Lapidary box

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Lapidary boxes made their debut at Ebon Gate 2017 in the shop Carved in Stone. Similar to gemcutters, these boxes can change the article description of gems placed inside them, but they do not have the same harsh alteration restrictions as gemcutter patterns.

Boxes can be unlocked to add three additional patterns for a total of five. This service was performed by Nimaya, who also changed the look of the box and customized all five patterns at the same time. Availability of this service outside of Ebon Gate is unknown. A jackpot prize was found in the Ebon Gate 2017 games prize hopper with ten patterns.

Analyze

You analyze the celadon canister and sense that the creator has provided the following information:

This is a lapidary box that can change the look of your gems!  Designs are limited to 15 characters (including a/an) and will only change the article description of your gem.  (IE: "a tiny,deep blue,sapphire" can become "a speckled,deep blue,sapphire" or "a sword-incised,deep blue,sapphire".)

If the inserted gem is an "uncut" gem, this box will replace the "uncut" adjective with the style cut of the setting.

The canister will only hold gems, and it will only hold one gem at a time.
This item is not eligible for lightening or deepening.
Current verbs: CLOSE, OPEN, PUSH, TURN

Try as you might, you cannot get a good sense of whether or not the canister's pockets could get any deeper, but you can tell that the canister is as light as it can get.

Usage

Verb First Third
OPEN You flip open a sleek latch on the [lapidary box] with a practiced hand, revealing a narrow chamber that descends through the heart of the vessel to a tapered outlet. PERSON flips open a sleek latch on her [lapidary box] with a practiced hand, revealing a narrow chamber that descends through the heart of the vessel to a tapered outlet.
LOOK You see a [lapidary box]. Small transparent panels are set into a revolving center of the cube, allowing a glimpse into the inner workings of the vessel. A sleek latch crowns the top of the container, and the base of a narrow chamber connects to a tapered outlet at the bottom. The transparent panels reveal the words, "small." None
PUT You pop a [gem] into a fluted opening in your cube, and it swiftly clatters through the upper chute, coming to rest at the core of the cube with a soft *plink!* PERSON pops a [gem] into her [lapidary box], and it swiftly clatters down a small chute, coming to rest with a soft *plink!*
TURN You carefully eye the revolving center of your [lapidary box], lining up your desired sequence beyond the small transparent panels with exact precision. The interior is currently set to: "pearlescent." PERSON carefully eyes her [lapidary box] and turns its revolving center.
CLOSE You soundly fasten a latch atop your [lapidary box], snapping it audibly into place as the vessel's apertures perfectly align. None
PUSH You press down firmly on the sleek latch crowning the [lapidary box], driving it down through the center of the vessel. An eruption of metallic slicing emanates from inside the chamber, yielding to a few discordantly staggered crackles, and a tinny clink. After a moment, the gem continues rolling through the narrow chute, tumbling out of the tapered outlet directly into your palm. PERSON presses down firmly on a sleek latch crowning her [lapidary box], driving it down through the center of her vessel. An eruption of metallic slicing emanates from inside her cube's chamber, yielding to a few discordantly staggered crackles, and a tinny clink. After a moment, a [adjective] [gem] continues rolling through a narrow chute, tumbling out of a tapered outlet directly into her palm.

LOOK MY BOX to see what pattern it is set to.

TURN MY BOX to toggle through the box's pattern options.

OPEN MY BOX, PUT {GEM} IN MY BOX, CLOSE MY BOX, and PUSH MY BOX to complete the cutting (one hand must be empty). This will cause 20 seconds of roundtime, and the cut gem will be released from the box and into the user's empty hand.

Gems can be put through lapidary boxes multiple times if the user changes their mind. As of February 2018, lapidary boxes will properly handle uncut gems to remove the "uncut" adjective.

Additional Information

Stacking Descriptions with Uncut Gems

Lapidary boxes usually modify the article (first 15) of the gem they cut, but with "uncut" gems they will modify the adjective (middle 15) instead. Gemcutters always modify the article (first 15), but will remove "uncut" if it is present.

With uncut gems, you can combine two lapidary box patterns -- or a lapidary box pattern and a gem cutter pattern -- to put two descriptions on a single gem. To do this:

  1. Use a lapidary box set to the correct pattern for the adjective (middle 15) first. This must be a lapidary box; it cannot be a gem cutter.
  2. Put the resulting gem in a lapidary box or gem cutter with the correct pattern for the article (first 15).

For example, using a lapidary box set to "iridescent" on "an,uncut,diamond" yields "an,iridescent,diamond". Using a gem cutter with a star-shaped pattern on the resulting gem yields a "a star-shaped,iridescent,diamond"

Alteration

Lapidary boxes will not take a show description; the show is hardcoded. They will take a long description, however. They will also take a read description, although the fact that they have something to read will not be seen in the show description, as it is hardcoded.

One does not have to use a hyphenated description for the patterns in a lapidary box; however, as the analyze states, the design including a/an is limited to 15 characters. Textures like "smooth", shapes like "triangular" or "disk of", added color like "blue-tinged", and added characteristics like "gold-flecked" and "druzy" are all acceptable options.

See Also

Lapidary box Information
Type Fluff
Crafting
Item Classification Miscellaneous
Item(s) Applied to
Alterable Yes
Light/Deep
Original Release Merchant Nimaya
Original Release Venue Ebon Gate 2017
Restrictions No SHOW alterations.
Item Verbs
CLOSE LOOK OPEN PUSH
TURN