Chrysalis

The history of enchanted equipment is as long and storied as that of Classes themselves. Though many gloss over or even ignore the manifold achievements of the crafters, it is an undeniable fact that without their expertise in producing powerful weapons and armour, the Sapient races of the surface would have had enjoyed none of the success in delving that they have achieved.

The early records of

System made equipment are completely lost to us, of course, but following the

Cataclysm there are many records of scavenging the strange wonders that had

been attempted and constructed in that time. A society put itself back

together, the uptake of talented individuals into the crafting fields was slow,

as the surface needed to be reclaimed and with the recent memory of the

disaster fresh in people's minds, martial and magical classes proliferated.

At first, progress was

slow, staves that allowed mages to recharge their mana faster, shields that

were enhanced to improve their durability. Weaving mana into objects is as much

an art as it is a science, but slowly the Skills of the artisans rose and so

too did the demand for monster cores. A demand that quickly became voracious.

With more hands at the

till and more resources, developments came thick and fast. Agni Ruffterson

developed the first reflective shield, the lauded Ms Bromina Steelhand was the

first to channel elemental mana through a weapon, building the construct within

the weapon itself. It was the great mage artificer Wyrrin Lella who discovered

the secret of enchantments that could directly increase the Stats of a person,

and his research lead directly to the uncovering of Skill enhancing

enchantments. These breakthroughs changed the world and now even the meanest

mercenary delve will be equipped with such gear, as even a paltry +1 can mean

the difference between survival and an ignoble death.

Excerpt from 'The historical significance and

progression of the Crafting arts' by T.J. Smithinson

"Why are five of

my best smiths passed out in the tunnels?!" Cobalt bellowed.

The artisan in charge

of the new forge was just as indignant.

"I told them to

until the chamber was properly prepared! The air vents

are the heat sinks! The second I turned

started working!"

Cobalt slapped herself

the forehead with an antenna. These morons. She

pressure piling up on the worker

on their backs. This was the second forge they'd

past week and it wasn't finished yet. Putting

that drew the air in so it could expelled on

and the heat sinks were yet more enchanted

allowed it to be dispersed into

all

stopped coming! More nesting space,

the new deep nest, a secure location for

new launching point for

with the relentless

time for the carvers, they

point!

And they loved

Tungstant had been relentless, chewing through work

through dirt and their fellow caste members

in and send detachments of soldiers to enforce

the carvers had worked

being forcibly

the remainder of the carvers to work harder! If

going to be forced to rest then they

time!

"Why are five

in the middle of this work avalanche!" The

down the

"Hey, Tungstant,

you

"Cobalt! I came

cores for the new

in there

Cobalt gave a solemn

nod.

"Damn fools!

biology tells us how

mention they're losing

The colony had been

learning all it could in a huge number of fields but one which

most impactful had been ant physiology

that they had known instinctively,

where now being explored to discover the

their primary discoveries as

damp environment they enjoyed in the nest didn't mesh

a blazing hot furnace for shaping metal. For the ants to work

tools, a specialised environment needed to be

the heat sinks and air vents where

this labour.

"No help for it.

Cobalt. You and I can get this done as

this forge operational."

The two council

to work. Tungstant had brought the required

her neck, yet

precious enchanted arrays

key locations around the forge. After an hour

as the enchantments hummed