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Like the continent of Elanith,
the Erithian continent possesses a wide variety of mineral
resources. The members of the "earth clan,"
the Suroth Dai, have primarily been responsible for investigating
the precious and semi-precious stones found in Erithian
territory. However, some gems hold a certain place of
honor in Erithian culture among all Dai, and students
of culture may find it interesting that many of those
gems can be found only on the Erithian continent.
Many
organizations seek trade pacts to import unique gems
from the Erithian continent. Dwarves and gnomes have
had the greatest success, but the Erithi have also sealed
trade agreements with halflings, elves, scattered sylvans,
and the Faendryl.
Although rare gems exist, the Erithi have not chosen
to import any of their most precious stones to the continent
of Elanith, preferring to leave that information (and,
ideally, the stones in question) in their own hands.
Considering that their lands have long been raided by
rogues and scavengers of many races, their preference
for mystery is not entirely surprising, but it is disappointing
to those who wish to chronicle such matters. The gems
listed below are the only ones that have been verified.
Agate
Many remarkable varieties of agate are found only
upon the Erithian continent. Some (although not all)
are described below. These stones are infrequently found,
but the Erithi grant them sentimental value that places
them far above diamond within the rituals and customs
of the culture.
Beetle agate:
Beetle agate is a black stone that displays a fiery,
metallic green iridescence when held in the light.
Blood agate:
Blood agate is a deep crimson stone streaked with salmon
pink.
Celestial agate:
Celestial agate is a translucent black stone shot with
slender, silvery-white lines that create star-like patterns.
Dawn agate:
Dawn agate is a dark grey color banded with pastel pink,
yellow, and green. When touched by sunlight, it shimmers
with an intense gold hue.
Dream agate:
Dream agate is a pale grey agate with bands that appear
opaque and snow white beneath sunlight. Beneath moonlight,
the bands become both transparent and opalescent, threading
the translucent grey stone with softly shimmering rainbows.
Drought agate:
Drought agate typically displays several shades of brown,
varying from light tan to a dark, almost black color,
and slender lines of pale green framed in dark gold
run through its substance.
Iris agate:
Iris agate contains extraordinarily thin bands of translucent
stone, each shifted only slightly in hue from the others,
creating delicate rainbows that repeat multiple times
through its substance. Iris agates typically have a
predominant color, which may be white, black, or a pastel
shade of the rainbow.Nathala agate:
Nathala agate is predominantly an intense turquoise
hue, banded with another shade of blue as well as one
or more of the colors black, white, green, and gold.
Owleye agate:
Owleye agate refers not to a type of agate so much as
a formation of banded agate. In owleye agate, the bands
create one or more concentric patterns upon the surface
of the stone.
Panther agate:
Panther agate bears a strong resemblance to tigereye.
However, instead of showing shimmering bands of gold
upon a surface of brown, panther agate contains shimmering
bands of pale silvery-grey upon a surface of midnight
black.
Spectral agate:
Spectral agate is a transparent stone, typically pale
grey or pale blue, banded with opaque, faintly shimmering
white.
Snake agate:
Snake agate is a variant of mottled agate. It may be
grey, green, brown, black, or white in its primary hue,
but its distinguishing trait is that its markings bear
a strong resemblance to the scales of a snake.
Storm agate:
Storm agate is typically dark blue shading to black,
shot with zigzagging streaks of silver and white.
Summer agate:
Summer agate is a bright, sunny yellow color adorned
with tiny bands of sky blue and cloud white.
In addition, every type of agate found upon the continent
of Elanith may be found upon the Erithian continent,
with the sole exception of chameleon agate (which is
not precisely found upon Elanith in any case, as it
is only found on Teras Isle.)The Erithi value agate
very highly, particularly the Surath Dai. Though the
record of Erithi history stretches back only fifteen
hundred years, Erithian scholars are convinced that
the traditions related to agate are far older. The word
for "soul" (raiyatha) and the word for "agate"
(raiyartha) are quite similar in the Erithi language,
making linguists certain that they derive from the same
source. A traditional prayer among the Erithi, also
suspected to be older than their arrival in Atan Irith,
addresses Lumnis as "Mother of Agates" and
asks the goddess to aid the Erithian people in showing
mercy to one another.
Poets among the Erithi use agate as a symbol for the
soul on a routine basis, and every variety of agate
carries its own special symbolism as well. Part of a
traditional Erithian wedding ceremony requires the bride
and groom to drink from a bowl carved of agate, and
the specific agate of the bowl is chosen with careful
attention to the traditional symbolism.
Cinnamon amber
Cinnamon amber is a transparent stone that varies
in hue between fiery scarlet and a red so dark that
it is almost black. It has no fire, it cannot be faceted,
and, like regular amber, it often includes preserved
insects or vegetable matter. Unlike true amber, it never
washes ashore. Unlike many Erithian gems, cinnamon amber
is not found in regions controlled by the Surath Dai,
but is found within the various woodlands and valleys
of Yachan Dai territory. Cinnamon amber is actually
more common than regular amber upon the Erithian continent.
