The Royal Artificery Society - OOC

[Prehysterical]

@Prehysterical, happy to collaborating on the crystal thing. If you look in the Crystal lab 2 you could find Z. I am just remembering that you are only allowed to craft one magic item per day so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

I will keep that in mind, though Bolten will be paying a visit to this Rufus fellow first. Since Z is currently busy, maybe they can stumble into each other over the next few days.

[DeTess]

Alright. Copper-mithril sounds pretty good! Should not only be excellent for the first three gems, but probably very effective for the last as well!

I just need a price tag for all of this.

The actual long sword needs to be commissioned. I'm sure it needs to be masterwork, and I doubt the materials for the sword alone will be cheap.

Then there's the gems. And then help channeling the spells into them, and maybe help crafting the gems, too. Perhaps members from the rangers guild would help with this free of charge?

Then there's also the scrolls, if the captain wants a backup option.

Just like.. need a price on all the raw materials, plus labor that has to be outsourced.

Alright, I'm just going to split this up in the various parts, and for each part I'll give the 'full' price. That is, the price you'd have to pay if you outsourced it. Making it yourself means you're down to half cost or less for materials.

copper-mythril alloy masterwork longsword: 2400 gp (affected by the current scarcity in myhtril, normally this'd be a fair bit cheaper).

Gem 1,2 and 3 are 800gp each. (cost split evenly between cutting the gem and enchanting it, if you need help with only one of those).

Gem 4 is 2000 gp (1200 gp for acquiring a suitable gem, 600 for enchanting, 200 for charging it with positive energy).

The scrolls for the spells in the first three gems would be 525 gp each.

[Sønderjye]

I will keep that in mind, though Bolten will be paying a visit to this Rufus fellow first. Since Z is currently busy, maybe they can stumble into each other over the next few days.

Sounds good to me

Also unrelatedly I am ready to move to the next day so I can craft more things.

[DeTess]

@Sonderjye, just a quick bit of background, there isn't really an 'adventurer's guild'. You can find the headquarters for a variety of mercenary groups in the port district, but most of what you'd think of as 'adventurer business' is handled by the Ranger's guild, and the guildhouse here is their main location.

However, given that most of the serious threats are at the empire's borders, this is also why the guildhouse was so quiet when Shandara visited. The senior command staff is based there, as are generally 1-2 ready units (each unit consisting of 6 rangers) just in case, and then generally 1-2 more units that have returned to recuperate after a mission, but the vast majority of Rangers is always out and about at the edges of the empire.

[Sønderjye]

Is there something like an explorer's guild for whoever explores the old ruins and whatnot? If not I'm happy just to head to the ranger's guild HQ.

[DeTess]

Is there something like an explorer's guild for whoever explores the old ruins and whatnot? If not I'm happy just to head to the ranger's guild HQ.

There is. The Imperial Cartographer's guild has a major office and archive in the harbor district.

[WindStruck]

I think the biggest bottleneck we have is the crafting time for the sword, right?

I'm estimating it could take like two months to make the sword, assuming the uninflated cost is 1000 gp and using alternate crafting rules, managing 16 gp a day??

Still seems to take a long time just to make a freaking mundane sword....

[DeTess]

I think the biggest bottleneck we have is the crafting time for the sword, right?

I'm estimating it could take like two months to make the sword, assuming the uninflated cost is 1000 gp and using alternate crafting rules, managing 16 gp a day??

Still seems to take a long time just to make a freaking mundane sword....

Yeah, I'm going to say that it won't take that long. About 2-3 weeks feels about right for a master-smith with a good workshop and a handful of capable assistants sounds more realistic.

[DeTess]

@Elbeyon, the stairs lead down, not up :P

The stairs themselves are not trapped, and from your quick magical peek into the hallway beyond you can see that the floor and ceiling seem fine, but the walls are completely covered in enchantments. That's all your quick peek tells you though, and further information will require further study.

