Plangent crystal

Plangent crystal was a magically animated mineral mined in Durpar. It was used by the Datharathi in the construction of prostheses. It was purple, lavender, or puce in hue; the Datharati claimed prosthetics built from it were better than the original limb, and they also controlled all access to it. Those who were grafted with such a prosthetic were called plangents.

Appearance
While plangent crystal was a number of shades of purple akin to amethyst, some objects made of it were comparable to amber. Throughout the year 1374 DR, many plangent crystal objects displayed a dark discoloration on their center, attributed to Pandorym's influence.

History
Plangent crystal, also known as Datharati crystal, was actually a form of matter found in the Celestial Nadir, known to Ususi Manaallin and the Deep Imaskari as Celestial Nadir crystal. Ususi Manaallin's keystone for accessing the Celestial Nadir was made from this crystal; she had found it sold as Datharathi crystal at Two Stars.

Around, plangent crystal was mined exclusively from under Adama's Tooth. 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 during. Only five years after that, in, Shaddon developed a new method to create plangent prosthetics that made them actually superior to real flesh. Two years after, by, 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.

Unknown to everyone but Shaddon himself, the crystal was no longer mined from Adama's Tooth, but from the Celestial Nadir, accessible through a portal. The vein he had used for Warian's prosthetic was abandoned once he was able to collect the material from the Nadir directly, finding the material much more suitable for his uses. From this vein, he had been able to improve on his prosthetics to the point of making them better than normal limbs, and also gained the power to control and spy on all plangents. Unfortunately, the source of power for all those improved plangents 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. The superior crystal was likely acquired from close to the place where Pandorym's body was stored.

After Ususi Manaallin successfully sealed Pandorym, all of the senior members of the Datharathi perished, due to another effect of the crystal.

Uses
The crystal in its natural state was the material for Warian Datharathi's arm implant, and of Ususi Manaallin's Keystone. A later version, upgraded by Shaddon Datharathi by using the power and knowledge of Pandorym, was employed in the construction of plangents. Among the products sold as of 1374 DR, 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.

Shaddon's upgraded crystal, however, allowed Pandorym access to anyone who wore that crystal: this was so whether it was in an implant or not, as observed by both Iahn Qoyllor and Kiril Duskmourn. The Elder Evil could even attack and attempt to control those who simply interacted with it, such as Thormud Horn, a geomancer who simply attempted to divine the influences on the crystal. Pandorym could even teleport monsters to its vicinity, as it did with both Thormud and Ususi, sending strange monsters to the first and shadow efts to the other. Pandorym's influence was sometimes visible as a darkness at the center of the crystals; unmodified crystals bore a similar tell, but both Warian and Ususi observed that unmodified crystal did not immediately operate as a gateway for its influence even if taken from the seam within the Celestial Nadir. More disturbingly, those under the Elder Evil's control who were separated from the crystal perished on the spot.

Shaddon Datharati also created several spiders grafted with the crystal. Several creatures throughout Vaelan had also been embedded with fragments of the crystal, putting them under Pandorym's control. Monsters in the Imperial Weapons Cache were also embedded with, or carried, plangent crystal; during its battle with Ususi's party in the Cache, Pandorym made use of several Deep Imaskari who were under the crystal's influence as well.

Rumors
It was said that Curna emeralds might have had traces of plangent crystal in them.