Enchantment

Enchantment is the school of arcane magic that deals with the enhancement or augmentation of objects and, less frequently, living beings. Enchantments typically draw on the magical essence of a focal crystal for their power, though a multitude of power sources have been used by different races and cultures. A practitioner of the enchantment school is known as an enchanter.

Object Enchantment
Enchanters are perhaps best known for the creation of magical items – weapons, armour, tools, and so forth. The powers applied to objects are nearly as diverse as the entire field of magecraft, ranging from fiery auras to terrible curses.

No matter the nature of the enchantment, the process involved is similar. Enchanters require a source for the magic on which they will draw, otherwise the enchantment will involve a perpetual drain on the mage's mana reserves to maintain. Typically, this source comes in the form of a mana-filled crystal. Magical dusts and powders are often employed to fortify the effects of the enchantment. Runes, troll idols, religious icons, and other such objects are occasionally used.

Living Objects
Perhaps the most advanced enchantments are those that imbue an object with a measure of intelligence. The Titans were masters of this craft, and used it to create many of their guardians in Azeroth. The creation of golems and similar constructs involves a combination of engineering and enchantment, and Scourge runeblades sometimes hold a measure of sentience.

Such enchantments require complex rituals and expensive reagents to infuse the object in question with life. Usually, the caster must draw on the school of illusion to 'create' a mind for the object, or else bind a creature to it (usually an elemental or similar being) through conjuration. Darker practitioners might bind a sentient soul to the object to animate it, a process that involves the school of necromancy.