Celestial Nadir

The Celestial Nadir was an artificial demiplane created by the original Imaskari Empire. It was used as a safe place for magical experimentation should unforeseen consequences arise. It also served as a magical bridge between for the Imaskari, since many portals resided in the demiplane that led to various locations on the Prime Material Plane. It can only be accessed from certain locations possessing standing stone rings, and only by using a Celestial Nadir keystone. All the keystones are lost, save for one possessed by Empress Ususi.

There are said to be twenty standing stones rings that lead to the Celestial Nadir. However, the only known standing stone ring locations, as discovered by Empress Ususi, are the Menhir ring in Adama's Tooth, the Mucklestones ring in the Lethyr Forest, and an unnamed ring in Skyclave city (formerly the Palace of the Purple Emperor).

The Celestial Nadir is home to a naturally occurring magical crystal called celestial nadir crystals, which are amethyst in color. A skilled artificer can graft celestial nadir crystals onto a mortal body, replacing limbs and organs. The recipient of such grafting gains supernatural strength, speed, endurance, durability, and healing properties, depending on the type of body parts replaced. Shaddon Datharathi discovered these crystals in the mountain called Adama's Tooth near the Menhir ring leading to the Celestial Temple. He was first to learn how to graft the crystal to mortal flesh, and encouraged many of his family members to do the same. His family mined the crystals for the magical properties, and eventually entered the Celestial Temple where they located vast sediments of the crystal. It was there that he discovered a malevolent alien entity of darkness called Pandorym.

Shaddon learned how to place special runes on celestial nadir crystals during the artificing process that allowed him to manipulate the recipient of the modified crystals once they were embedded in their flesh. These tainted crystals were called Datharathi crystals, and Shaddon built a large merchantile business selling these crystals to rich nobles. Pandorym could possess and control Shaddon, as well as anyone who received grafts of Datharathi crystals.