Black Pearls

Black Pearls are crystallized forms of the impurities found within the soul ash. There are two forms of impurity in the soul ash--the essence of death, and unburnt memories. The unburnt memories are little more than disjointed sensations of pleasure, pain, joy, and misery; every possible feeling is contained within the memories in varying concentrations, and a being that takes in these memories would experience hallucinations and become overwhelmed by the emotion within. The essence of death is simply the stuff of that noxious and rancid smoke present in the Sky of Pyres, and contact with it would cause any living being to shirvel, wither, and die.
Being composed of both the unburnt memories and essence of death, the black pearls could potentially be processed into potent hallucinogenic drugs, extremely potent poisons, and reagents that might enable death magic. The issue would be separating the magical and poisonous essence of death from the unburnt memories, for they are highly miscible.
Black pearls are slowly and naturally created by the soul oysters in the Great Soul Reef. They are made almost exclusively in that region, and can form slowly over the course of decades. For this reason, they are quite rare and difficult to obtain, yet valuable because of their beauty and the power stored within them.
Though these pearls are rendered insoluble, inert, and largely harmless by the soul oysters, the potency of their components can be restored through alchemical processes. Simply crushing the pearl and heating the resulting dust is enough to yield a black powder that could be either inhaled or ingested to rapidly introduce the essence of death and the unburnt memories into a being. The result is a cathartic seizure, almost always followed by a quick and grisly death.
Category:Materials