Enchant an item

Enchant an item was a powerful spell, and a common alternative in the practice of item enchantment by wizards; it was also useable to recharge some devices.

Effects
Before beginning, the caster required a place of undisturbed quiet, where they remained no less than away from any other magical item not specifically related to the process, including most defensive items, for the duration of the casting. The spell required an item to be enchanted, which had to remain in contact with the mage casting the spell throughout the casting. As on average it took an uninterrupted week to cast the spell, with some castings stretching up to a tenday, and interrupting the caster would force them to start over again, this spell was unlikely to be undertaken lightly.

Once the initial stage was complete, the caster could employ other spells to add new properties to the item to be enchanted. Both the initial casting and those other spells had to be cast or read from a scroll, as magical items could not be used to add properties to new magical items. This process of enspelling stretched for hours, if not days; the discovery of which spells would yield which property was more of an art than a science, to be researched for each item. The caster's ability to manage and endure the magic without being overwhelmed would be tested throughout the process, with their performance changing what the process would yield. Less than perfect results were a possibility hard to discount even for the most experienced of enchanters; all but the most catastrophic failures still created something, often a cursed object, but not always.

Charged items required no further processes, but permanent items required a permanency spell for finishing. This last spell risked the caster's lifeforce, and there was a chance, however slim, that they permanently lost some of their vital essence. Some otherwise reputable sources treated this as a certainty, a mistake repeated throughout the execrable Volo's Guide to All Things Magical but it was definitely overstated. When used on an already enchanted, charged item, the spell instead allowed for it to be recharged. However, it was a long process, calling for two or three hours between new charges.

Components
The spell had verbal and somatic components. The item to be enchanted was considered a material component. Weirwood could be used as an additional component to improve the odds.

The nature of the object's preparation in order for it to be enchanted was a subject of much research. In all cases, it had to be of superlative make, in perfectly sound condition, and made of the finest materials. Superior materials could yield better odds, but the cost soon turned exorbitant. While generalization was extremely difficult, some sources clarified that the materials to be employed in the creation of the item also were to be fresh and as of yet untouched by any other magic, as well as of a nature relating to their intended function.

History
The spell was already known by the time of Netheril, its invention not attributed to any of its arcanists. It was part of all three known schools then. Wu jen employed the spell as well.

The spell was known to be listed in the Scalamagdrion and the Tome of Shaping Secrets. The Scrolls of Ha Rahni, written by a wu jen from Kara-Tur, bore the spell as well. The insane lichnee Druth Daern of Myth Drannor also had this spell in his working spellbook.

By it had grown rare; it was all but forgotten by the, having been replaced by other, universally more accessible (and infinitely more reliable) techniques.

Trivia
The spell was needed for the focus of the versions of trap the soul available by. The demiplane seed spell best known before required a focus prepared using enchant an item, rope trick, and distance distortion. The spell was also required to prepare the material component of the triad gem spell.

The hearts of stone guardians were made using this spell, just as lightning golems, phylacteries of dracoliches and of regular liches. Though doom guards were not made with this spell, the anvil of darkness used to create them was.

Grey and death slaadi were known to possess this spell; red slaadi could be enslaved for up to six tasks with a charm made of a pellet removed by wish, spiritwrack, and limited wish, using enchant an item.

Albeit the spell could not ordinarily be cast out of a magical item, the cloak of stars bypassed this restriction.

The spell took ten times as long in the Ethereal plane, and half as long in the Inner Planes. It did not work at all in the Astral plane.