[Sønderjye]

Just as a headsup I'm handing in my thesis in 2 weeks time so my posting will be eratic these next few weeks. If you want to do a time skip Z will do a mix on putting in work to make a drink using the memory stuff and make the memory devices previously discussed.

[DeTess]

Just as a headsup I'm handing in my thesis in 2 weeks time so my posting will be eratic these next few weeks. If you want to do a time skip Z will do a mix on putting in work to make a drink using the memory stuff and make the memory devices previously discussed.

Good luck with your thesis! I remember being a mess time-wise when I was finishing off mine as well.

[Prehysterical]

Just as a headsup I'm handing in my thesis in 2 weeks time so my posting will be eratic these next few weeks. If you want to do a time skip Z will do a mix on putting in work to make a drink using the memory stuff and make the memory devices previously discussed.

Best of luck to you! Also familiar with how much of a nailbiter that can be.

[Elbeyon]

@Detess I remember reading the stairs went down. I'm not sure why my auto-pilot had the stairs going up. I remember thinking how the stairs going down is a good idea to prevent access from the second floor. The vault being underground is generally more secure from attacks.

Edit I thought my post might allow me to search for traps without triggering them. Zeal will get as close as she needs to disable a trap!

[DeTess]

@Elbeyon, try as you might, you can't find any way to get a tool underneath the tiles. Nor for that matter is there any sort of give to them, suggesting that they might, in fact, be just a normal floor.

There aren't any obvious magical symbols or the like on the mirror, but the double mirror walls do look very unnerving even when seen through your own hand mirror. You can see reflections upon reflections upon reflections of yourself going both to your left and right. There is no obvious off-button or other way to shut down the magic aura you perceive on the mirror, but so far at least nothing bad has happened either.

Note: The mirrors give off auras of the enchantment and the conjuration schools. Quite powerful auras too.

[Elbeyon]

@DeTess Ah! So, they might not be traps. Hm. Could I roll spellcraft to try to identify the mirrors if they are magic items?

[DeTess]

@DeTess Ah! So, they might not be traps. Hm. Could I roll spellcraft to try to identify the mirrors if they are magic items?

You can. Doing so through your mirror reflection trick will make it a lot more difficult than if you directly observe them, however.

[Elbeyon]

Zeal might already struggle to identify the item. Idea 1. Detect Magic works through up to three feet of wood. Zeal could block her vision with paper to try to identify the magic items without seeming them (except f0r Detect Magic). Idea 2. Zeal looks at the side of the mirrior, like the frame, without looking into the mirror. Idea 3. Mirror to Mirror viewing like how Zeal wanted to find a trap.

Here is my spellcraft!
(1d20+16)[33]

[DeTess]

Zeal might already struggle to identify the item. Idea 1. Detect Magic works through up to three feet of wood. Zeal could block her vision with paper to try to identify the magic items without seeming them (except f0r Detect Magic). Idea 2. Zeal looks at the side of the mirrior, like the frame, without looking into the mirror. Idea 3. Mirror to Mirror viewing like how Zeal wanted to find a trap.

Here is my spellcraft!
[roll0]

With indirect viewing it'll just not be as easy as when you get to look directly. However, that's a pretty solid roll.

The mirror's magic triggers when someone looks at the mirrored surface more-or-less directly. It doesn't do much when seen from the corner of your eye, but anything more than that will trigger the magic. The enchantment portion is very clearly meant to ensnare the mind and keep someone Fascinated (DC15 will save), probably until guards arrive to take the person into custody.

However, there is another part to the enchantment involving conjuration magic, and you're just not certain what that's supposed to do. It seems to be a more powerful effect than the enchantment effect, but also more conditional on when it will trigger. You can tell that it's some form of teleportation-ish effect, but definitely not something as straightforward as just teleporting someone from one place to another

[WindStruck]

So what does Shandara know about ghost crystal?

arcana: (1d20+17)[22]

craft (jewelry) (1d20+13)[25]

[DeTess]

So what does Shandara know about ghost crystal?

