A book stands out on a lone shelf in the "Enchantment and curses" classroom in the University of Mylehatsu.
Written by Pycena Do O Grant
Enchanting. A simple concept really. Applying some kind of additional property to an object or a person through... some means.
This kind of ignorance has led me to research enchantment and its various facets. Previous generations of scholars and mages have either not developed a theory advanced enough to put into paper, or are purposely withholding this information for their own sake. I'll let you, the reader, be the judge of that.
This book is the compilation of my work and effort throughout my journey as a mage. I hope you, the reader, will find my knowledge enlightening.
The core concept that any aspiring enchanter must understand is that anything can be used for enchanting, magical or otherwise. Yes, even the bark of a tree or an old sword, anything natural or anything otherwordly or magical. At its core, enchantment is about applying properties of one object to another. What determines the properties? It's not as simple as alchemy, where most properties can be observed, if not predicted. Enchantment is perhaps much more volatile in its base form, using the concepts, ideas of what an object is from the mana framework itself. The very culture of the society is fuel for enchantment rituals.
Culture shapes concepts. An oak is sturdy and mighty. Steel is reliable and reputable. A cherry tree is gentle and feminine. With enough skill and a proper setup, the enchanter can extract, and then apply these properties to their creations. But ideas do not just exist in the positive light. Oak is unmoving and flammable. Steel is utilitarian and requires mastery to truly make it great. A cherry tree's beauty is fleeting and its gentle nature makes it weak. The "useful" ideas are balanced out by the "detrimental". And it is not only dictated by reality. You would need a ton of effort to actually set an oak on fire, so why is it thought as flammable? Because of forest fires. Society sees a forest decimated by flames, and the idea about everything in it changes. Without proper understanding of nature, such ideas were reinforced, solidified, and are hard to recontextualize in any capacity.
What an aspiring enchanter needs in such a situation is precision. The ability to target some facet of the object while leaving out the useless bits; the undesired properties. Precision can be increased in many ways, and such actions can be considered as the components of a ritual. Intent, incantation, song and dance, magical spells, mana, ancient runes, the oversight of the divine, as well as the magic circle itself are just but a few possible components of a ritual. Rest assured, if you've used enough of these the enchantment will be exactly what you want.
I also need to mention that some, magically attuned ingredients can bring properties of their own into the enchantment, regardless of the ideas surrounding them. It is good practice to not overwhelm the ritual with clashing magical components such as gems and pair them up with an "earthly" equivalent when possible. This tends to increase precision and produces effects more powerful than if the ingredients would be used individually.
It goes without saying that a proper enchantment setup requires some sort of magic circle. It is a structure, capable of channeling, gathering, stabilizing, and transforming magical energies to enhance any rituals made within. The implementation can vary, according to the creativity of the enchanter, but the basics will remain the same. Quartz is the basis of every magical circle. It is capable of channeling magics through itself, and is a great conduit for energy. Different varieties of quartz can be used, such as obsidian, crying obsidian, regular quartz, redstone, diorite, andesite, sandstone, amethyst all contain quartz to some extent and all have their uses in a magic circle. Certain kinds of quartz such as obsidian are particularly prized by those of magical interest.
Gems are invaluable not just as ingredients but also as ingredients of the magical circle. Larger gems such as diamonds and amethyst can be used to focus/channel energies respectively. Tanzanite is used to stabilize the ritual, garnet as a heatsink for excess energy, and cintimani can be used for luckier outcomes. Anemolite is often the most important part of any preparation, especially for apprentices. Simply put, it's extra raw mana, stored within a gemstone. If your ritual lacks sufficient participants to gather the raw energy to initiate an enchantment, I would highly suggest getting a quantity of anemolite sufficient to compensate. Certain refined gemstones can bring their own unique and powerful effects, potentially enhancing the ritual even further, so I'd recommend buying or getting masterwork gems suited to whatever purpose you're trying to achieve.