@@ -319,12 +319,85 @@
 			end
 		end
 	});
 end
+
+local function enchpwrhud(user, flash, fac)
+	-- this function displays or changes the HUD element
+	-- that shows how much energy is left in an enchanted
+	-- item. it is called by the dig handler and sequences
+	-- callbacks to remove the HUD from the screen once
+	-- its timeleft property has been used up. timeleft is
+	-- reset if the 'flash' argument, which indicates
+	-- whether the enchantment has just been used, is set
+	-- to true; otherwise, it is left alone.
+	--
+	-- this whole thing is really unfriendly and without
+	-- FP tricks it would have been intolerably painful
+	-- to implement. minetest needs better primitives.
+	local frame = math.ceil(16 * (1-math.min(1,fac)))
+	if tostring(frame) == '-0' then frame = '0' -- ??????
+		else frame = tostring(frame) end  
+	local tex = 'sorcery_ui_manaring_' .. (flash and 'flash_' or '') .. frame .. '.png';
+	local c = sorcery.ctx.get(user)
+	if not c.hud_ench then
+		local hid = user:hud_add {
+			name = 'sorcery:manaring';
+			hud_elem_type = 'image';
+			text = tex;
+			position = { x = 0.5, y = 0.5 };
+			offset   = { x = 0,   y = 0  };
+			scale    = { x = 2.0, y = 2.0 };
+			z_index  = 0;
+		}
+		c.hud_ench = {
+			id = hid;
+			timeleft = 2.0;
+			fn = false;
+			fac = fac;
+		}
+		c = c.hud_ench
+	else
+		c = c.hud_ench
+		c.fac = fac
+		user:hud_change(c.id,'text',tex)
+		if flash then c.timeleft = 2.0 end
+	end
+	if c.fn == false then
+		c.fn = true
+		local delta = 0.10
+		-- tried making Δ conditional on 'flash' but it
+		-- turns out that causes the flash not to always
+		-- disappear in a timely manner. solving this
+		-- efficiently would be a major, complex headache
+		-- so i'm just compromising and setting delta to a
+		-- constant :/
+		minetest.after(delta, function()
+			if not sorcery.ctx.stat(user) then return end
+			local u = sorcery.ctx.get(user)
+			local h = u.hud_ench
+			if not h then return end
+			print('timeleft,delta',h.timeleft,delta)
+			if h.timeleft - delta <= 0 then
+				user:hud_remove(h.id)
+				u.hud_ench = nil
+			else
+				h.timeleft = h.timeleft - delta
+				h.fn = false
+				enchpwrhud(user, false, h.fac)
+			end
+		end)
+	end
+end
 
 minetest.register_on_dignode(function(pos, node, puncher)
 	if puncher == nil then return end -- i don't know why
 	-- this is necessary but you get rare crashes without it
+
+	-- perform leyline checks and call notify if necessary
+	if minetest.get_item_group(node.name, 'sorcery_ley_device') ~= 0 then
+		sorcery.lib.node.notifyneighbors(pos)
+	end
 
 	-- we're goint to do something VERY evil here and
 	-- replace the air with a "glow-air" that removes
 	-- itself after a short period of time, to create
@@ -366,11 +439,13 @@
 			count = strength * 7;
 		}
 	::skip::end end
 	if totalcost > 0 then
-		local conservation = sorcery.enchant.strength(tool,'conserve') * 0.5
-		totalcost = totalcost - (totalcost * conservation)
-		ench.energy = math.max(0,ench.energy - (totalcost - (material.data.energysource or 0)))
+		local conservation = math.floor(sorcery.enchant.strength(tool,'conserve') * 6)
+		-- totalcost = totalcost - (totalcost * conservation)
+		if conservation == 0 or math.random(conservation) == 1 then
+			ench.energy = math.max(0,ench.energy - (totalcost - (material.data.energysource or 0)))
+		end
 	end
 	if #sparks == 0 then return end
 	if math.random(5) == 1 then
 		minetest.set_node(pos, {name='sorcery:air_flash_' .. tostring(math.random(10))})
@@ -421,24 +496,7 @@
 		sorcery.enchant.set(tool,ench,true)
 	end
 	puncher:set_wielded_item(tool)
 
-	-- perform leyline checks and call notify if necessary
-	if minetest.get_item_group(node.name, 'sorcery_ley_device') ~= 0 then
-		sorcery.lib.node.notifyneighbors(pos)
-	end
+	local epct = ench.energy / material.data.maxenergy
+	enchpwrhud(puncher, true, epct)
 end)
-
-minetest.register_chatcommand('enchants', {
-	description = 'Log information about the currently held object\'s enchantment';
-	privs = { server = true };
-	func = function(caller,params)
-		local tool = minetest.get_player_by_name(caller):get_wielded_item()
-		minetest.chat_send_player(caller, dump(sorcery.enchant.get(tool)))
-		local binary = tool:get_meta():get_string('sorcery_enchantment_recs')
-		local dumpout = ''
-		for i=1,string.len(binary) do
-			dumpout = dumpout .. string.format('%x%s',string.byte(binary,i),(i%16==0 and '\n') or ' ') 
-		end
-		print(dumpout)
-	end;
-})