Cinnamon amber, like regular amber, will burn in a
candle flame. Instead of producing white smoke, however,
it will produce orange smoke, and the scent is quite
different. When burned, cinnamon amber produces an intense
spicy odor, leading to its name. This effect is little
more than a novelty to the Erithi, who find the scent
to be overpowering and unpleasant, but the smell of
burning cinnamon amber has gained remarkable popularity
with the Nalfein in the time since the Erithi revealed
themselves. Trade in cinnamon amber has already been
established with Ta'Nalfein. Nalfein traders are importing
the stone at a remarkable rate for use in perfume and
incense, and at least one Ivasian priest has made his
interest in the substance known as well.
Sunset
beryl
There is only one known deposit of sunset beryl,
which lies in Surath Dai territory on the Erithian continent.
Since this deposit is quite large, and since the quality
is quite low, it is merely an uncommon stone.
Sunset beryl is a beautiful, dark red stone shading
slightly toward pink. It often sparkles slightly from
many tiny inclusions running through its imperfect substance.
Unfortunately, sunset beryl is even more prone to damage
than emerald, and, as a result of these contaminating
inclusions, the crystals are very small. Few exceed
the size of a halfling's little fingernail, and most
are akin to the size of a grain of sand, but a few prized
larger specimens do exist.
Unsurprisingly, most of the crystals are unsuitable
in size to jewelry-related purposes. However, the stone
takes on an incredible fire when faceted, and some Erithians
take pleasure in wearing a single sunset beryl earring
or a tiny sunset beryl pendant at the hollow of the
throat.
Pieces of sunset beryl that are inappropriate to jewelry's
purposes are often used in clerical rituals, as sunset
beryl can serve as a useful channel for divine energy.
The magical structure of sunset beryl also serves as
a useful catalyst when seeking to gain the aid of rock,
stone, and earth spirits.
Coral
Now that the Erithi have revealed their presence to
the various races of Elanith, stories about the wealth
of the Erithian continent have spread through seedy taverns
all along the eastern shore of Elanith. From these tales,
raiders and shrewd jewelers alike suspect that, as well
as myriad agates, the Erithian continent possesses a wide
variety of valuable corals. However, the Erithi have been
fairly reticent regarding this matter, and only two unique
varieties of coral have been confirmed.
One is anemone
coral, which is a regular, symmetrically formed coral
occurring in a delicate shade of violet with dark plum
markings. The other is spiral coral, which consists
of gleaming golden protrusions arranged in intricate
spirals.
Members of the Nathala Dai collect these corals (and
perhaps others) along the shores of the Erithian homeland.
Initial trade inquiries suggest that these corals are
both uncommon.
Jade
Members of the Surath Dai have located
a number of excellent deposits of jade. These deposits
include yellow, green, brown, and white jade, with white
jade being by far the most common of the varieties. This
may be why the Erithi have developed a sophisticated technique
for dying jade through careful exposure to elemental magic.
If the
technique fails, or if the exposure is accidental, the
result is quite ugly, looking like nothing so much as
a stain upon the stone. However, in the hands of a master,
the result is quite striking. Erithian travelers have
revealed that it is necessary to expose the gem evenly
to only a single variety of elemental energy, but they
have not explained any more of the secret, and no jeweler
on the continent of Elanith has successfully replicated
the effect thus far.
Water's influence produces lavender jade, air's influence
creates brilliant blue jade, earth's influence will
turn it pale red, and fire will turn it black. Some
truly remarkable pieces exist that actually incorporate
more than one color of jade in a single stone, such
as swirls of blue jade drifting among a background of
black. Cracking open a piece of dyed Erithian jade reveals
that the hue extends only the thickness of a fingernail
into the stone, leaving the natural white jade beneath.
Some jewelers are experimenting with cameos and bas-relief
carvings that take advantage of the contrast between
the dark, dyed portions and the pale hue within.
Since white jade is so common in Erithian lands, the
Erithi are trading it readily with the dwarves, and
these dyed jades are valued as if they were infrequently
found.
Yellow tourmaline
Yellow tourmaline, or "sun"
tourmaline, can only be found on the Erithian continent.
Its name is apt, for, if a yellow tourmaline crystal is
placed in a sunbeam, the entire crystal will glow with
sunlight. This effect persists even when the exposure
to light is very small and the crystal is quite large.
Traditionally, the Erithians have attributed the effect
to solar spirits rather than to Phoen's influence, but
human clerics of Phoen are less certain of the matter.
As well as existing in pure
yellow crystals, this variant of tourmaline may be found
in bicolored crystals. When this occurs, the other side
of the crystal is invariably black.
