Essence-powered devices put Essence and magic to practical use through manufactured objects. They include everyday light fixtures and portable protective equipment that uses a core to maintain a magical effect.
Lighting
Essence lights illuminate city streets and interiors. The streets of Irrathis glow under their light, while overhead fixtures illuminate rooms where people gather and study.
Protective equipment
Teryndal developed a device infused with divine magic, with help from Soltheris, for the expedition into the Land of Darkness. It was intended to help weaker mages breathe in the corrupted lands. Lirien was assigned to handle it while Kaelion guided the party.
Lirien inserted an essence core into the device's chamber to activate it. A dome of radiant light spread around the travelers and made the surrounding darkness retreat. She carried and adjusted the equipment as they moved.
The dome did not account for every protection around the group. Kaelion supplied a separate illusion that concealed them from sight, and they remained wary of creatures that might resist it. The device gave the expedition a portable means of pushing back the corruption without making the whole journey safe.
Essence-powered devices put Essence and magic to practical use through manufactured objects. Light fixtures serve everyday needs, while portable protective equipment and larger apparatus use cores or a mage's input for particular tasks.
In Valrindor, essence disturbs technology, especially lightning-based equipment, so makers rely chiefly on magic-based designs.
Lighting
Essence lights illuminate city streets and interiors. They appear above rooms and along walls, including the lights that glow through the settlements of Thalassai and the inhabited parts of Xalmyrra. Their arrangements give buildings and streets light after dark.
Protective equipment
Teryndal developed a device infused with divine magic, with help from Soltheris, for the expedition into the Land of Darkness. It was intended to help weaker mages breathe in the corruption. Lirien handled it, inserting an essence core into its chamber to activate a dome of radiant light. The darkness retreated around the party.
The dome did not supply every form of protection. Kaelion cast a separate illusion to conceal the travelers, and the party remained cautious about the creatures around them. Mirael later maintained a darkness repeller by channeling her own essence into it and keeping its boundaries intact.
Directed power
Cyrena's gate research used metallic devices, cables and cores to guide a mage's essence into the structure. The trials depended on the user's power: Kaelion's input left it inert, while Cassian briefly lit its symbols and exhausted himself. The equipment provided a way to direct the supply rather than an independent source of unlimited magic.
Essence-powered devices put Essence to work through manufactured objects. They include light fixtures, portable protective equipment, clothing that holds magic and apparatus that directs a mage's power. Their construction determines whether they use stored essence, a contained spell or the user's own input.
In Valrindor, essence disturbs technology, especially lightning-based equipment, so makers rely chiefly on magic-based designs.
Power and use
Essence cores can supply portable devices. Lirien inserted a core into divine-infused equipment that produced a dome of light, making the surrounding darkness retreat. Mirael maintained a darkness repeller by channeling her own essence into it, keeping the protective dome's boundaries intact.
Cyrena used metallic devices, cables and cores to guide a mage's input during gate trials. Belanor used a different arrangement: containers holding temporal spells released essence to activate gates temporarily. The apparatus gives the power a route or preserves a spell for use; it does not remove the need for an adequate supply.
Lighting
Essence lights illuminate city streets, halls and other interiors. They appear in overhead fixtures and along walls, giving inhabited spaces light after dark.
Manufactured clothing
Calythos supplied an early batch of protective fabric to Thalena in Thalassai. The material stored essence, layered with defensive spells. It became solid when struck while remaining flexible and fitted enough to wear, and could be recharged in essence towers. At first, the garments were reserved for the strongest mages.
Jareth also made a dark coat using essence that helped conceal him in shadows. His work with Amos produced specialized equipment, even as essence destroyed much of the other technology they tried to build.
Essence-powered devices put Essence to work through manufactured objects. They include light fixtures, protective equipment, clothing that holds magic, and machinery that directs a mage's power into a task. Stored spells, stored essence and the user's continuing input serve different designs.
In Valrindor, essence disturbs technology, especially lightning-based equipment, so makers rely chiefly on magic-based designs.
Power and use
Essence cores can supply portable equipment. Lirien activated a divine-infused dome device by inserting a core, making the surrounding darkness retreat. Mirael maintained a darkness repeller by channeling her own essence into it. Such equipment helps protect travelers, but the user's power and attention still matter.
Cyrena used metallic devices, cores and cables to direct a mage's essence into gate trials. In another approach, Belanor used containers holding temporal spells, releasing their essence to activate gates temporarily. Essence engines apply stored power to vehicles and manufactured constructs.
Lighting
Essence lights illuminate city streets, halls and interiors, including stores that display their goods under colored lights. Their placement and control vary. In a passage beneath a village, lights came on automatically as people entered. Other fixtures hang above rooms or glow along walls.
Protective clothing
Calythos supplied Thalena with an early batch of manufactured fabric in Thalassai. The material stored essence with defensive spells and became solid against force while remaining flexible enough to wear. It could be recharged in essence towers, and the first batch was reserved for the strongest mages.
Jareth also made a dark coat using essence that helped conceal him in shadows.
Thalion's reinforced essence clothes burned and tore under the strain of his own power.
Essence-powered devices are manufactured objects that put Essence and contained magic to practical use. They range from lights and protective clothing to equipment that supplies larger machinery. Some preserve spells inside objects, while others store essence or direct a mage's power into a particular task.
In Valrindor, essence disturbs technology, especially lightning-based equipment, so makers rely chiefly on magic-based designs.
Stored magic and power
Contained spells can be retained for later use. Belanor used stored temporal spells to release essence and activate gates temporarily. Other equipment still needs the user's input: Cyrena connected metallic devices, cables and cores during gate trials, while Mirael maintained a darkness repeller by channeling essence into it. Lirien's protective dome device activated when she inserted a core.