You know that Ghost crystal is often used as a way to turn magical energy into mechanical force in smaller applications, but the amount of power it can deliver is fairly limited.

The way it delivers this energy depends on how the crystal is cut before being infused with magical energy. Some ways of infusing cause it to move in a specific direction, while others might cause it to rotate for example. Cutting these crystals is a bit tricky (but not beyond your ability for most applications) as it needs to be done fairly precisely, but the precision needed does depend on the application (using it as a rotating power source for example is a bit easier, as it generally doesn't matter too much of the crystal also pulls a bit to the left or the right).

@Sonderjye, could you roll me a diplomacy?

[Sønderjye]

Ah, my best roll (1d20+2)[20]. Wow, that was actually a pretty good roll.

[DeTess]

@prehysterical, Bolten would know that a mythril-copper alloy is often used for swords that need to channel a lot of magical energy. It is the more all-purpose solution, so for positive energy there might be a better specific solution (Elysian bronze isn't it though. It isn't worse, but not better for this option either). The reason the copper is alloyed with mythril is that copper is a fairly bad metal for making swords out off, so you need something pretty strong to even it out. Copper with steel works as well, but is noticeable weaker than standard steel, while copper/mythril is stronger than steel.

If you want, you can roll me your choice of knowledge(planes), knowledge (arcana), or a craft (weaponsmithing) check to see if you remember something that might be particularly good for positive energy.

[Prehysterical]

All right, I will go edit my post to reflect that. In the meantime...

Craft (Weapons): (1d20+15)[17]

...Really?

[Sønderjye]

^That is like the reason I consistently take 10 when take 10 gives good enough results.

[Prehysterical]

^That is like the reason I consistently take 10 when take 10 gives good enough results.

True, but the DC for this could be 30 and I wouldn't have a clue.

[Sønderjye]

Ah yes, that is a good time to roll

[WindStruck]

Yeah, Shandara didn't roll too much better on that subject. However, I'm guessing that even if we hit a high DC, the information revealed would be an even more rare and/or difficult metal to work with.

[WindStruck]

I'll make a knowledge arcana check for Bolten's idea about runes to direct positive energy.

They probably need a bit of power, and maybe if I'm lucky a bit of that positive energy can be utilized to direct the rest to where it should be going, but that kind of feels like a wind turbine using the energy it gained from wind to push the flow of a hurricane back the opposite way.

I'm guessing that even if this idea worked, or some idea for "magic runes" worked, it would make this sword even more expensive and also be another difficulty.

arcana: (1d20+17)[26]

[DeTess]

@Prehysterical, you feel like there should be something that might be better suited for channeling positive energy, but as much as you rack your brain you can't think of anything that'd do a better job than the proposed copper-mythril alloy.

@Windstruck, runes and similar enchantments can be very useful for getting generic magical energy to do what you want, such as setting a sword's blade on fire or similar. However, for channeling the positive energy you're not really trying to do anything like that. The energy is already exactly what it needs to be, you just need it to go from the crystal into whatever the balde is stabbing. You could devise a series of enchantments to do so rather than relying on a suitable material, but that wouldn't really reduce complexity or costs (it actually might drop costs a bit, but it'd be a difference of maybe 300 gp, and that only because of the current scarcity of mythril) of the overall project, just move it around.

@Elbeyon, the tossed marble seems unaffected in any way. The mirrors cover just about the entire wall on both sides, so unless you can turn yourself into something as small as a mouse, you won't be evading them that way.

[WindStruck]

I've actually legitimately got a concern, now.

We only have so much time to work on these projects. It's estimated to take like two weeks just to forge this sword Shandara needs.

But Bolten was also asked that his clockwork leg apparatus be done by time the harvest festival begins. I think we've only got 3-4 weeks until then.

Is it really possible to finish all this in time?