Artistry (skill)

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Game Description

The art of crafting has been present in Aetherius for countless years, from the simple making of letters for writing, to journals for recording histories, to crafting beautiful instruments to bring music to the masses. Artistry allows many mundane things to be created, for use across the world. Yet there are also certain artesian creations that have more esoteric abilities, and though the secrets of their very construction involve symbols and components that can effect the wave of magickal tides are not known to those outside of the profession, it is known that masters of their craft can create paintings which can capture the very essence of their subject, allowing them to possess certain abilities of their originator. From the mundane letter to the marvellous portraits, the abilities of true masters of crafting are without parallel.

Sketching

One of the primary features of the Artistry skillset is the creation of magickally animated paper sketches. These hand-drawn pages of artwork become enchanted loyal servants of the Bard, able to be commanded to perform a variety of attacks upon enemy players.

Sketches are classified by the source of their inspiration as follows:

• Creature sketches mimic any mobile creature in Imperian. They have a simple attack that deals damage and can be used to locate other players in the same area.
• Bard sketches mimic the Bard profession. They may use certain Voice abilities against an enemy to afflict or deal damage.
• Druid sketches mimic the Druid profession. They have abilities that can knock down a target or reveal hidden players in the room.
• Hunter sketches mimic the Hunter profession. They have freezing and fire attacks and can deliver the formaldehyde toxin, as well as provide instant travel across the local area.
• Mage sketches mimic the Mage profession. In addition to dealing damage, they can freeze, firelash and summon walls of ice.
• Runeguard sketches mimic the Runeguard profession. These focus on delivering toxins, removing defensive shields and punishing an enemy for attempting to flee.
• Renegade sketches mimic the Renegade profession. They have the capacity to entangle, stab with poison and garrote an enemy, as well as pull nearby targets from an adjacent room.

Only three sketches may be enchanted at one time, and each sketch has a limited number of attacks they may perform before they are destroyed.

Additionally, each sketch may be upgraded by adding up to three coloured inks to their outline:

• Green allows them to regenerate health with each attack
• Blue gives their attacks a chance to freeze the player
• Yellow halves the damage they receive
• Red gives their attacks a chance to set the player ablaze
• Purple increases the damage their attacks deal
• Gold makes them immune to critical hits

Sketch Tactics

This section will be completed by a Bard combatant. Talk to a skilled Bard in-game for more information.

Instruments

The Artistry skillset also contains a number of abilities that craft the instruments needed to play most Thespia songs. The instruments crafted can be used by any Bard as long as they have the relevant Thespia ability, and the skill of the Artisan can determine how effectively they perform in the hands of a musician (see the Artisan ability below).

Instruments crafted are all identical in appearance, and consist of:

• the Mandolin,
• the Flute,
• the Drum,
• the Panpipes, and
• the Harp.

Both instruments and other crafts constructed using Artistry require the use of an artist's workbench. For new Bard players, the easiest one to find resides within the main guildhall of the Bards guild in Kinsarmar, a few rooms away from the location of the guild tutor, Aliphae.

Miscellaneous Crafts

Artisans also employ their craft to create a variety of items useful in the daily life of a travelling Bard, from elegantly personalized stationery and documents to magickal devices that delight and amaze. These utility items include:

• a knife-shaped sigil, which can peel back cloaking defences that prevent detection of those in the location it is activated; and
• a magickal orb that displays a sequence of custom illusions.

Certain Artistry abilities also allow the Bard to create objects with an unique appearance that has been designed by themselves or other players. These abilities confer access to a number of design patterns that have been approved for use by Artisans, allowing completely customised items to be created that are used as:

• letters,
• journals,
• books,
• tomes, and
• scrolls.

