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Regular beryl is uncommon, but Kezmonian honey beryl
is very rare.
Appearance:
Like "agate," "beryl" is a Common
word that annoys many dwarves. According to dwarven
jewelers, emerald, aquamarine, morganite, helidor, and
beryl are all essentially the same kind of stone, varying
only in hue, location, and available quality. The dwarven
language differentiates them accordingly; for example,
"zhaljar greosh" is the dwarven term for emerald,
and it translates simply as "green beryl."
In the imprecision of Common, however, "beryl"
normally refers only to the golden-orange form that
is most common for the stone. Some jewelers do differentiate
it as "golden beryl," particularly if they
deal routinely with dwarves.
One noteworthy beryl variant is Kezmonian honey beryl,
which is a translucent golden stone with an intense,
beautiful luster. When the stone is turned in strong
sunlight, the hues within seem to shift and flow in
a fashion similar to clover honey flowing across a surface
of glass.
Location:
The only known source of Kezmonian honey beryl was,
unsurprisingly, a mine on the lost island of Kezmon.
Deposits of ordinary golden beryl exist all over Elanthia.
Lore:
Magically, golden beryl shows a weak predisposition
toward spiritual spells, but it is really useful for
little more than channeling power for minor cantrips.
Similarly, beryl is not used over-much in divination,
as it is not considered a sufficiently sensitive stone.
However, Kezmonian honey beryl is the exception to both
rules, being quite sensitive in discovering and moderating
the influences of water spirits.
In Common, the words “bear” and “beryl”
spring from the same root. Human woodsmen from Kragsfell
claim that bears are spiritually linked to beryl, and
they caution against wearing beryl outdoors as a result.
If someone is mauled by a bear, then the mayor or a
priest of the village will leave a piece of beryl in
the woods to appease the bear and encourage it to go
away.
Blazestar
Value:
Extraordinarily rare.
Appearance:
Blazestar occurs in a number of hues, including
blue, green, gold, and the distinctive crimson color
that is most often recognized. Instead of displaying
its fire only when turned to the light, blazestar responds
to natural flows of mana, causing its fire to wax and
wane as the pulses of mana run through Elanith. It waxes
and wanes no more strongly upon an earthnode than in
any other location, but it continues to sense the ambient
mana even when the source is so faint that mages cannot
cast their spells. With each waxing, tiny, brilliant
specks of light will trace their way through blazestar,
and then they will die again as they reach the edge.
Due to its distinctive appearance, it is impossible
to fake blazestar.
Location:
The magnificent blazestar mines near Ta'Vaalor are
without parallel, although lesser mines may be found
near the ruins of Old Ta'Faendryl and in Nalfein lands.
All are on the eastern side of the DragonSpine Mountains.
Lore:
The crimson blazestar is the official heraldic
jewel of House Vaalor. As well as bestowing the heraldic
honor upon their own people, monarchs of Ta'Vaalor will
often bestow blazestar jewelry upon those who particularly
please them. While the monarchs of the other elven houses
have all found occasion in one situation or another
to bestow such royal favor outside the race of elves,
no monarch of Ta'Vaalor has ever granted such an honor
to one of the lesser races. Many Vaalorian elves dislike
seeing blazestar jewelry worn by non-elves, and, since
Ta'Vaalor opened its gates to the lesser races, several
petitions have been made to King Tyrnian to make it
illegal to sell blazestar jewelry to non-elves. Thus
far, King Tyrnian's thoughts have lain more with the
economic merit of selling blazestar jewelry than with
the worries of the nobility, and he has denied all such
requests.
Blazestar is distinctly elemental in its alignment.
The hue of the blazestar reveals its element –
blue for air, green for water, gold for earth, and crimson
for fire. To indicate their preferred element, traditional
elven mages wear circlets or ferronieres set with appropriate
blazestars when attending meetings of the Wizard Guild.
Blazestar is not useful in enhancing divination magics,
but it is used as a divination tool to determine which
of many paths to choose in order to make the best of
a situation. Seers who use blazestar will set the stone
in the center of a specially prepared circle, designate
one of the compass points for each alternative, and
then, after reciting an incantation to Jastev, watch
to see which side of the blazestar burns most brightly
in the next pulse of mana. The direction of North is
traditionally left undesignated, and it represents any
option that the seer has not yet considered for solving
the dilemma.
