Plangent

A plangent was someone whose body was grafted with a prosthetic made from the magically animated mineral, plangent crystal, mined in Durpar.

History
The first prototype of plangent was Warian Datharathi, who had an arm created by Shaddon Datharathi, his grandfather, after he lost his own in an accident sometime around 1367 DR. By 1374 DR, plangents were common in the city of Vaelan and all but two members of the family, Eined and Zeltaebar Datharati, had replaced at least some parts of their bodies with crystal in order to show they stood behind their work. Among the products sold, the enhancements were named "Strong and Tireless", "Quick and Vigorous", "Insightful and Spellstrong", "Pious and Healing", and "Cerebral and Ki-Strong". A whole-body prosthetic was available, with all the enhancements in it, though it was extraordinarily expensive.

Unknown to everyone but Shaddon himself, he had the power to spy on and control all plangents. Unfortunately, the source of power for those applications had turned out to be sentient: an Elder Evil known as Pandorym, who was in turn capable of controlling Shaddon after the latter replaced most of his body with plangent crystal. Only Warian's prototype arm, fashioned from lesser crystal, was still immune to both his grandfather's control and Pandorym's.

By, the local practice became known all around Faerûn as not only replacing a limb, but also enhancing the plangents' talents in a minor way. Plangents were still being made in in Vaelan.

Powers
Warian Datharathi's arm had showed a number of new powers despite being a prototype: during his brawl against Bui the Hog and Yasha, his speed and strength were boosted beyond his belief, at the expense of ensuing bouts of fatigue and weakness. The shopkeeper Tebora at the Body Shop in Vaelan considered herself capable of manhandling men for a demonstration of her powers; she also possessed an eye capable of undisclosed scanning, and it was related to Warian that plangents of 1374 DR were far stronger than normal people. Shaddon Datharathi's own full-body prosthetic rendered his skin nearly impenetrable to most weapons and he considered it a way of protecting himself against the ravages of old age.