Crafter

Solaris' crafters, masters of non-metal materials, excel in creating fine clothing, light armor, intricate jewelry, and even lightweight weapons. Their expertise spans gilding, tailoring, leatherworking, woodworking, and glassblowing. While blacksmiths focus on metalworking, crafters specialize in crafting exquisite items from diverse materials. Their dedication to their craft and exceptional craftsmanship earn them high esteem within their communities, providing both practical necessities and aesthetic luxuries that enhance daily life throughout Solaris.

Origins

The crafter tradition emerged simultaneously in several regions of Solaris, each developing distinct approaches based on available materials. The earliest formal crafting guilds formed in the Osperian Forest, where Solarians established workshops specializing in woodcraft, utilizing the unique properties of the massive Osperwood trees. Grovekin in the original Hinterfall settlements pioneered living craft techniques, creating items that remained partially connected to natural systems. In Elyndaar City, these diverse traditions merged into formal guilds with standardized training methods, though each cultural approach maintained its distinctive character. The tradition evolved dramatically when Humans arrived through the rifts, introducing Earth techniques previously unknown on Solaris, particularly in textiles and glassworking.

Notable Locations

The Artisan's Quarter in Elyndaar City represents the largest concentration of master crafters on Solaris, with specialized workshops for everything from intricate jewelry to living clothing. In the Wildlands, despite their isolation, the Awakened maintain the Verdant Workshops, where items grown rather than made blur the line between craft and cultivation. Harbor City's Floating Markets showcase the diverse crafting traditions from across Solaris, with specialized stalls featuring unique regional styles and techniques. Deep within Thunderwing Stronghold, the Crystal Artisans work with rare minerals from the Skyhold Mountains, creating jewelry and decorative items that capture and refract light in seemingly impossible ways.

Techniques and Specializations

Tailoring encompasses the creation of clothing from simple functional garments to elaborate ceremonial attire, with high-end tailors incorporating protective enchantments and adaptive materials into their designs. Leatherworking transforms hides into everything from armor to book bindings, with master crafters able to create leather as supple as silk or as rigid as plate metal through specialized treatments. Woodworking spans utilitarian furniture to precision instruments, with the most skilled practitioners able to shape living wood that continues to grow in predetermined patterns. Jewelry craft combines aesthetic design with practical enchantment, creating items that are both beautiful and functional, often serving as personal focus items for magical practitioners or status symbols for the wealthy.

Race Affinities

Grovekin naturally excel as crafters, their innate connection to living materials allowing them to create items that seem to grow rather than be made, particularly in the Wildlands where Queen Yasmine's influence has accelerated their natural abilities. Solarians bring meticulous attention to detail to their crafting, creating items of extraordinary precision and beauty, especially in the jewelry traditions of Elyndaar City. Beastkin crafters specialize in working with animal products, creating functional items that honor the creatures that provided the materials, a tradition particularly strong among the Pathfinders of Lunaris. Human crafters frequently combine techniques from their original timelines with Solarian materials, creating hybrid styles that have revolutionized the field, particularly in Harbor City where Captain Tillen welcomes innovation.

Class Synergies

Hunters who pursue crafting develop skills in creating lightweight armor and weapons that complement their mobile fighting style, often incorporating materials gathered during their expeditions. Mages with crafting expertise create items specifically designed to channel and focus magical energies, from ceremonial robes to enchantment-ready jewelry. Techknights who study crafting bring mechanical precision to traditional techniques, creating hybrid items that combine organic materials with technological components. Warriors who develop crafting skills focus on practical, field-repairable equipment that maintains effectiveness under harsh conditions, a specialty particularly valued by the Old Guard of Korbgrad.

Magical Affinities

Nature magic resonates strongly with crafting traditions, allowing practitioners to shape living materials without harming them and imbue their creations with growth and renewal properties. Air magic enhances precision work, particularly in glassblowing where controlled manipulation of heat and airflow determines the final result. Water magic aids in dyeing and material preparation, ensuring even color distribution and proper curing of diverse materials. Those rare crafters who develop affinity for Time magic create extraordinarily durable items by slightly altering the temporal flow around their creations, extending their functional lifespan far beyond normal expectations.

Tools of the Trade

Looms range from simple hand-operated frames to complex mechanical systems capable of weaving intricate patterns, with the most advanced examples in Elyndaar City incorporating magical elements that allow for impossible textile creations. Carving tools exhibit remarkable specialization, with master woodworkers often possessing hundreds of individual implements, each designed for specific cuts and materials. Tanning vats contain closely guarded mixtures of chemicals, herbs, and sometimes magical elements that create distinctive properties in the finished leather. Pattern books represent the accumulated knowledge of generations, often containing designs specific to particular families or guilds, passed down as treasured heirlooms. Living workspaces, most common among Grovekin crafters, consist of specially cultivated plants that assist in the crafting process, holding materials, providing specialized tools, or creating controlled environments for delicate work.