracelet on. “That will safeguard you from infection in the future. As long as you wear it, this shouldn’t happen again, even if a wendigo were to attack. You’ll be immune to diseases.”