Elemental Inks

The last skeleton barely fell away before Vendil was back to the dusty alcove of scrolls. Most had long since turned to dust, and of the few that remained, only one was stored in a case marked with the symbol of House Myyrgwin. He grabbed the case, opened it, and pulled forth the contents greedily.

Horst, his brute companion, looked over his shoulder as he unrolled the parchment. He snorted in disgust as it revealed an empty page. "What's this then? We've just fought through the restless dead and their nursemaids for nuthin'?"

"Oh no, my friend." Vendil's smile widened, and he summoned the powers of cold to his hand, "There's a great deal here. Look!"

Enchanters and artificers among the High Elves long ago discovered a way to manufacture enchanted inks. The writings from these inks would fade after a brief time, only to be revealed under specific conditions such as exposure to cold, heat, salt, or moonlight.

Creation

It may be that there are more types of elemental inks, but the primary ones are flame, ice, sea, and moon. The general enchantment is the same, but the creation of each ink requires different ingredients.

• Fire. Requires crushed glowworm. Must be created on the summer solstice. Letters are revealed when exposed to flame or heat.
• Ice. Requires Winter's Glory (a flower). Must be created on the winter solstice. Letters are revealed when exposed to cold.
• Sea. Requires powdered dried sea star. Created during sea storms and similar weather. Letters revealed when exposed to salt.
• Moon. Requires spun spider web. Created during full moons and solar eclipses. Letters revealed when exposed to moonlight.

Higher quality inks can afford extra protections, such as requiring particular heat sources (e.g. dragon's breath) or moon phases to reveal the secrets.

Rarity

These inks are very rare and very valuable. The full recipes are closely guarded secrets. When the proper occasions present themselves to create new inks, workers are martialed to do so. Sea is the most common ink due to the ease of gathering its components and the frequency at which it can be made. However this means it's often used for military matters and most of its production tends to go to the local government.

While moon ink can be created on a reliable schedule, the skill of handling its primary ingredient is extremely rare, mostly acquired only by devotees of Faestra, the moon goddess. This keeps it at least as rare as the ice and fire inks.

Item type

Compound

Related ethnicities

• High Elves

Rarity

Very rare