Magic, Spirits, and Mysteries
Knots
The tying of magical knots is the most common magical practice in Braided Shore. The gestures of tying, the final shape of the knot, and the reagents tied into it are what gives a magic knot its power. There are many kinds of magical knots and their effects are usually released the instant they are untied.
Knots are also what Braided Shore folk use for writing. Messages, poems, letters, history, and literature – whatever needs to be put down, is done so in a knot.
When a magical knot is tied, alchemical reagents are wrapped around the knot, or the knot is coated in the reagent, to produce the desired effect. Sometimes, mystical “words of making” need to be spoken to create a magical knot as well. It is believed that these words of making are related to the knot symbols.
The single knot is the least complex knot, and a more complicated version of a single knot is called a double-banded knot. The two-folded knot is a reinforced, intricate knot that only master knotmakers can create. The open knot is a reactive knot that can absorb, or react to, outside forces.