Essence engines use stored essence in vehicles, constructs and connected apparatus. Supplies also need replenishment: essence towers recharge cores and suitable clothing. Thalena's specially infused garments can themselves be drained like cores, though the remaining reserve can be small in an essence-poor world.
Lighting
Essence lights illuminate streets, halls, homes, workshops and vehicles. They can be arranged as colored lights or decorative crystal fixtures. Some can be switched off; passage lights beneath a village came on automatically as people entered. The iron braziers in Rimvold's Great Hall imitate warm, burning fires through advanced essence lights.
Protective clothing
Manufactured fabric can store essence with defensive spells. Calythos supplied an early batch to Thalena in Thalassai, initially reserved for the strongest mages. It became solid against force while remaining flexible enough to wear and could be recharged in towers. Jareth also made a dark essence-infused coat that helped conceal him in shadows.
Thalena's expedition outfit combined dense essence with exceptional divine enchantments for strength and endurance. The crystalline elements of her shoes were compressed essence cores, making the footwear surprisingly heavy. Caius charged her clothing and cores in the western Chronasis tower before her journey.
Reinforcement has limits: Thalion's clothes burned and tore under the strain of his power. Thalena's iridescent clothing later survived a fall undamaged while she herself was injured and needed healing. Strong fabric does not make its wearer immune to harm.
Development
The historical god-forger Arcanis made a breakthrough in Maraveth by capturing a spell inside an object. Small glowing objects spread through the city as essence lights, and other mages learned to reproduce them. Contained spells then found uses in food preservation and other practical work. Arcanis gathered engineers, researchers and mages to develop further devices within the Malverand Empire.
His later experimental containers went beyond ordinary storage. He proposed using Barachiel's copying ability to pool powerful spells and raw essence, hoping to fuse new forms of magic. The prototype still needed charging, and the work was dangerous enough that he planned to conduct it far from civilization in case it exploded.
Essence-powered devices are manufactured objects that put Essence and contained magic to practical use. They include lights, protective clothing and equipment that directs power into larger machinery. Their designs vary: some hold a spell for later use, some store a reserve of essence, and others need a mage's continuing input.
In Valrindor, essence disturbs technology, especially lightning-based equipment, so makers rely chiefly on magic-based designs.
Stored magic and power
An object can contain a spell without casting it anew each time it is used. Essence lights preserve simple spells; more specialized containers hold other kinds of magic. Belanor used stored temporal spells to release essence and activate gates temporarily. For spellblaster projectiles, Alistair and Rahmavir's researchers contained Boss's unstable magic. A slightly delayed temporal spell, or a temporal mage's manual detonation, triggered an explosion that destroyed or destabilized nearby spells.
Devices also use essence cores and external supplies. Lirien's protective dome device activated when she inserted a core. Mirael maintained a darkness repeller by channeling her own essence into it. Cyrena's gate equipment used metallic devices, cores and cables to direct a mage's input; the machinery did not remove the need for sufficient power. Larger essence engines put stored essence to work in vehicles, constructs and connected apparatus.
Power stored in an object is still a supply to be managed. Essence towers recharge cores and suitable clothing. Thalena's specially infused garments can be drained like cores, but their remaining reserve can be small in an essence-poor world. Advanced experimental containers also carry risks: when the god-forger Arcanis proposed pooling powerful spells and raw essence with Barachiel's help, he warned that the devices could explode and planned to work far from civilization.
Lighting
Essence lights illuminate streets, homes, halls, workshops and vehicles. They can be arranged as colored lights or decorative crystal fixtures. Controls differ: some lights can be switched off, while those in a passage beneath a village came on automatically as people entered.
Some designs imitate other sources of light. The iron braziers in Rimvold's Great Hall appear to contain warm, burning fires, but their illumination comes from advanced essence lights.
Protective clothing
Manufactured fabric can store essence and defensive spells. Calythos supplied an early batch to Thalena in Thalassai, where the garments were initially reserved for the strongest mages. They became solid against force while remaining flexible enough to wear, and could be recharged in towers. Jareth also made a dark essence-infused coat that helped conceal him in shadows.
More elaborate clothing combines storage with specialized enchantments. Thalena's expedition outfit had exceptionally strong divine enchantments for strength and endurance, and compressed cores in the crystalline elements of her shoes made them surprisingly heavy. Other garments in her wardrobe contain tiny embedded cores. Calythos and his weavers produced iridescent tunics and pants, while Calythos and Jareth supplied specialized prototypes among her prepared travel clothes.
Reinforcement has limits. Thalion's clothes burned and tore under the strain of his own power. Thalena's iridescent clothing survived a fall undamaged even though she was injured and needed healing. Durable fabric does not make its wearer immune to harm.
Clothing can serve purposes beyond protection. In the other Valrindor's Maraveth, the Malverand Intergalactic Empire requires essence-containing garments to keep strong mages' essence in check around sensitive equipment. Thalena also helped design a thicker reinforced outfit for Xarion with ice and air magic artifacts controlling its ventilation.
Development
The historical god-forger Arcanis made a breakthrough in Maraveth by capturing a spell inside an object. Small glowing objects soon spread through the city as essence lights, and other mages learned to reproduce the process. Contained spells then found uses in food preservation and other practical work. Arcanis built a team of engineers, researchers and mages, and developed further storage devices and machinery within the Malverand Empire.
Later makers continued adapting the technology to local needs. Amos and Jareth made specialized equipment, while Calythos's clothing designs underwent further development.