Thus far, no one has found any magical use for pure
yellow tourmaline aside from a mild affinity to spiritual
blessings. Oddly, however, the bi-colored yellow tourmalines
are magically inert to anything save certain aspects
of demonology. As a result, the Faendryl have taken
a particular interest in them.
Due to some particularly deft bargaining, the Faendryl
currently have a monopoly upon yellow tourmaline importation,
but it is not expected to last. The stone is common
in Erithian lands, and too many people are curious enough
to pay for a better look at it.
Blue zircon (nathalene)
The Erithi possess a blue variety of zircon
that they call nathalene. It glimmers with a cold blue
light like the sky reflecting back from glacial ice, and
those who have seen it consider it to be the most beautiful
variety of zircon by far. Still, as it is still merely
a variant of zircon, jewelers will not offer very much
for it.
As trade continues between the dwarven people and the
Erithi in Zul Logoth, the dwarves have obtained a number
of precious samples, and they report that nathalene
stones are extremely responsive to bardic loresinging.
Experimentation continues in this matter.
Gemstones
and the Aelotoi
For fifteen thousand years, the Aelotoi
suffered as slaves to the kiramon. The kiramon worked
the Aelotoi cruelly, using them to mine and destroy the
healthy, fertile world that had once been their own. Many
presumably still endure in captivity upon that distant
world, Bre'Naere -- for, while many were able to escape
through the shimmering rift to Elanthia, there were many
such mining camps, and it was impossible for Braedn, the
elected leader of the Aelotoi, to save all of his people.
The Aelotoi suffered terribly beneath the dominance
of the kiramon. Now, they are free -- but the memory
of Bre'Naere has not left them. The kiramon destroyed
lakes, rivers, trees, meadows, and mountains, but their
driving goal and desire was to obtain gems, and the
Aelotoi people never understood why the kiramon wanted
gems so badly. The memory of the driving kiramon quest
has resulted in various Aelotoi reacting in significantly
different ways when confronted with gemstones, particularly
rubies, sapphires, diamond, and other high-quality stones
that the kiramon most desired.
While there are exceptions among any of the clans,
the following attitudes are most typical among the Aelotoi.
The Vaer'sah clan takes pleasure in the idea of owning
gems and wearing jewelry. The Vaer'sah enjoyed more
freedom than the other Aelotoi, living in secret as
refugees and avoiding the wrath of the kiramon. To the
Vaer'sah, jewelry is a way of reveling in the newfound
liberty of the Aelotoi. The kiramon are no longer present
to stop the Aelotoi from owning gems of their own, so
it is an act of defiance and freedom, the Vaer'sah say.
The Gaeh'deh react differently when confronted with
gems and jewelry. The Gaeh'deh bore the brunt of physical
labor on the world of Bre'Naere, and they are more communally
minded than either of the other two clans. On Bre'Naere,
upon rare circumstance, an Aelotoi worker would sometimes
conceal a gem from the kiramon overseers. If the kiramon
discovered such treachery, their reaction was violent
-- not only would the offender be put to death, but
several random members of the mining camp would be slain
as well, and even those permitted to live would be brutally
punished. The Aelotoi word "zrissantha" is
a single term that means "jewel thief," "traitor,"
and "kinslayer." Most members of the Gaeh'deh
clan will not wear jewelry or adorn their possessions
with jewels, and they distrust those who do.
The Mrae'ni, primarily healers and mages, share the
Gaeh'deh hesitation over wearing jewelry. They consider
it disrespectful to wear jeweled ornaments when their
kin are dying elsewhere for the sake of the kiramon
gem-lust. However, the need to know is a driving force
behind the Mrae'ni and their actions, and the Mrae'ni
are asking themselves the question that very few other
Aelotoi have considered: "Why did the kiramon want
gems?" Illistim scholars have taught the Mrae'ni
about some of the magical and metaphysical properties
of various types of gems, and the Mrae'ni are starting
to see possession of gems as a new way to help their
people. Although they are disgusted by the idea of wearing
gems for decoration, the Mrae'ni will sometimes carry
a bespelled gem or two and see nothing wrong with that
practice.
Gemstones
and the Arkati
Worshippers of various Arkati or greater
spirits consider specific gems significant to their
faith. Please note that these attributions are not exclusive;
for example, followers of Imaera and followers of Luukos
both find sacred significance in emeralds.
In looking at this list, some will pause and ask, “But
what of Eonak?” The answer is that Eonak’s
followers do not tie any specific gem to his worship,
for all gems of the earth are beneath his sway. Pieces
of petrified wood are sometimes utilized in wedding
ceremonies by clerics of Eonak, as they symbolize the
bond between Eonak and Imaera, but talismans of metal
or simple, unadorned stone are preferred in all other
cases.
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