If a magical device, particularly a staff, was made by the Imaskari, are there any “tells” — magical or physical — that it is Imaskari? What about for a staff of Netherese origin? For a FEW of both, yes: special alloys, making exclusive to those cultures, for staves made of metal, or mounted/shod with metal.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 24, 2019
A followup, if I may: what would be the special alloys used by the Imaskari? And is there anything they wouldn’t use, in a staff? Alloys no one knows how to make in the modern-day Realms, that tend to be light, silvern- or ale-hued, malleable, non-ferrous and therefore resistant to corrosion/rusting, and capable of a lasting smooth glossy finish.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 24, 2019
While it's a mistake to view either the Imaskari or Netherese as monolithic cultures, when they were really groups of very diverse individuals experimenting with magic and "craftwork" in many different ways, there is another, even rarer Imaskari 'tell': mutable runes.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 24, 2019
Mutable runes are something no one else seems to have mastered (Mystra and the current Weavemasters who serve her frown on their use): runes etched into an enchanted item that CHANGE depending on who touches the item: a rune with the powers of X 'melts into' a…#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 24, 2019
…different rune, Y, that has the powers of Y, not of X. One of those runes will be the default rune, that the item reverts to when not grasped, and no one ever managed to layer more than three mutable runes in one item (such items can also bear "fixed" runes).#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 24, 2019
The reason this is frowned on today is that the 'sharing space' property of the differing magics makes the item inherently unstable. That is, more likely to break in an explosion that will generate wild magic effects as well as a blast. Adding to mutable item rarity.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 24, 2019