Wandcraft

Wandcraft is a trade that has been practiced for centuries which involves creating wands, magical tools that aid in the casting of spells.

In sorcery, spells are usually accompanied by a verbal and sematic component. This sematic component is often carried out with a wand in hand. Most sorcerers have a proper wand, but some very skillfull ones do prefer casting spells without wands.

Wands are usually made of certain kinds of wood, but some are made of other materials like metal or cystal. Only certain materials are pure enough to channel mana or magic into a spell. Even the purity of these materials matters, often only the heart of a piece of wood can be used to construct a wand.

Wands usually also have a core made of a magical material. A part of a magical animal is often used, but other materials may be used as well.

Wands also have an allegiance to a certain sorcerer. The combination of materials used in the wand determines how strongly the wand binds itself to its owner. Some combinations of materials may make the wand usable by anyone, yet other combinations may make the wand completely refuse to work in hands other than the owner's. Wands with igneous magnaviper sinew will only switch allegiance when its original owner is defeated in fair battle.

## Terminology

### *Construction*

**Hilt** - A hilt in wandcraft is the part of the wand where one holds it. This part is usually thicker than the rest and relatively short.

**Blade** - A blade in wandcraft is the extension of the hilt. It is usually thinner than the hilt and often has a slight taper.

**Core** - A core in wandcraft is the material that the center of the wand is fitted with.

**Tip** - A tip in wandcraft is an extra piece on the end part of the hilt. This part is usually not present on wands, most of them having a clean hilt.

**Stock** - In the context of used materials, the word stock refers to the hilt and blade together, in contrast to the core. The hilt and blade are usually made out of the same material.

**Dope** - The dope in wandcraft means the substance with which the core has been doped. This is usually not done.

### *Properties*

**Solid** - A solid wand usually means that the wand has not been cored and therefore means that the material has mana-channeling properties of its own, e.g copperwood.

**Elemental affinity** - Wands may have an elemental affinity, this means that they are better at handling magic that pertains to a certain element.

**Magical affinity** - Wands may have a magical affinity, this means that they are better at handling spells from certain schools of magic.

## Materials

### *Wand material*

**Plant-based material**

* Dogwood
* Ebony
* Larch
* Aspen
* Pine
* Copperwood
* Crystalline managrass root

**Geological material**

### *Core material*

**Animal-based material**

* Igneous magnaviper sinew
* Lacetrice feather
* Lycandoe manehair
* Manedeer tailhair
* Frystenàr whisker
* Saukonave whisker

**Plant-based material**

* Crystalline managrass root
* Copperwood

## Construction

Many construction techniques exist as wandcraft is practiced all around the world and almost every wandmaker has their own ideas on how to make the best wands.

Commonly, a piece of appropriate wood is selected and hollowed out with a very thin drill. The desired core is selected and cut to size, both length and width wise. The core is now carefully fit inside the wand, ensuring that the core spans the entire length of the wand and has not folded onto itself. The process of sealing the core inside the wand is the part of construction that varies most between wandmakers, but the most common method is by gently tapping shavings of the wandwood into the hole firmly, plugging it.

As long as the basic design of a wand is followed, there is a high chance that the wand will work properly. This gives wandmakers very much creative freedom. Because of this, wandcraft is often seen more as an art form instead of simply the craft of creating functioning wands. Many wandmakers are quite creative and have at least a few decorative wands for sale.

Wandmakers often have personally preferred materials and practices, some of them even have invented their own materials and techniques. People who are exceptionally skilled in wandlore can often identify the maker of a wand by simply taking a look at it.

## Questionable techniques

**Doping**

One technique that is used sometimes is "doping" the core material. This process turns materials that are incabaple of channeling magic into suitable core material. This process is rarely done as it often requires expensive ingredients, and the final result often does not work as well as a pure core. Doped core wands made from a non-magical material often "just work" and have no personality unlike Igneous magnaviper sinew or lacetrice feather. Magical core material is doped as well sometimes, in an attempt to enhance its magical properties. This is only rarely done and it is of dubious effectiveness.

**Tipping or capping**

Another such technique is "tipping" or "capping" the blade of the wand. In this process, the very end of the blade is fitted with either a shroud or a protrusion made of a certain material. The tips are often made of either a metal or crystal. Protruding tips are often made of crystals, while metal is usually only used for shrouding tips. Tipping a wand is said to make the channeled magic more stable and accurate, as well as amplify the magic, making spells more potent. This technique is questionable as well, and often only used to improve the aesthetics of a wand, since it does not seem to impede the produced magic.

## Books

* Koenraet Elzinga's Wandlore for Novices is a book that is occasionally found around Aileron. It features basic knowledge and techniques for wandcraft, as well as some more advanced and obscure techniques like core doping and tipping.

## Trivia

In Aileron and Martaforë, special wands made for children are not uncommon amongst magically involved families. These wands are usually made from imperfect wood and often have a manedeer tailhair core. These wands are usually incapable of creating real magic, but can create harmless sparks and similar effects. These wands are given to children both for fun and to get them used to the idea of using a wand.