Loresinging

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Loresinging is a bardic ability allowing a singer to divine the properties of an item with the sound of his voice. An item may simply tell its properties while another will have a specific story attached to it that can only be observed through a bard, often called a loresong itself due to the nature in which the story is revealed.

Different items have different amounts of difficulty to obtain the information from. In order to increase a loresong's strength and ability to divine a loresong from an item, various verses and rhyme schemes can be used to obtain the loresong. Specifically, two-line loresongs with no rhymes are less powerful than two-line verses with a rhyme scheme. And, a four-line verse with a rhyme scheme is even more powerful. Rhymes must be words that rhyme by spelling, such as the infamous hand/land rhyme. However, more and floor, though they rhyme when spoken aloud, they do not count as rhymes for the purpose of loresongs.

Additionally, if certain keywords are used (value, weight, purpose, skill [only for weapons/armor], spell, and ability) in a loresong, one can obtain specific bits of information from the item.

When loresinging to a magical or enhancive item, a bard may determine whether or not the item will be destroyed when its last magical or enhancive charge has been expended.

When singing to a piece of armor with resistance to a damage type, a proper loresong will tell the level of resistance.

Mechanics

Syntax

To loresing, use the verb LORESING followed by your song, with lines separated by semi-colons. 

J>loresing staff of ebonwood now for another scrap of doggerel song,;Share with us that ability ere the night grows long
You sing sonorously:

    "Staff of ebonwood now for another scrap of doggerel song,
     Share with us that ability ere the night grows long"


Roundtime: 18 sec.

As you sing, you feel a faint resonating vibration from the ebonwood staff in your hand...

In addition to standard loresinging, it is also possible to sing to non-held items in the same room. The purpose of this is generally to reveal a loresong. To loresing to an item not held in your hand, use the targeting syntax LORESING ::itemname. There are many examples of such items in the Museums in Wehnimer's Landing and River's Rest, as well as scattered in other areas of the game.

Order

The response message from successful attempts will reveal information in a specific order if one does not use a keyword.

First verse
The weight and value of the item
Second verse
The purpose of the item
Third verse
If the item is a weapon/armor type then it will reveal the skill required to use and enchant bonus of the item.
If the item is a magic type then it will say which spell and how many charges left.
If the item is enhancive, it will tell what it enhances and the level requirements but not the specific amount of the boosts.
The keyword enhance will work for both types.
Fourth verse
Consists of the special ability section. Enhancive details, spells, weapon flares, reimbeddable status, crumbly status, and other odd information will be found here.

Keywords

  • Using keywords such as value, weight, purpose, skill [only for weapons/armor] or enhance, spell, and ability will skip to that verse directly.
  • The bard may continue loresinging without using a keyword to continue to the next verse in order.
For example: if loresinging to a weapon, skipping to the third verse by using the keyword SKILL. Then if the next song you use contains no keywords, it will respond with the fourth verse (the ability line).
  • The bard may jump to any verse including a lower level one
For example: if the bard is on the second verse and uses the keyword VALUE in the next song then it will jump back to the first verse.
  • Skipping to a higher level verse is more difficult than a lower level.
This means that getting the fourth verse by using the ability keyword often fails for inexperienced bards. A lower level bard would likely be more successful to skip to the third phrase using a keyword then continue with a normal song without keywords to get the last verse.
  • It is important to note that magic is NOT a keyword. It does not allow one to skip to the third verse. It would be the same as using a song without a keyword

Failure

A failed verse may occur for several reasons and there are failsafe practices for working around failed verses:

  • Insufficient mana will result in a failed loresong progression (with no risk of injury).
  • Repetition of a particular keyword twice in a row will end a loresong progression.
  • All information available to the bard has already been determined will result in a failed verse.
  • To avoid failures, one can alternate between two different songs (without keywords) until a response is received from the item.
  • In order to restart a loresong progression, one must reset the status by either singing to a new item or try to use a simple keyword like value.
  • Note that no roundtime will be incurred for a failed loresong verse.

There are two messages which can arise as a result of a failed loresong. Examples are as follows:

  • Insufficient mana: Your song is weak, and without sufficient power to affect the pearl.
  • No additional properties: You learn nothing new about the pendant.