Ability List

See also: Artistry (abilities)

Artistry offers the following abilities:

Name	Description	Required Skill		Commodity Cost	Notes
Mandolin	Craft a delicate mandolin.	Inept	0%	5 wood	Creates 1 mandolin instrument, useable by any Bard with their Thespia abilities
Paper	Craft paper from a piece of wood.	Novice	0%	1 wood	Creates 5 paper commodities, required by other Artistry abilities
Sketchbook	Craft a book of sketches.	Apprentice	0%	50 paper	Creates 1 sketchbook, a container for sketches that must be wielded to create, summon or dismiss a sketch
Quill	Craft a quill for writing and sketching.	Apprentice	50%	1 feather	Creates 1 quill, an item that must be wielded to create sketches
Flute	Craft a silver flute.	Capable	0%	10 silver	Creates 1 flute instrument, useable by any Bard with their Thespia abilities
Sketch	The art of sketching creatures of the wilds.	Capable	50%	1 page of sketchbook	Creates a paper sketch from a mobile, if sketchbook and quill are wielded
Knife	Craft a silver-edged knife.	Adept	0%	1 silver	Creates 1 knife sigil, which can be thrown to disrupt cloaking defenses.
Greenink	Fill in your sketches with green ink.	Adept	50%	1 green ink	Upgrades an existing sketch to regenerate their health through attacks
Drum	Craft a small oaken drum.	Skilled	0%	1 cloth, 1 leather, 3 wood	Creates 1 drum instrument, useable by any Bard with their Thespia abilities
Bard	Create sketches of fellow Bards.	Skilled	33%	1 page of sketchbook	Creates a paper sketch from a Bard player, if sketchbook and quill are wielded
Letter	Craft letters for mailing or personalized stationary.	Skilled	66%	varies	Allows use of "letter" design patterns
Blueink	Fill in your sketches with blue ink.	Gifted	0%	1 blue ink	Upgrades an existing sketch to have a chance of freezing a target with each attack
Portrait	Capture someone's essence on canvas.	Gifted	33%	10 paper, 10 wood	Creates 1 player portrait, which can by used by the subject's allies to gain information on their condition or to magickally travel to their side
Panpipes	Craft a set of polished panpipes.	Gifted	66%	1 rope, 5 wood	Creates 1 panpipes instrument, useable by any Bard with their Thespia abilities
Journal	Craft a journal for keeping notes.	Expert	0%	varies	Allows use of "journal", "book", "tome" and "scroll" design patterns
Circles	Specialize in the Bardic Arts.	Expert	0%	-	Once every two Imperian years, select a passive benefit from specialisation.
Yellowink	Fill in your sketches with yellow ink.	Expert	33%	1 yellow ink	Upgrades an existing sketch so that it takes only half damage when attacked
Druid	Sketch those with the Druid profession.	Expert	66%	1 page of sketchbook	Creates a paper sketch from a Druid player, if sketchbook and quill are wielded
Scribe	Copy journals or books from one to another.	Virtuoso	0%	-	Copies pages between books
Redink	Fill in your sketches with red ink.	Virtuoso	33%	1 red ink	Upgrades an existing sketch to have a chance of causing burning with each attack
Craftsmanship	Craft items with greater speed.	Virtuoso	66%	-	Triples crafting speed
Hunter	Sketch those with the Hunter profession.	Fabled	0%	1 page of sketchbook	Creates a paper sketch from a Hunter player, if sketchbook and quill are wielded
Globe	Craft an orb, used to dazzle friend and foe alike.	Fabled	25%	1 gold, 1 silver, 1 wood	Creates 1 globe, which displays a sequence of illusions when activated in a room
Mage	Sketch those with the Mage profession.	Fabled	50%	1 page of sketchbook	Creates a paper sketch from a Mage player, if sketchbook and quill are wielded
Purpleink	Fill in your sketches with purple ink.	Fabled	75%	1 purple ink	Upgrades an existing sketch so that it causes additional damage with attacks
Harp	Craft the instrument of the Master Bard.	Mythical	20%	3 gold, 5 wood	Creates 1 harp instrument, useable by any Bard with their Thespia abilities
Runeguard	Sketch those with the Runeguard profession.	Mythical	40%	1 page of sketchbook	Creates a paper sketch from a Runeguard player, if sketchbook and quill are wielded
Artisan	Craft instruments of unparalleled beauty and perfection.	Mythical	60%	-	Passive ability, all instruments crafted improve the effect of Thespia abilities when played by a Bard
Renegade	Sketch those with the Renegade profession.	Mythical	80%	1 page of sketchbook	Creates a paper sketch from a Renegade player, if sketchbook and quill are wielded
Goldink	Fill in your sketches with gold ink.	Transcendent	-	1 gold ink	Upgrades an existing sketch so that it is immune to critical hits