Imprinting

The nature of Shaftbuilder magic has been one of the most enduring mysteries about the ancient civilization. Though some of the dialects of shaftbuilder have been deciphered to the point that archeologists are able to read the ancient texts, the methods by which the Shaftbuilders wrote the spells that manipulated the strange crystal they dug out of the ground remains an enigma.

Purpose

Shaftbuilder artifice was completely unlike any modern form of magic. The magically gifted priests of today channel the powers of their gods, and are unable to invest their power into anything unliving. Their will sustains their power and any effects therein created. The shaftbuilders, in contrast, had no magicians at all as would be today understood. No dwarf of this lost people could craft anything that did not come from the strength of their hands. However, they had found a substance deep in the ground, a green crystal with no physical purpose. Instead, the dwarves had found ways to manipulate this crystal to fuel their power, slowly turning into dust in the process. The greatest prospectors or wizards could instinctively wield the language of this strange crystal, and speak to it through pure will, drawing out the raw power.

For the rest, there was imprinting. Any shaftbuilder that could command the crystal could also write down the incantations in a strange script of diagrams, pictograms, and characters, making the crystal pliable along the paths desired by the creator, and resistant on any other path. This turned the strange green crystals of the shaftbuilders into not just a power source for the gifted, but a technology that almost anyone could use. Many modern archeologists researching the shaftbuilders have learned to use their imprinted crystals, but the language by which these magical artifacts are created remains indecipherable, despite the occasional commonalities with the somewhat understood shaftbuilder languages.

Though apparently complete imprinting documents exist and researchers have attempted to activate and use them, all attempts have thus far failed. It appears that a shaftbuilder wizard is required to properly wield the language of imprinting.