Example Messaging

Loresongs provide a wide variety of messaging for items. Beyond the basic properties of an item (such as weight, enchant bonus, or value), items may be identified as possessing a special ability, as imbeds (either blank, or already containing a spell), or enhancive properties. Some of that messaging is provided below:


Imbed items

Such items can be found blank (and able to be imbedded with a new spell), already containing a spell, or even rechargeable.

You sense a faint aura of magic around the pink dreamstone brooch. You also feel a faint drawing sensation from it, as though it may be able to hold more power. From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the brooch is to cast a spell or perform some magical purpose.
You sense a faint aura of magic around the grey granite bracer. You also feel a faint drawing sensation from it, as though when its charge is depleted, it may be refilled. From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the bracer is to cast a spell or perform some magical purpose.
From the rapid vibrations of the pink dreamstone brooch, you determine it has no spell within it now, but could be imbedded with one, in the proper hands. You estimate that it can contain an ample amount of mana.
  • Reimbeddable item (fourth verse):
The magical strength of this item is strong. It could probably handle the imbedding of an entirely new spell, if handled with care.
  • Crumbly imbed (fourth verse):
You sense that the black fel wand will disintegrate after its last magical charge has been expended.
  • Non-Crumbly imbed (fourth verse):
You sense that the thick ironwood rod will persist after its last magical charge has been expended.


Weapon/Armor Abilities

Typically, special abilities possessed by weapons and armor are permanent though some forms of padding and resistance may be temporary. These abilities are unique to armor, are not part of the enhancive system, and can not be recharged at the Adventurer's Guild. However, weapons and armor may have traditional enhancive properties as well.

  • Special ability, temporary (second verse):
It also appears to have a temporary modification of some kind.
  • Special ability (third verse):
It also has some type of special ability, but you can't tell what yet.
The harmonics generated tell you that the leathers serves to reduce the severity of inflicted wounds. (crit padding)
The harmonics generated tell you that the chain serves to protect from additional damage. (damage padding)
The harmonics generated tell you that the helm serves to reduce the severity of inflicted wounds. (crit padding)
The harmonics generated tell you that the chain serves to protect from additional damage. (damage padding)
The helm resonates with your voice, revealing some details of its temporary enhancement:
The helm's enhancement will degrade when the wearer is struck in combat.
It should be able to withstand an incredible amount of uses before its enhancement has completely degraded away.
When its enhancement has degraded away, the item will lose its special ability.
  • Acid: It has been infused with the power of a corrosive substance.
  • Acuity: allows a caster to occasionally focus their magical prowess for a single cast.
  • Cold: It has been infused with the power of an ice elemental.
  • Disintegration: It has been infused with a disintegrating substance.
  • Dispel: infused with the power of a strange anti-magical substance
  • Disruption: It has been infused with a disrupting substance.
  • Fire: It has been infused with the power of a fire elemental.
  • Earth: It has been infused with the power of an earth elemental.
  • Lightning: It has been infused with the power of a lightning bolt.
  • Mana: It has been infused with mana.
  • Plasma: It has been infused with the power of a flaming substance.
  • Steam: It has been infused with a steaming substance.
  • Void/Vacuum: It has been infused with the power of a dark substance.
  • TD Bonus: The harmonics generated tell you that the armor serves to protect from magical attacks.
  • Weighting:
The harmonics generated tell you that the <weapon> inflicts more fearsome wounds when it strikes. (crit weighting)
The harmonics generated tell you that the <weapon> does extra damage when it strikes. (damage weighting)
  • Defender weapon:: The harmonics generated tell you that the <weapon> helps defend the one who wields it.
  • Ranger Resistance: Armor treated by a ranger may have a slightly misleading loresong. The value may be high (first verse) and there will be no explicit mention of the resistance being temporary in the third and fourth verses. However, ranger-applied resistance will give the ranger's name in the fourth verse, as well as a read on the remaining wear on the armor fittings:
As your song penetrates the dark-scaled armor, you determine that it is very resistant to fiery attacks.
A steady thread of wild magic hums in response to your song, and you sense that the heat resistance was imbued into the dark-scaled armor by Twiggs.
You gauge that the fittings have almost no amount of wear and tear remaining to them.
When in doubt, find a ranger to ASSESS the armor to determine its status.
  • Ensorcellment: Weapons and armor which have been ensorcelled by a sorcerer will first tell you about it in the second, purpose, verse: ...shrouded with a haze of necrosis around the brigandine armor. - but no details yet. In the fourth verse, it will identify the sorcerer and give you the tier of ensorcellment: A strange necrotic haze sours your melody slightly, indicating that Allereli has infused the armor with the second tier of permanent Ensorcellment.


