Description

The most common form for an Abraxus Stone is a silver or gold band set with a white oval stone, usually inscribed with a crimson or emerald Cavul rune. They are also crafted in the form of amulets, medallions and bracelets, but regardless of the form are usually composed of silver metal.

The use of these protective amulets dates back to the kingdom the Navarri call ancient Terunael. In the aftermath of that kingdom's fall, many of these rings were made to help the early Navarri fight against the Vallorn creatures. The rarest of these rings were bands of pure ilium set with pale gemstones and inscribed with runes; any one of these artefacts would be a gift beyond price to the Navarri.

In the wake of the disaster that destroyed the Terunael civilisation, the rings were discovered to have an additional vital power. They provided protection from the deleterious effects of exposure to the so-called vallorn miasma, up to and including preventing a dying person being infested with the plants that might cause it to rise as a vallornspawn husk. Indeed, the rings even appear to be effective at protecting their wearers from the effects of the sickness known as green lung that is linked to long-term exposure to the miasma - provided they are worn constantly of course. Even a few minutes without the protection of the talisman may result in the sickness being contracted.

Not all Abraxus Stones are rings. One of the first rings made by the Navarri was used as the basis for a beautiful amulet, given as a gift of friendship to the first of the Highborn navigators, Atuman: a single perfect white stone hung from an Ilium chain, delicately crafted to suggest links of interlocking Imperial Roseweald flowers. As part of the negotiations surrounding the giving of this Tear of Peace, the Highborn agreed to allow the Navarri to travel through their lands. It disappeared following the assassination of Permion the Lawmaker, and while some stories suggest the First Empress wore the chain around her neck, as with the other rings its whereabouts today are unknown.

These rings are obviously of especial use to warriors who must fight magicians, assassins, eastern orcs or vallorn-beasts.

Rules

  • Form: Talisman. Takes the form of a piece of jewellery. You must be wearing this item to use its magical properties.
  • Requirement: Any character can bond to this item.
  • Effect: When hits are restored to you by any means then you are also cured of the venom condition. This item will not work if the purify spell would fail to remove the VENOM for any reason. In addition, while wearing his talisman you are not subject to the venomous effects of the vallorn miasma. You will not contract green lung, nor will you become a vallornspawn husk if you die while wearing this talisman.
  • Materials: Crafting an Abraxus Stone requires thirteen measures of beggar's lye, ten measures of weltsilver and seven ingots of tempest jade. It takes one month to make one of these items.

One of these items is, of course, the central device in the famous Marcher play, "Twelve Pigs". The Stone is inadvertently mixed in with the feed for a herd of swine on their way to market, and the penniless protagonist must scour the countryside trying to find the pig which has eaten it in order to secure his fortune. Despite the fact that the hero has to spend a good deal of time on hands and knees combing through pig-faeces, the play was originally regarded as a parable on Prosperity, and many in the Marches were outraged to discover that the League playhouses were playing it as a farce.