Grei
06-25-2004, 03:24 PM
As I was responding to Homeslice's post about tailoring over on the Crafter forum, I found the ol' brain churning away overtime about jewelcrafting (which is a surprise since I'm still on my first cup of caffiene for the day).
Now, as I recall from waaaaaaay back when on EQLive, when I first created an enchanter for the sole purpose of jewelcrafting (and finding out that I didn't have the temperment to level an enchanter up to get all of the enchant spells), I spent my time reading all of the in game books on jewelcrafting that I could find. And one of the quotes (paraphrased here, since my memory is undoubtably lousy) that stuck with me was: 'Jewelcrafting is the art of combining small bits of metal with pretty stones to make desired things.'
But that's EQLive and we're talking about EQ2, so who gets jewelcrafting? How about everyone? :) Ok, put down the pitchforks and torches...let me explain my thinking.
At the Artisan level, you learn to combine various items together...especially in cooking and brewing. So it logically follows that you could take a ring blank and a raw stone and combine them. You'd end up with something that looks cheap and unimpressive, but it's a start. Right?
Now then, if you go down the Scholar path, you learn more about rocks. Such as which ones can be polished, which could be cut, so on and so forth. Thus Scholars work on the 'pretty stones' part of jewelcrafting.
Now a Builder would continue to work with the metal, how to shape it, how to join it (ever seen a jeweller make or mend a chain before? That's some tedious and exacting work--impresses me all the time), etc.
So what does that leave the final subclasses? Glad you asked... :)
Alchemists--They learn to imbue the stones with powers through their various chemicals and potions. Maybe a stone that glitters like a rainbow because of one of the chemicals adds 5 points to your charisma (wow, what is that stone? Cool, looks good on you).
Sages--They work on learning to polish and cut stones into fancy shapes and designs. I'm sure most people are familiar with diamond cutting at least--raw diamonds don't always look that impressive, but a cut diamond always has a sparkle, a fire, within.
Smiths--They continue to work with the metal, adding alloys, refining the metals to draw out different colors and such. One of the earring sets my Mom wears from time to time is just basic Titanium...but heated in such a way that it makes it look like it's a rainbow of colors. Wish I knew how to make those...they're spiffy. :)
Crafters--Doesn't seem to be much left for Crafters to do, does it? You're wrong there. :) Jewelry isn't just about metals and gems after all. After all, some pendants are worn hanging from a simple leather thong. And not all pendants are made out of metal and stone either. Back a few years ago, when I was in New Zealand, I saw alot of carved shells (and maybe some bone--never got around to asking) that were done in traditional Maori designs. Shells alone can be shaped and ground to bring out alot of different colors, depending on the shell--I've got a keyring around here somewhere that's got some beautiful blues in the shell that provides the background. And bones too...ivory has been turned into various jewelry and artforms for centuries.
Anyway, I think that should keep the rioting down...and the debate started. :) Speculate away. :)
Grei
Now, as I recall from waaaaaaay back when on EQLive, when I first created an enchanter for the sole purpose of jewelcrafting (and finding out that I didn't have the temperment to level an enchanter up to get all of the enchant spells), I spent my time reading all of the in game books on jewelcrafting that I could find. And one of the quotes (paraphrased here, since my memory is undoubtably lousy) that stuck with me was: 'Jewelcrafting is the art of combining small bits of metal with pretty stones to make desired things.'
But that's EQLive and we're talking about EQ2, so who gets jewelcrafting? How about everyone? :) Ok, put down the pitchforks and torches...let me explain my thinking.
At the Artisan level, you learn to combine various items together...especially in cooking and brewing. So it logically follows that you could take a ring blank and a raw stone and combine them. You'd end up with something that looks cheap and unimpressive, but it's a start. Right?
Now then, if you go down the Scholar path, you learn more about rocks. Such as which ones can be polished, which could be cut, so on and so forth. Thus Scholars work on the 'pretty stones' part of jewelcrafting.
Now a Builder would continue to work with the metal, how to shape it, how to join it (ever seen a jeweller make or mend a chain before? That's some tedious and exacting work--impresses me all the time), etc.
So what does that leave the final subclasses? Glad you asked... :)
Alchemists--They learn to imbue the stones with powers through their various chemicals and potions. Maybe a stone that glitters like a rainbow because of one of the chemicals adds 5 points to your charisma (wow, what is that stone? Cool, looks good on you).
Sages--They work on learning to polish and cut stones into fancy shapes and designs. I'm sure most people are familiar with diamond cutting at least--raw diamonds don't always look that impressive, but a cut diamond always has a sparkle, a fire, within.
Smiths--They continue to work with the metal, adding alloys, refining the metals to draw out different colors and such. One of the earring sets my Mom wears from time to time is just basic Titanium...but heated in such a way that it makes it look like it's a rainbow of colors. Wish I knew how to make those...they're spiffy. :)
Crafters--Doesn't seem to be much left for Crafters to do, does it? You're wrong there. :) Jewelry isn't just about metals and gems after all. After all, some pendants are worn hanging from a simple leather thong. And not all pendants are made out of metal and stone either. Back a few years ago, when I was in New Zealand, I saw alot of carved shells (and maybe some bone--never got around to asking) that were done in traditional Maori designs. Shells alone can be shaped and ground to bring out alot of different colors, depending on the shell--I've got a keyring around here somewhere that's got some beautiful blues in the shell that provides the background. And bones too...ivory has been turned into various jewelry and artforms for centuries.
Anyway, I think that should keep the rioting down...and the debate started. :) Speculate away. :)
Grei