Player-Forged Weapons

Weapons created by the forging artisan skill yield special messaging which reveals the quality of the forging of the item in the third verse. The loresong will also reveal the fact that the item was player-forged (though this information is already available via the crafter's mark in the SHOW description of the item).

  • Player-forged (second verse):
It has been forged by a member of the Artisan's Guild.
  • Elegant-quality (third verse):
The handaxe has a lightly increased effectiveness in combat.
  • Superior-quality (third verse):
The maul has a moderately increased effectiveness in combat.
  • Perfect-quality (third verse):
The dagger has a significantly increased effectiveness in combat.


Enhancive Items

Items with enhancive properties have messaging in several phases of the loresong. The second verse provides a simple indicator of whether or not the item is enhancive. The third verse provides a vague description of the properties. The fourth verse contains complete information about the enhancive properties (and if complete, renders the third verse irrelevant). The tiered messaging may be valuable to lower level bards who are unable to extract the full properties of the item in the fourth verse. The third and fourth verse may also provide information about racial, skill, societal, or character restrictions placed on the item.

  • Enhancive (second verse):
Also, it seems to have some sort of enhancive properties.
  • Properties, vague (third verse):
The bracer resonates with your voice, indicating that it enhances its owner in the following ways:
It provides a boost to Agility.
This enhancement may not be used by adventurers who have not trained 36 times.
It provides a boost to Aura.
This enhancement may not be used by adventurers who have not trained 20 times.
It provides a boost to Mana Recovery.
This enhancement may not be used by adventurers who have not trained 10 times.
You think that you could probably find out something more about the pendant's enhancive properties if you tried.
  • Properties, complete (fourth verse):
The bracer resonates with your voice, indicating that it enhances its owner in the following ways:
It provides a boost of 8 to Agility.
This enhancement may not be used by adventurers who have not trained 36 times.
It provides a boost of 4 to Aura Bonus.
This enhancement may not be used by adventurers who have not trained 20 times.
It provides a boost of 2 to Mana Recovery.
This enhancement may not be used by adventurers who have not trained 10 times.
The bracer looks to have a lot of charges remaining.
  • Persistence (fourth verse):
You sense that the aquamarine bracer will crumble into dust after its last enhancive charge has been expended.
You sense that the composite bow will persist after its last enhancive charge has been expended.
  • Restriction (third/fourth verse):
This enhancive item may not be used by the following professions: Warrior Rogue Wizard Cleric Empath Sorcerer Ranger Monk Paladin Savant.
This enhancement cannot be used by adventurers without at least a moderate amount of skill in Brawling.
This enhancive item may not be used by the following races: Human Giantman Half-Elf Sylvankind Dark Elf Dwarf Halfling Forest Gnome Burghal Gnome Half-Krolvin Erithian Aelotoi.
Some bronze leg greaves inset with hammered copper discs can only be used by a Master of the Guardians of Sunfist.
This item is restricted to use by an adventurer you can't quite determine.
This item is restricted to use by Oweodry.

Special Note on Enhancive Properties

It provides a boost of 8 to Agility.
This enhancement is to the BASE STAT.
It provides a boost of 4 to Aura Bonus.
This enhancement is to the STAT BONUS.
For every 1 point of STAT BONUS it adds 2 points to the BASE STAT.
The 4 to Aura Bonus listed above would provide 8 to the BASE STAT.

Purified Gems

Gems which have been purified through Purification Song (1004) may turn into orb gems (for the purpose of charging items or creating chrisms) or become rechargeable imbeds.

