64th of Ash, 120 AS
The bowl swirled red as she washed the last of the blood from her hands, scrubbing her skin with a small bar of soap to get the last of the color from her skin. When she was finished she carefully tried her arms, pulling down the sleeves of her robes before taking up the bowl and leaving the smaller necromancy lab. She paused in the main area of her lab, looking around at the empty shelves and the few scattered pieces of equipment she had yet to unbox. There was still so much to do, though at this point her shop was opened and she had begun to receive a trickle of revenue coming in. The supplies that were left to set up were related to alchemy, and with that thought came the realization that Lyra still needed to speak with the Alchemist. He had promised her lessons, but as of yet had not delivered. Frustrating man.
With bowl in hand, Lyra walked around the table at the center of her lab, dodging a few boxes before walking up the stairs which lead into her workshop. She passed through this room, exiting into the main shop area before heading out the front door. With a casual motion, Lyra dumped the tainted water on the stones, letting it get washed away downhill. The next rain would see that it was washed away completely. Returning to the shop Lyra set the bowl down on her desk before making her way back toward the workshop. There were things that needed to be done.
The workshop itself was rather spacious. Bookshelves lined the wall across from the door, as well as the wall on the left. Along the right wall was a long thin table on which was set a series of thin stone disks carved with pictographs. At the head of each disk was a large dragonshard resting in a holder. This was her scroll awakening area. Once she had created the proper pictographs she would use the larger dragonshards to impart their properties to the finished scroll, applying their magical effects. It was more efficient than having smaller stones that would be used up after a few scrolls. These greater dragonshard varieties could be used over and over to create Journeyman and below creations without risk of their breaking. For higher-level items though Lyra would risk cracking or severely damaging the gems.
In the center of the room was a larger workbench, square and covered in various supplies. Rows of inks, stacks of papers of different kinds, tools for bookbinding and painting. On this table rested the items she had picked out for Finn, which she planned to have ready for him at their next meeting. Next to the items was a small vial of blood, given to her by Finn himself. Lyra smiled as she picked up the vial, shaking its contents a bit before setting it back down. Her eyes turned to the journal. It was wider than it was tall and used metal rings to bind the pages together. The mages were made of good paper, thick and slightly coarse. It could handle much wear and tear without being damaged, something important for Finn as he would likely carry this for years to come. He was an aspiring historian and lover of song and stories. He would need something reliable to hold his works, so Lyra would prepare for him his very own Grimore. First thing though, she would need to replace the binding.
Carefully Lyra removed each of the metal rings, placing them in a small dish to the side one by one. She then removed the two wooden covers, setting them aside as well so that there were only the stacked pages. These she kept together, tapping them several times on the desk to ensure they stayed straight. From a drawer, Lyra polled out a spool of twine, thick and infused by Jucan several days prior. Using a thicker needle Lyra pulled the thread through each of the holes that the rings had occupied before, binding the pages together. She tied a knot in each loop as she finished, using a small pair of scissors to cut off any extra string that remained. From another drawer Lyra pulled out a roll of cloth, cutting a strip that was slightly longer than the spine of the soon to be book, and a bit wider so that the edges would fully cover where the bindings were. She then applied a special glue to one side of the cloth, as well as over the edge of the pages that would be the spine. Using a clamp Lyra kept the pages pressed firmly together and placed the pages into the cloth, pressing down for several seconds before laying the book flat so that she could press the cloth down on either side of the bindings.
The next part was fairly straight forward. The cover would be made from a thin board purchased from one of the wood crafters in Kalzasi. She lay the stacked pages out on the board, drawing with ink to mark out the size and shape she would need before cutting out enough to cover the front, back, and spine of the book. She already had the latter out, soft leather that would be easy to mark on during the later stages. Here though Lyra took some time to begin the preparations.
A Grimoire was more than just a book mages used to recorded their spells. It was an intimate thing, made just for the mage in question. As such, each part of the creation had to be tied to a person. It was meant to guard that person's secrets, to respond to them like no other, to provide services that a simple journal could not. That was what Lyra was crafting here. She used a small knife to carve out a small diamond shape at the center of the board that would go on the front of the book. She then drew a circle around this cut, linking it to the space with straight lines that bled out into swirls that flowed outward. She created four symbols. In the upper right corner, she drew the depiction of a stone, strong and sturdy that connected to the central circle with straight lines. She added jagged designs from this symbol that lined the edges of the cover. The second pictograph was in the shape of flowing water. This she had flow between the designs of the stones, connecting them but not allowing them to touch directly. The third symbol she created a swirling smoke pattern, and patterns of leaves that flowed over the back of the cover. Finally, the fourth symbol was a flame. Tendrils of fire peaked out from this pictograph, and sparks flew to join the swirling designs of the other elements. Using a small tool Lyra carved out the design with shallow cuts, and then went back over them with spellwrights ink. This enchantment she needed to be permanent, lasting in its effect. The designs covered the entire cover and linked back to the points that would touch the twine of the book as well. The effects Lyra granted would be bestowed upon the pages of the book as well, so long as the cover was closed.
Lyra breathed out as she worked, awakening the glyphs one at a time. She then carried the pieces over to the workbench. She paused before the Terrasyte, the stone of the earth.
"Strong and steadfast." Lyra whispered, touching the stone pictograph to the Terasyte. She willed the pictograph to awaken to the aether of the earth, the aether being drawn in and interpreted by the glyphs. The designs glowed a soft honey brown. While the first pictograph still hummed with Power Lyra moved to each of the other two stones one at a time. The next stone was an Aqualyth shard.
"Repel, keep safe and withstand." Lyra breathed out another breath of her essence, mixing and guiding the effects even as she moved to the next stone, the Aerolyth stone.
"Lighten the burden, care for the contents. Dry, but be gentle." She smiled as she said this, casting her essence once more before moving on to the next and final stone, Pyrolyth.
"Bend the heat, protect. Let not the words burn to ash." She breathed out and finally placed the covers underneath a larger stone of Aetherite. Here Lyra let it stay, infusing the glyphs with power that would maintain the enchantments until she finished and affixed its own power source at a later time. She allowed the aetherite to suffuse the glyphs for more than an hour before taking the pieces of the cover, laying them out on the soft leather that would be used for the final stage of the binding. She measured and cut out the shape she needed, ensuring there was enough excess leather to completely cover the book. Nodding Lyra stepped back, examining her work as she planned the next step.
