Irionite

## History

It is said that Irionite was the cornerstone of the *Magocracy*. In the beginnings of the Early Magocracy, the first Archmage created the *Emerald Staff of the Archmagi*, a powerful artifact containing nine shards of Irionite, the Nine Witchstones of Lost Perwyn. After the island of Perwyn sank in the Inundation and the Later Magocracy resettled on the mainland, Irionite was used to help keep the Narasi barbarian hordes at bay. Around that time Irionite was more plentiful and nearly every mage of significance had one. After years of the destructive Imperial Mage Wars, an archmage named Sinfineer used the Emerald staff to regain control. He made all Irionite the property of the Imperial House and collected it from both friends and foes. In order to prevent future Mage Wars, Sinfineer then dumped the bulk of the collected Irionite into the sea near sunken Perwyn.

For four hundred years the Archmagi ruled in relative peace with the power of the Emerald Staff until the Narasi Horselords came down from the steppes, in what is known as the Conquest, and conquered the Imperials, folding them into what is now known as the *Five Duchies**.* The remaining stones in the staff were taken and forged into the Sword of the Empire in an unsuccessful final effort to save the Magocracy.

*King Kamaklavan* of the Narasi then formed the *Censorate* to police the Imperial magi that had caused him so much trouble. The Censorate took it as their mandate to utterly prevent the use of Irionite. For hundreds of years there was no Irionite in the Five Duchies, although the Censorate confiscated a number of shards and there were rumors that several old Imperial families had secreted a few stones away. Witchstones became nearly mythical until the Mad Mage of Farise, *Orril Pratt* stumbled upon a tiny chunk and brought the might of the *Five Duchies* down on his island of *Farise* ten years before the current Goblin Wars began.

## Origins

**Shards of Irionite** (known as Witchstones by the *Narasi*) are slivers of a translucent green amber of incredible potency. Irionite is incredibly rare on *Callidore* and its origin is unknown to humankind, although it is theorized to be a crystallization of *kellesarth* or *kirsieth* sap. While a single shard's power is correlated with its size, even a tiny sliver is enough to turn a simple flame *cantrip* into a raging inferno. The largest known deposit of Irionite is the size of a pumpkin and encases the mummified skull of *Shereul the Dead God*.

## Purpose

Irionite can magnify the expression of a mage's power by several orders of magnitude.
Unused by humans since the Magocracy and effectively outlawed by the Bans, it has recently re-emerged as a force in the Five Duchies after its use by the gurvani in the current Goblin Wars. *Minalan* has convinced *King Rard* to allow its use in the new *Kingdom of Castalshar* and its distribution is now under the purview of the *Arcane Orders**.* A mage with a Witchstone is known as a *High Mage**.*

### Resurgence

*Minalan* captures the first stone of the Goblin Wars during the initial raid on *Minden's Hall* from a run-of-the-mill gurvani shaman. It turns out that the shaman was carrying a shard of Irionite broken off from *Shereul's* *massive sphere.*

With his first captured Irionite in hand, Minalan makes his way to the Alka Alon where he learns that the Irionite is under Shereul's influence..

> *“It is part of much larger piece, a piece that commands it.  It was foolish of you to attempt to use it – the one which controls the larger piece instantly knew your thoughts by doing so, had he been paying any attention to it.  Here in Amadia it is shielded from even that connection, and I can easily break it.”*
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and that it must be cleansed before any Humani uses it. The Aronin adds spells to Minalan's shard so that his alone can cleanse the rest that they capture.

Hundreds of shards from Shereul are distributed by his priests and placed in the hands of other goblin shamans. During the battle of *Boval Vale*, Minalan and the human defenders kill many shamans and he is able to outfit first his apprentice, *Tyndal*, his colleague *Garkesku* and his apprentices, and then *Pentandra* and the nineteen warmagi she brings with her.

Throughout the war, capturing stones from the gurvani became an important and concerted effort by the humans. Since all of the shards had the connection to Shereul, they had to be given to the Spellmonger for cleansing. Under the Arcane Orders, Minalan controlled the distribution of irionite to worthy mages. Minalan evaluated each wizard on the basis if ability, support to the war effort, and apparent honor. If found worthy, Minalan swore the mage to this oath:

> “Do you swear by your soul and your powers as a mage, to keep this stone in my name, a loan not a gift, to use with wisdom and discretion?  Do you swear to surrender it when called upon by me or my representative, and do so without resistance?  Do you swear to aid me and your fellow members of the order in recovering a stone fallen from grace?”
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### Alka Alon

The *Alka Alon* present the *Spellmonger* with twenty-one powerful stones at Rard's coronation and then another two hundred after Minalan begs their aid and bribes them with snowstone and Waystones the Council of Carneduin, all without ever having been under Shereul's influence.

After Minalan helps protect his outpost in *Victory Soup*, the Alkan *Master Onranion* combines four stones into one to form the Spellmonger's large Witchsphere.

## References

1. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 193). Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 408). Kindle Edition.