  • Orb gem (second verse):
From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the glimaerstone is as a gem of some kind. As you sing, the glimaerstone seems to resonate with your voice, and you feel it trying to draw power from you.
  • Mage rechargeable (second verse):
From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the emerald is as a gem of some kind. As you sing, the emerald seems to resonate with your voice, and you feel it trying to draw power from you. It pulses strongly with the rhythm of your words.

Unlocking Loresongs

Bards have the ability to temporarily and permanently unlock loresongs, such that non-bards can RECALL the item to view its loresong. This applies to the standard properties exposed by loresinging most items, as well as the special story loresongs that some items possess.

Temporary

A loresong is temporarily unlocked for between 1 to 30 days after a bard loresings to an item. The duration is based on the bard's skill. Factors are Bard spellsong ranks, Influence bonus, and Mental Lore, Telepathy.

The duration uses the formula, per Estild: ((Bard spellsong ranks / 4) + (Influence bonus / 5) + (seed 1 summation of Mental Lore, Telepathy ranks) - 10) = # of days, min 1, max 30.

The duration of the temporary unlock will display in the fourth facet of the loresong, like so: 

Its loresong has been temporarily unlocked by XXXX for 7 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes.

Permanent

To permanently unlock a loresong, a bard must accumulate Lore Knowledge Points (LKP), which are earned by killing like-level creatures. Each kill provides a small chance to earn 1 LKP. Subsequent kills increase the odds until a point is earned, with guaranteed success after 750 kills for the week. Of special note for those who hunt in groups, there are build-in checks to prevent LKP generation from getting abused in areas like Reim. Specifically, if you deal less than 50% of the creature's hit points, you have a reduced chance (dictated by the percent that you did contribute) to earn credit.

A Bard may learn up to 1 LKP per week and store up to 5 LKPs total and may view if they've already earned their weekly LKP and their total LKPs with the RECALL verb.

There is a skill check to permanently unlock a loresong, using the Bard's skill vs. the item's properties. Success modifiers include:

  • Level
  • Bard spellsong ranks
  • Magic Item Use
  • Elemental Mana Control
  • Mental Mana Control
  • Aura and Influence stat bonus
  • Mental Lore, Telepathy

There are also penalties for being injured or low on spirit.

Per Estild, the importance of each skill or stat is as follows: "MIU, EMC, and MMC are all weighted evenly, which is half as effective as spell ranks past level. Ranks past level give the same bonus as Telepathy ranks, Aura stat bonus, and Influence stat bonus. Spell ranks up to level are weighted twice as heavily as spell ranks above level (and thus the highest contributor of any factor)."

To attempt to unlock the loresong of an item, the bard first needs to loresing to the item like normal, then within 5 minutes, use the RECALL verb on the item. The first attempt will provide information such as the chance of success and how many LKPs it will cost to unlock the item. The LKP cost is derived by the difficulty of an item, with a minimum 1 LKP cost to unlock any item and a maximum cost of 5.

The skill check to unlock a loresong is far more forgiving than Enchant and Ensorcell, but not all items may necessarily be possible for a bard to unlock without outside help. Once a loresong is unlocked, non-bards may RECALL the item to view its loresong. Failure to permanently unlock an item results in a 24 hour cooldown before your can try to unlock the item again. There is no loss of LKPs.

Messaging

Award of a LKP via critter kill is displayed between the damage messaging and the death message, such as this. The last sentence of the bolded text should be used for highlighting, if looking for an alert: 

>renew 1030
You sing with renewed vigor!
You continue to sing a disruptive song.
  Warding failed!
  An Ithzir seer reels under the force of the sonic vibrations!
  Sound waves disrupt for 103 damage!
   ... 85 points of damage!
   Heart explodes rupturing the Ithzir seer's chest.

Breathing heavily from your exertions against the Ithzir seer, you ruminate for a moment about your surroundings, gaining a better understanding of their history and place in the world.  This lore could be woven into your loresongs to let them linger and be recalled.

