Elven Jewelrymaking

Elven jewelrymaking is a craft developed and honed by Elvish artisans that draws inherent magic from its materials. The sympathetic magical properties of the metals and gemstones within the pieces, when shaped and manipulated in certain ways, manifest as enchantment without the need for a Wizard or Alchemist involved in their creation. Thus, even small, afforable jewelry from the schools of craftsmanship that use these techniques can have minor magical properties.

History

The earliest elven jewelrymaking techniques were developed in Bjália during the seventh century Age of Integrity. Techniques have been developed independently by both wood elven and high elven jewelers, though there is fierce debate amongst scholars of both ethnicities as to which can lay true claim to the practice's origins. An emerging theory among some scholars, first written about by draconologist Thaddeus Tournoo, posits that these secrets come from metallic dragons, with the elven stewards of the Sanctum Aürum merely acting as vessels for the knowledge.
These techniques remained a heavily guarded secret until roughly Y3200 ITG, when Princess Laïcretia (daughter of Eldatar Arcturos III) married a Cantonovan contessa and moved to the city to live with her. The princess had a fondness for jewelry and brought a retinue of her own jewelers with her. These jewelers integrated themselves into moon elven artistic circles, where the techniques gradually spread.
Today, all elven tribes practice these techniques in some manner. The magic of moon elven jewelry tends to be subtler, more focused on fostering or suppressing particular emotional states in the wearer than in granting discrete powers. Sun elven jewelers, on the other hand, are more likely to use these techniques in addition to magical enchantments, choosing the right stones and cuts to focus and store the additional magic in uniquely powerful ways.

Primary Related Location

Scalados

Important Locations

• Arborcítta
• Kyolondë
• Témamírëa

Related Ethnicities

• High Elf
• Wood Elf

Wood Elven Engagement Rings

Perhaps the most common and well-known example of the minor enchantments within elven jewelry are traditional wood elven engagement rings. All metals, in certain forms, exhibit sympathetic attractive and repulsive qualities to some degree (magnetism and Arcanomagnetism being widely known examples). Copper rings can be primed into bonded pairs by carefully working the base metal sheet on a lodeblock of enchanted holly, then splitting the metal in twain and forming a pair of rings from it. The wearers of these bonded pairs of rings always know the general cardinal direction of each other.
Wood elven engagement rings are traditionally worn on the pinky finger of the right hand. Most are plated with silver, white gold, or rose gold in ornate patterns around their copper core, and many are also adorned with various gemstones, with ruby, diamond, garnet, and peridot all being common choices. The cheapest elven engagement rings sold are plain copper bands, commonly seen among those who marry young, poor, or unusually quickly.