The finest Implements I have crafted came not from some perfect specimen from a tree, hewn from straight, uniformed grain and untouched by knots or voids. No, the best are quite the opposite.

Consider people. When you meet someone new, who are the ones that stand out? Are they the ones who have led lives untainted by hardship? What about the ones that played it safe, not taking risks? We as people are like any other canvas. And a canvas must be painted on. To do otherwise would be to deny ourselves part of what it means to live.

When I want to craft an Implement of power, I do not look for a blank canvas. I instead look for the one that has too many strokes to count, daubed with vibrant colors a rainbow would be envious of, and haunting dark hues that could conceal countless unspoken truths. I endeavor to find the piece that tells a story. That story may not be happy one, or guarantee that some justice will be served, but you will remember it.

So, when I find a piece like that, mottled with age, twisted, weathered by the elements, and invaded by disease…that is when my work begins. And when I am done with it? That piece, nothing more than firewood for most, becomes something else entirely.

This Implement, Conjure, is one of my finest examples. Like us, no matter how battered and worn we become with the trials we endure, if we take the time to cultivate and shape what lies beneath our beleaguered surface, something beautiful is revealed.