Enchanting

There are four styles of enchanting that have been shown in the books to date with enough detail for us to understand part of what is going on. For the two Kaldwyn styles listed below they are not canon names but named to distinguish between the two more clearly.

1. Dominion Bonding
2. Dominion Marking
3. Kaldwyn Modular Runes
4. Kaldwyn Sub-Glyph Containers

Enchanting

All enchanting relies on adding essence into an item and then manipulating that essence to generate a spell effect.

All items have an enchanting capacity which determines how much essence an item can hold without exploding.

Dominion Bonding

The most simplistic type of enchanting which consists of flooding an item with a certain type of essence and then casting a calling spell on it, binding that spell to the item

Pros

• Simple to do
• Has the additional benefit of including some of the capabilities of the person casting the spell

Cons

• Limited to calling spells only. No shaping spells.
• Limited to a single spell, complex spells are mono-essence limited, no keys from other dominions
• Flooding the item with essence uses all the Enchanting Capacity

Dominion Marking

The second type of enchanting that we encounter in the series. We know far less about this style, but it is capable of more complex effects than Dominion Bonding. We do know that it requires a person be capable of creating a ritual.

Pros

• Capable of multiple effects simultaneously
• Capable of complex spells, allowing for spells with keys from multiple dominions
• Highly efficient at using the enchanting capacity of items

Cons

• Requires a caster capable of controlling the ritual to create a dominion marked item

Kaldwyn Modular Runes

The enchanting style that Corin Cadence learns about in Sufficiently Advanced Magic. Where each component of the enchantment's function is a single rune: activation, capacity, recharge, function, keys, etcetera. This style is notable for dueling canes and shield sigils which primarily use this style. There are even some compound runes that use this style, like the combined capacity and recharge runes shown in The Torch that Ignites the Stars.

Pros

• Due to the modular nature this style is easily upgradable
• Capable of making highly complex spell effects

Cons

• Each rune uses some of the enchanting capacity of the item, meaning that to accomplish the same effect as a dominion marked enchantment can require 2-3 times as much enchanting capacity depending on the complexity of the enchantment.

Kaldwyn Sub-Glyph Containers

The enchanting style that Corin Cadence learns about in The Torch that Ignites the Stars. This style is the foundation for more complex items like Selys-Lyann or even Attunements as it utilizes sub-glyphs. This style involves creating a container rune which is filled with a set amount of essence. Once filled a knowledge-essence spell is cast that allows the enchanter to program the container rune with sub-glyph sequences which determine how the essence will be shaped by the enchantment.

Pros

• Editable
• Configurable

Cons

• Requires knowledge of the sub-glyph language
• Fixed Power on each rune, you cannot upgrade a container to provide it more essence
• May be limited to what is known about Modular Runes if the enchanter doesn't have more sub-glyph examples to draw from
• Requires the enchanter be capable of casting knowledge-essence spell to write the sub-glyph sequence
• Each container can only use one essence type