Bloodstone

Bloodstone

Overview

Bloodstone is a very peculiar mineral which is known throughout the whole of south western Nybelmar. Found in the cursed lands of Venlaken Enclave, it is famous for its rarity as well as its unusual properties, as well as its reaction with a strange substance, blood.

The Zhunite, in particular the Marmarrans, use bloodstone to augment their rarest weapons with deadly capabilities and, as such, Bloodstone is notorious for leaving death in its wake.

Appearance

It is uncommon to find a Bloodstone that hasn’t already been bound to a blade, and even when you do you might dismiss it as a mere pebble (which is strange as they aren’t found near the sea). However on closer inspection you realise this isn’t a worthless stone. In their natural form Bloodstones look quite ordinary. Although they vary in size, most, which are intact, are the size of a man’s palm, and normally only a few nailsbreadths in thickness. They are a deep, dark purple (which is commonly mistaken for a black) and, like the pebbles they resemble, are smooth to touch. Before they are treated bloodstones are incredibly malleable. They are so malleable that simply pressing in your thumb hard enough can make a relatively deep indentation. Untreated bloodstones are almost like clay, although anyone with any common sense will know that this is a lot more valuable.

After Bloodstones have been soaked in blood they begin to change. They begin to harden to an incredible degree, so much that a strike with the hardest hammer wouldn’t even dent it. After this process Bloodstones are a lot more rigid and sharp, but this is normally because they are cut this way. They also loose their deep purple hue in favour for a chilling dark red. There is common saying from the Zhun that says “ See a purple stone, it’s your delight, See red stone, it’s your plight”.

Territory

One of the main reasons why Bloodstones are so rare is their territory. The most abundant sources of Bloodstone are found in some the most cursed lands in the whole of Caelereth, the Venlaken Enclave. There are only a handful of miners, human and dwarf alike, that would dare venture into the Daedhirian realm, and those that return are never unscarred.

There are however small deposits of Bloodstone to the west of the enclave. These deposits, however, reside on Marmarran territory, which is almost as bad as the Venlaken Enclave. Marmarrans, being the clever and pragmatic people that they are, guard these with ruthless efficiency. It is because of the combination of these two reasons that somebody who owns an untreated Bloodstone is undoubtedly brave, as they have either witnessed the horrors of the enclave or stolen from the Marmarran witches.

Usages

Bloodstones are traditionally used to line blades and tip arrowheads, which, thanks to the Bloodstone’s properties, is a relatively easy process. The process begins with an untreated bloodstone.

The Bloodstone is heated up, causing it to weaken even more. The Bloodstone becomes like dough. The craftsmen then, using his hands, moulds the bloodstone into a rough sphere shape. You may ask how is it possible for the craftsmen to touch such burning hot rock but the answer is simple. Bloodstones, unless directly exposed to heat, do not warm up. It is so that a few seconds after the Bloodstone is taken from the flame it cools down to its original heat.

The second stage however requires much more skill. A blade is taken and an unbelievably thin layer of the rock is sliced off, just like cutting through butter. At this stage mistakes cannot be tolerated as, unlike the clay it is similar too, once a piece of bloodstone is severed it doesn’t fit back into the original piece. The layer is slowly placed around the side of the blade, the craftsmen being especially careful not to cut it. After it has been placed onto the blade the excess is scraped off of the sides, which is either used to tip an arrowhead or is simply thrown away.

The blade is then submerged in blood. Although cattle or goat blood is more commonly used it is said that only the blood taken from a man can harden the Bloodstone to its fullest extent. Nobody is sure what is actually in the blood that hardens the Bloodstone, but many people are content knowing that it works, not caring how or why. After about four hours the hardening will be finished, and the blade removed to reveal a demonic red rim of near unbreakable rock. You could just say why not make a blade out of Bloodstone. The idea would make sense, but in practicality it doesn’t work. Hardened Bloodstone is far too brittle to have a blade made from it, and would snap incredibly easily.

During the Dark Plauge wars the Anpagans discovered that leaving bloodstone in oil a made it break up and eventually to dissolve. As such the Anpagans created a special form of arrow, whose head would shatter after contact, releasing the oil into the bloodstone joints. This design was continued to create the Anpagan 'Shatterhead' arrow, substituting the oil for various acids and poisons.
Origin

It is rumoured that Bloodstone is in fact a product of Daedhirian magic. Although through Daedhirian magic one can continue to live after their body has died, the body continues to decay. Sooner or later the body breaks down so much that the body literally falls apart. The Daedhirians created bloodstone as a means to hold together the broken bodies, although this strictly restricted movement.

During the Dark Plauge wars between the Daedhirians and their former bretheren, the Anpagans, the Anpagans noticed the means which held the abhuman warriors together. An Anpagan delegation was sent to destroy the Daedhirians' supplies of Bloodstone, so they could not repair they fallen.

As the Daedhirians learnt of this they hid buried Bloodstone in secret locations, creating these so called 'deposits'. The location of these is said to be known only to Daedhirian Lords, but some brave treasure hunters have had the luck to find a deposit by chance.

Myth/Lore

Over the years there have been many different explanations about why Bloodstone has such a strange reaction to blood. It was suggested by a Zhunite philosopher that, even after death, an essence of the subject's lifeforce remains flowing in the blood. He said that the blood contained the same essence that the Daedhirians manipulate to turn themselves into the undead monstrosities that they are.

He believed that the Daedhirian mage which created it must of used a similar form of magic when creating bloodstone, so that once it aabsorbs the lifeforce (i.e the blood) it's properties change. Although his ideas were never confirmed, and to this day the Daedhirians still do not claim it was their creation, this idea is what has been adopted among the more educated groups.