Shardminds

*"The Gods created Vuul'kira, but even they did not fully understand what they had done when they created their prison. Indeed, the prison created its own prisonbreakers."*

Shardminds are a crystalline humanoid race who are native to the plane of Vuul'kira. Their creation was neither intended nor foreseen by the Council of Three, the creators of Vuul'kira.

#### History

Soon after the Council of Three created Vuul'kira as a prison for the Genasi, the elemental race began noticing figures moving in the sands. These figures were not the normal monsters that inhabited the plane; they seemed to show intelligence of some kind. The Genasi almost never left their home in the Elemental Dunes, and so did not attempt to make contact with these creatures.

Meanwhile, the Shardminds traveled around Vuul'kira, seemingly without purpose. They formed small societies and began experimenting with their innate magical powers. They learned incredibly quickly and within a few years had formed their own complex language. Despite their intelligence, they remained naive.

#### Cyric, the Old Gate, and the Seven Colored Gems

When the Council of Three banished Cyric to his prison in the northern section of Vuul'kira, the Shardminds went to investigate. Through manipulation, Cyric convinced the Shardminds that he had been wrongly imprisoned and begged for their help. Being naive, they agreed, and broke him out of the cave he had been placed in. When he figured out there was no way out of Vuul'kira, he again turned to the Shardminds for help.

They spent a long time figuring it out, but eventually, they found how to create a portal out of Vuul'kira. The catch: it would require seven of them to transform their souls into gemstones to power the gate. Believing their sacrifice was for a greater good, seven brave Shardminds sacrificed themselves, becoming the Seven Colored Gems. The remaining Shardminds built a large gate and enacted the ritual to open a portal out of Vuul'kira.

Cyric, having what he needed, betrayed them. Before jumping through the gate, he scattered the Seven Colored Gems, and placed a Spellplague on the Shardminds. The Shardminds, whose mental connectivity bound their consciousnesses together, were wiped out by this plague. Their dead bodies became Mafari Crystals.

#### Asana

When Cyric attacked the Shardminds, one of them survived. Asana followed him through the collapsing gate. However, as a Shardmind, her leaving Vuul'kira had unexpected consequences. She was stuck in a state of limbo for an unknown amount of time, and when she finally appeared on the Material Plane, she had completely lost her memory. When she returned to Vuul'kira during Episode II: Oasis, she regained many of her memories.

#### Traits

Shardminds are highly intelligent and highly capable, magically speaking. However, they tend to be naive in certain respects and incredibly cynical in others. Shardminds cannot speak audibly, instead speaking through telepathy. When there were multiple Shardminds, their consciousnesses linked together and they could share thoughts freely. Shardminds are crystalline and able to form and reform their bodies into various different shapes. They do not have to breathe.