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<TITLE>RE: Enchant requirements</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>|| Okay. If we get philosophical about it, what is the difference between</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| uncontaminated or 'virgin' material fit for permanent magics and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| contaminated material that is not fit for permanent magics?</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>||</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| What contaminates an item or material?</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>||</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| What does it take to 'purify' a contaminated object or material to where</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| it is once again fit for enchanting?</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>It probably depends a lot on the material in question. For gold, silver, platinum and other like "noble" metals that don't tend to rust or react, I would say a simple "cleansing" by melting down in an area/object sanctified with the purification spell is fine. For other metals one must really smelt the crap out of it. Iron, because it is so hated by the sun shy and elder has to really be worked over in order to be assured of purity, that or smelted from raw ore.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>For wood or stone "Virgin" implies fresh cut or quarried. If the material must be stored for a while (i.e. wood, to be dried and seasoned), it would have to remain in a purified area.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>For les durable good you are stating to have to do real work. Cloth can is only assured virgin if woven in a purified area from assured clean wool/flax/silk. A divination may be required to determine if said material is pure, or the enchanter can grow his own grop/flock in a purified area in order to keep out stray influences.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>I would say that the caster himself does not need to do the actual weaving, but it must be done by someone in a purified area, using purified tools. Since he would want to make sure it remains so, I assume he would have apprentices or close-hired servants for these tasks, and since the stuff has to be good he would likely be paying good wage for a decent tailor.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>|| If an Enchanter scrounges a bunch of rusty iron and steel from the site</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| of an old battlefield, would the melting of that scrap purify it? Could the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| Enchanter then forge blades from the molten steel and enchant them?</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>|| I would think so. It would take a mighty spell to survive that treatment.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Stuff like this has to consider the orginal intent of the scavenged metal. I would think that scrap weapons, forged with the original intent of being weapons, could get away with a simple reforging. If, however, you wanted to use that iron to make something "non-weaponish" (or even into armor, which is the weapons' "natural enemy"), you will have to do more than just reforge -- probably cast purify and dump a boatload of mana points into it to boot.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>This may well be a good case for a "third" use for enhancement -- to purify material for use. When used in this way you do not get the special properties of the material, but you instead drive out impurities. The amount of MP that must be devoted is based on the weight of material times some fudge factor. An additional "reorientation" factor could also be multiplied in (i.e. turning sword metal into metal armor, turning rusty plowshares into swords, etc).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Depending on how the numbers work, it may be that it takes a wizard a day or more to cleanse 1 pound of metal, with appropriate expense in inscense or other spell materials as well as time. Plus the fact that if he fails the cleansing does not happen, and on an abysmal the material is permanently "dirty".</FONT></P>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Burton Choinski</FONT>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=2>email: burton.choinski@matrixone.com</FONT>
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