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Plangent crystal

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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.[1]

Appearance[]

While plangent crystal was a number of shades of purple[1] akin to amethyst,[2] some objects made of it were comparable to amber.[3] Throughout the year 1374 DR, many plangent crystal objects displayed a dark discoloration on their center,[2] attributed to Pandorym's influence.[4]

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.[2]

Around 1370 DR, plangent crystal was mined exclusively from under Adama's Tooth.[1] Around 1367 DR, the Durpari wizard and inventor Shaddon Datharathi created the first prototype of plangent implant for his grandson, Warian Datharathi, who who lost his arm in an accident.[5] Shaddon continued to improve on the process of construction of plangents, and only five years after that, in 1372 DR, he developed a new method to create plangent prosthetics that made them actually superior to real flesh.[6] Plangent crystal implants exploded in popularity afterwards,[note 1] and two years later, by 1374 DR, plangents were common in the city of Vaelan[7] 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.[8]

Unknown to everyone but Shaddon himself, by 1372 DR the crystal was no longer mined from Adama's Tooth, but from the Celestial Nadir, accessible through a portal. With the superior crystal, 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 prosthetics 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.[6] The superior crystal was likely acquired from close to the place where Pandorym's body was stored.[9]

Uses[]

The crystal in its natural state was the material for Warian Datharathi's arm implant,[6] and of Ususi Manaallin's Keystone.[2] The later version, upgraded by Shaddon Datharathi by using the power and knowledge of Pandorym starting on 1372 DR, was employed in the construction of plangents.[6] Among the plangent grafts 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.[10]

Shaddon's upgraded crystal, however, allowed him to puppeteer anyone implanted with it, and granted Pandorym access to anyone who wore that crystal[6] whether it was in an implant or not, as observed by both Iahn Qoyllor[11] and Kiril Duskmourn.[12] 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.[13] Pandorym could even teleport monsters to its vicinity, as it did with both Thormud and Ususi, sending strange monsters to the first[14] and shadow efts to the other.[15] Pandorym's influence was sometimes visible as a darkness at the center of the crystals; unmodified crystals bore a similar tell, but both Warian[16] and Ususi[4] 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.[11][12][17]

Shaddon Datharati also created several spiders grafted with the crystal.[18] Several creatures throughout Vaelan had also been embedded with fragments of the crystal, putting them under Pandorym's control.[19] 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.[20]

Rumors[]

It was said that Curna emeralds might have had traces of plangent crystal in them.[21]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Given that early prototypes were outside Shaddon's control, and only Warian's arm was in that group, this article assumes no plangent implants were sold before 1372 DR, when Shaddon stumbled upon the method to upgrade his implants using Pandorym's power.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 118. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 2, p. 13. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  3. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (July 2004). Lady of Poison. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 10, p. 90. ISBN 978-0786931613.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 26, p. 245. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  5. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 3, p. 29. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 16, pp. 155–157. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  7. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 7, p. 64. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  8. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 10, pp. 99–101. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  9. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 25, p. 239. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  10. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 11, p. 113. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 5, pp. 48–49. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 26, p. 246. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  13. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 8, pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  14. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 14, p. 135. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  15. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 17, pp. 157–159. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  16. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 25, p. 239. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  17. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 31, p. 307. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  18. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 21, p. 204. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  19. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 5, p. 42. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  20. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell (2006). Darkvision. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 30, p. 307. ISBN 0-7869-4017-4.
  21. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 129. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
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