A few thoughts on stone masonry that I wrote as part of something else. But I thought it interesting and figured I’d share!
Stone masonry ultimately comes from the dwarves. They *know* how to split, carve, smooth, and join rocks together. They sing to the rocks, hit it in the right place and – pow! it falls into place. Think of this almost as if they can see the composition of the rock at a molecular level. This is like sorcery except it is far more effective. This is why the dwarves can make incredible things of stone (and metal and glass and whatever).
Humans copied some of these secrets, but they obviously aren’t as good at it. The masons need to use tools that let them mimic what the dwarfs do – chisels, mallots, punches, rulers, plumb bobs, trowels, etc. This stuff is treated as magical secrets by the human masons (and considered stolen secrets by the dwarfs).
Now some magic is used by the humans. Priests call upon Sartar to magically hold up sections of wall so that masons can work on it. Masons cast Glue, Find (Substance), Repair, etc., to aid them in their work. Really skilled artisans belong to the cult of Wilms the Artist who allows them to Mold Rock or Breathe Life into Art. But these are the really top-tier elite artisans.