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Bloodjewel is a translucent red stone with little to
no fire. A piece of bloodjewel normally appears so dark that it is
almost black at the center, and then lightens to an intense scarlet
hue around the edges. It is normally cut in smooth, rounded shapes,
cabochons or teardrops, rather than being faceted.
Bloodjewel can be mined within the hills and
mountains of the southern Empire.
In 4273, the elven bandit-lord Terilithian laid
siege to the human city of Elstreth, and Lord Jestril of Elstreth
sent word to Overlord Selantha Anodheles of Tamzyrr asking for her
help. Two days before Selantha's arrival, an assassin killed Lord
Jestril in his sleep. When Selantha's investigators located the
killer, they found that he was an elf who had been paid off with a
pouch of Southron garnets for the crime. When the city of Elstreth
declared Selantha to be Jestril's successor, Selantha gave a
stirring speech to those gathered about how the garnets had been
drops of Jestril's blood and about how she would never forget the
sacrifice that he had made for his city. At the end, she donned a
bracelet that had been made from the assassin's garnets and swore to
everyone assembled that she would never cast off the "blood jewels"
as long as she lived. A brief attempt was made by the city of
Elstreth to rename Southron garnets as "jestrilase," but it never
caught on. People began to refer to the bracelet as "Selantha's
bloodjewels," and then, when people came to jewelers asking for
"something like those bloodjewels," the name came to encompass all
examples of the stone.
V'tull, the Berserker God, has never shown a
predilection for sending jewelry to his followers. However, scimitar
talismans crafted of black steel and capped with bloodjewels have
become popular in the last hundred years among the various followers
of this cruel, bloodthirsty champion. One prayer to V'tull exhorts
him, "Send your blessing to me, and the rivers will be as bloodjewel!"
in reference to the dark red color of the precious stone. This
horrifies most humans, as a gift of bloodjewel in the Turamzzyrian
Empire is a high honor that symbolically compares the recipient to
Selantha herself. Several followers of V’tull have overestimated
their skill (or the willingness of V’tull to inspire them) and then
died in duels when the knights of Tamzyrr rose to defend the honor
of the stone.
Magically, bloodjewel is affiliated with the
element of earth. |
