A Technical Treatise on Gems : Giddy for Garnets

A Technical Treatise on Gems : Giddy for Garnets

By: Kassha Firehart

With a special thanks to Wylliam Fell

Fire is the most common element capable of being artificed into a wand. But sometimes a ball of fire is neither ideal nor useful, in situations like these what do you do? You could attempt to use fire and earn the scorn and ridicule of your peers or if you are like me you could reach into your belt and draw forth your wand of thundering ball or a shocking ball or what not and be regarded as that well prepared mage; not as well prepared or as skilled in artifice as I am but any sort of preparation or skill is better than nothing. To be that well prepared mage you are going to need garnets.

The first thing we need to do with garnets is to sort them; the classification system I use to sort gems was mentioned in other books of this series but I feel it bears repeating. Jewelers have a whole slew of characteristics they will try to use to sell you a stone, as a mage one and only one characteristic matters and that is size. As a master artificer there are only four sizes I use and that is size 1 through size 4. Size 1 is reserved for gems that can be used in a wooden wand, Size 2 is reserved for gems that can be used in a steel wand, Size 3 is reserved for gems that can be used in ivory wands, and lastly Size 4 is reserved for gems that can be used in gold wands. Label them how ever you want, just remember there are four sizes that matter in artifice. It is also worth nothing that size 4 garnets are preferential.

Each wand has a base ranking on the Flenken Power Scale and a certain number of charges that it can hold. If you are unfamiliar with this information I recommend you pick up a copy of A Technical Treatise on Wands, it covers this basic information. All gems can either modify this ranking, provide additional charges, do both, or provide other properties that make them useful. The most basic property of garnets is their structure that allows for the substitution of elemental energy. You will still need a metamagic rod to provide the substitution.

Starting with wooden wands you will need at least a size 1 garnet. A size 1 garnet does allow for elemental energy substitution but does nothing else. This makes it less than ideal for artifice and if at all possible you should avoid using size 1 garnets. Size 2 garnets are modestly better; they provide a single additional charge and a modest boost to the potency of the wand, I would still recommend against their use unless you have to. A size 3 garnet is indistinguishable from a size 2 garnet, they might provide a modest boost to charges or potency when paired with other gems. A size 4 gem in a wooden wand will provide a modest boost to a wand's ranking on the Flenken Power Scale, 0.025 if you are curious, two additional charges to the wand, and a modest boost to the potency of the wand; in my opinion every artificer should use size 4 gems when they are able.

Moving on to steel wands you will need at least a size 2 garnet, using a size 1 garnet in a steel wand does absolutely nothing. Size 2 and Size 3 garnets when used in a steel wand provide a single additional charge to the wand; again I recommend against using them and going with a size 4 gem. A size 4 garnet in a steel wand will provide a modest boost to a wand's ranking on the Flenken Power Scale, 0.025, two additional charges to the wand, and a modest boost to the potency of the wand.

Next I will cover ivory wands, you will need at least a size 3 garnet when working with ivory wands, size 1 and size 2 garnets do absolutely nothing. Size 3 garnets when used in an ivory wand will provide an additional charge to the wand. A size 4 garnet in an ivory wand will provide a modest boost to a wand's ranking on the Flenken Power Scale, 0.025, and two additional charges to the wand; it will not boost the potency of the wand.

Last are gold wands, you will need to use a size 4 garnet. A size 4 garnet in a gold wand will provide the modest boost to a wands ranking on the Flenken Power Scale, 0.025, and the two additional charges to the wand and that is it; it will not boost the potency of a wand.