Bloodjewel
Value:
Extremely rare.
Appearance:
Bloodjewel is a translucent red stone with little
to no fire. A piece of bloodjewel normally appears so
dark that it is almost black at the center, and then
lightens to an intense scarlet hue around the edges.
It is normally cut in smooth, rounded shapes, cabochons
or teardrops, rather than being faceted.
Location:
Bloodjewel can be mined within the hills and mountains
of the southern Empire.
Lore:
In 4273, the elven bandit-lord Terilithian laid
siege to the human city of Elstreth, and Lord Jestril
of Elstreth sent word to Overlord Selantha Anodheles
of Tamzyrr asking for her help. Two days before Selantha's
arrival, an assassin killed Lord Jestril in his sleep.
When Selantha's investigators located the killer, they
found that he was an elf who had been paid off with
a pouch of Southron garnets for the crime. When the
city of Elstreth declared Selantha to be Jestril's successor,
Selantha gave a stirring speech to those gathered about
how the garnets had been drops of Jestril's blood and
about how she would never forget the sacrifice that
he had made for his city. At the end, she donned a bracelet
that had been made from the assassin's garnets and swore
to everyone assembled that she would never cast off
the "blood jewels" as long as she lived. A
brief attempt was made by the city of Elstreth to rename
Southron garnets as "jestrilase," but it never
caught on. People began to refer to the bracelet as
"Selantha's bloodjewels," and then, when people
came to jewelers asking for "something like those
bloodjewels," the name came to encompass all examples
of the stone.
V'tull, the Berserker God, has never shown a predilection
for sending jewelry to his followers. However, scimitar
talismans crafted of black steel and capped with bloodjewels
have become popular in the last hundred years among
the various followers of this cruel, bloodthirsty champion.
One prayer to V'tull exhorts him, "Send your blessing
to me, and the rivers will be as bloodjewel!" in
reference to the dark red color of the precious stone.
This horrifies most humans, as a gift of bloodjewel
in the Turamzzyrian Empire is a high honor that symbolically
compares the recipient to Selantha herself. Several
followers of V’tull have overestimated their skill
(or the willingness of V’tull to inspire them)
and then died in duels when the knights of Tamzyrr rose
to defend the honor of the stone.
Magically, bloodjewel is affiliated with the element
of earth.
Bloodstone
Value:
Common.
Appearance:
Bloodstone is an opaque, sea green stone that is
liberally speckled with reddish-orange spots. The contrast
between the green and the red causes the stone to look
as though it has been splashed with blood.
Location:
Bloodstone can be found worldwide.
Lore:
According to dwarves, jewelers, and most alchemists,
bloodstone, by rights, should be nothing but chalcedony
and jasper. No matter how much skeptics may protest,
however, the undeniable fact remains that bloodstone
does not act magically like chalcedony, jasper, or anything
expected from a combination of the two. Bloodstone possesses
powerful warding magic that, when properly keyed, will
protect the spirit of one who wears bloodstone from
a direct attack.
Among the odder legends attached to bloodstone is one
dating from a cult of Mularos in Mestanir. These servants
of Mularos claimed that bloodstone redirected spiritual
attack, rather than absorbing it. Supposedly, the stone
is sacred to Mularos because it channels spiritual pain
from the person expecting it to an innocent party who
is unaware of its arrival. No outside experimentation
ever confirmed this claim in a satisfactory fashion,
and the cult itself was destroyed when Jantalar occupied
Mestanir.
During the war between Baron Hochstib of Jantalar and
Baron Malwind of Vornavis, one of the greatest weapons
in Baron Hochstib's power was the legendary Mandis Crystal.
The Mandis Crystal was an artifact of the Turamzzyrian
Empire that had the power to prevent spellcasting of
all kinds and to drain the very mana away from those
attuned to its flows. In close proximity, the Mandis
Crystal would drain not only the mana but also the very
spirit away from those in its vicinity, resulting in
hideous death. Jantalar successfully occupied Wehnimer's
Landing, but the tide of the occupation turned when
a group of local militants snuck into Mestanir and destroyed
the Mandis Crystal. During the onslaught, the militants
protected themselves from the crystal's ravaging effects
by wearing bloodstone jewelry.
A gift of bloodstone warns the recipient of spiritual
danger. If given to a priest, it suggests that the priest's
faith is ailing -- under most circumstances, a grievous
insult.
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