Opal

Opal was a milky gem stone related to black and fire opals, but occurred slightly more frequently.

Description
The substrate of opal was usually an opaque pale blue, while the inclusions flashed green to gold. Opals were usually cut cabochon or used as inlays, and a typical specimen had a base value of 1,000 gp.

Opals were considered sacred by followers of Lliira&mdash;appropriate for sacrifice, or to be consecrated for use, or recognized as boons or omens when found. White opals specifically were sacred to followers of Hathor.

Powers
Opals had a high affinity to magic and were used in casting numerous spells and in the creation of magic items, especially those that stored spells for later use. The most well-known example was the helm of brilliance. An example of a spell for which opals were required was the crown of brilliance spell used by archons and those blessed by the Seven Sisters. Opals were also used in rings of water walking.

Opals could be substituted for other, more scarce materials when constructing magic items because of their ability to release spells just as if they were cast normally, with no change in range, power, or effect. When enchanting opal or using it as part of a magical procedure, the best results were obtained at twilight.

One extremely important caveat regarding opal: it was never to be used in creating items that attempted to combine fire and lightning. Doing so resulted in an immediate chain reaction/explosion in which a large bolt of chain lightning was released with the additional effect of two Melf's minute meteors released in random directions whenever a cascading target was hit.

Reputation
Opals were considered prized gems among the drow.