The Ithzir seer falls to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Renewing "Song of Sonic Disruption" for 20 mana.
Sing Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Other award messaging examples: 

You find yourself absently reminiscing upon the tale of a long-ago battle.  In a flash of inspiration, an intense connection to its origins floods your mind.
A temperate breeze whistles past, bringing to mind the melody of a half-forgotten song. As you play through its notes in your mind, you find yourself dazzled by the weight of its history, gaining a better understanding of the music.
Breathing heavily from your exertions against the black forest viper, you ruminate for a moment about your surroundings, gaining a better understanding of their history and place in the world.
With the death of the black forest viper, you ponder the balance of life and death and find a single moment of synchronicity with the rhythms of the world. Amid this fleeting peace, you come to a better understanding of your own culture and history.
Your blood sings from the recent combat, and you reel with the abrupt recollection of an old piece of elven music.
Fighting so near to a landmark as notable as the Cascade of Tears brings to mind a wealth of tales and rumors about the area, filling you with inspiration.

A bard using the RECALL verb can see how many LKPs they have earned:

0 LKPs: 

You can't recall any pertinent lore to let you preserve the knowledge of objects.

1 LKP: 

You remember a yarn you've spun, which you could use to preserve the knowledge of simple items.

2 LKPs: 

Your thoughts shift to tales of treasures obtained from your travels, which you could use to preserve the knowledge of magical trinkets.

3 LKPs 

You recall secrets of lost civilizations and ancient legends, which you could use to preserve the knowledge of magical items.

4 LKPs 

Memories of the history of Elanthian heroes and their epic relics resonate in your mind, which you could use to preserve the knowlege of powerful items.

5 LKPs: 

Your mind is filled with a vast repertoire of lore, which you could use to to preserve the knowledge of some of Elanthia's most powerful artifacts!  Your understanding of such magic cannot exceed this level.

A bard can see how much an item will cost:

1 LKPS: 

It will require a fair amount of lore to unlock this loresong.

2 LKPS: 

It will require a substantial amount of lore to unlock this loresong.

3 LKPS: 

It will require a generous amount of lore to unlock this loresong.

4 LKPS: 

It will require an epic amount of lore to unlock this loresong.

5 LKPS: 

It will require a vast amount of lore to unlock this loresong.


Once a bard has earned an LKP for the week, the following message is displayed in RECALL: 

You feel you have exhausted your inspiration of Elanthia's lore as much as possible for the time being.

Example of a successful unlock (required 2 LKPs and awarded 400 experience): 

>recall am
You begin a musical chant directed towards your gnarled bone amulet.  You recall your recent loresong of the amulet and prepare yourself to weave its story into its being.

Having probed the gnarled bone amulet already, you continue to focus your musical chant in an attempt to permanently infuse the amulet with its loresong...

You make a questionable attempt.

Success!  Stories and songs of comedies, victories, and heroes all swirl through your mind as you invest enough of your magical lore into the essence of the gnarled bone amulet.  Its loresong has now been permanently affixed.
Roundtime: 5 sec.

Example of an unsuccessful unlock: 

>recall dagger
You begin a musical chant directed towards your black steel dagger.  You recall your recent loresong of the dagger and prepare yourself to weave its story into its being.

Having probed the black steel dagger already, you continue to focus your musical chant in an attempt to permanently infuse the dagger with its loresong...

You make a very poor attempt!

Failure!  Stories and songs of tragedies, defeats, and villains all swirl through your mind as the black steel dagger rejects your infusion of magical lore.  You are left perplexed about the very essence of the dagger.
Roundtime: 6 sec.

Additional Information

When accessed via RECALL, the loresong information functions exactly as if the bard is loresinging to the item. New properties added to the item after its loresong has been unlocked will be displayed, and any effects experienced by a bard loresinging the item manually will be experienced by the person accessing the loresong (which may include damage or death for certain rare items).

The loresongs of stationary items cannot be unlocked at this time.

If a non-bard accesses a loresong via RECALL and places it for sale in a player shop, the properties will be revealed as normal.

LKP generation is luck based, but in general, you should expect it to take several days to earn a point. Like ensorcelling (and enchanting's lore benefit), it's designed to reward characters who log in and play instead of just being something any bard can quickly earn.

Resources

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