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Color range: semi-translucent stone
that occurs in a number of hues, including peach, golden, green,
light blue, dark blue, two shades of purple, and grey
Value: clear glimaerstones are rarely
found, and the most desirable hues -- dark blue and pale violet --
are extremely rare |
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Glimaerstone is a semi-translucent stone that occurs
in a number of hues, including peach, golden, green, light blue,
dark blue, two shades of purple, and grey. A clear variety also
exists that is less valued than either of the others. It is quite
tough, making it difficult to facet, and there is not much point to
faceting the stone -- glimaerstone's beauty stems from the faint,
almost imperceptible glow at its center, which diffuses and ruins
the rays of light that would normally evoke fire from a faceted
stone. Glimaerstone is mined in a few remote
sections of the rocky regions west of Ta'Illistim, just before the
true foothills of the DragonSpine begin.
In the last hundred years, fashionable ladies among
the Illistim elves have taken to wearing medallions made of
glimaerstone and vaalin at dances, teas, and other society events.
These medallions are crafted in mosaic patterns with delicate lines
of vaalin connecting the tiny triangles of glimaerstone, and the
effect is rather like a stained-glass window. The most common image
is a peacock spreading its tail, but other common images include a
pansy blossom, the silhouette of Ta'Illistim, and an arrangement of
five stars. Recently, dragonfly images have become particularly
popular as Ta'Illistim embraces the arrival of the Aelotoi.
Although Winedotter gnomes are not noted for their
jewelcraft, one Winedotter family living beneath Ta'Nalfein
discovered a technique for enhancing the light of a glimaerstone.
The source of these specially treated glimaerstones is not
extensively known, and most outside Ta'Nalfein believe them to be
elven work. This technique somehow quenches the natural glow within
a glimaerstone and replaces it with a remarkable ability to absorb
and multiply light. At their brightest degree, such "treated"
glimaerstones will leave afterimages in the vision of those who look
at them for too long. Regrettably, most of the family died in 5102
in a tragic accident involving an overturned candle and a remarkable
quantity of excellent brandy, leaving only the eldest daughter
alive. More regrettably still, this eldest daughter (commonly
nicknamed Truthie) is apparently quite mad and utterly unwilling to
take on an apprentice. Knowledgeable jewelers have been storing away
treated glimaerstones in anticipation of the day when the source
dries up.
Glimaerstone is strongly aligned with magics of
the mind. Although these arts have historically been practiced only
in a lesser form among the elves, elven bards and empaths treasure
glimaerstones for enhancing their arts. In recent years, Erithian
traders have negotiated for large quantities of glimaerstone to be
exported to their homeland, where their savants can make full use of
its power. |
