Reliquum
Reliquum is a hard, rough and granular substance, dull grey-blue in colour and thoroughly unremarkable in appearance. Despite this, it is one of the rarest and most valuable magical substances known in Warlderia. Its extraordinary worth comes from its effectiveness as a magical catalyst, allowing spellcasters to push their abilities beyond their normal limits. Before use, Reliquum must be carefully prepared and ground into smaller particles. It is then burned in a manner similar to incense. Inhaling the resulting fumes induces an intense state of magical awareness in which the caster's perception of magical forces becomes greatly heightened. For a short time, spells and enchantments become easier to manipulate and considerably less taxing upon the caster.
Reliquum and Magical Items
Reliquum is most highly prized for its use in the creation of magical items. The creation of powerful enchanted objects normally requires the spellcaster to sacrifice a portion of their own experience and magical essence. Reliquum can substitute for some of this sacrifice. Each ounce of prepared Reliquum reduces the XP cost of creating a magical item by 1,000 XP, although it can never replace more than half of the item's total XP creation cost. Because Reliquum is so scarce, it is almost never squandered upon minor enchanted objects or commonplace magical trinkets. Instead, it is reserved for the creation of particularly powerful weapons, armour and other important magical items. Reliquum can also be used by spellcasters to enhance their prepared magic. When properly consumed during the preparation of spells, it allows the caster to greatly increase the potency of a limited number of spells during the following day. Such use consumes the Reliquum entirely and, given its enormous value, is generally reserved for circumstances of exceptional importance. Reliquum rarely appears upon the open market. When it does, it commands a minimum price of 2,500 gp per ounce, with considerably higher prices being common where demand is great.
The Origins of Reliquum
The true origin of Reliquum remains unknown.For centuries scholars, alchemists, priests and wizards have offered competing explanations for its existence. Some claim that Reliquum is formed from the ancient and decayed bones of dragons, gradually transformed by the magical energies contained within them. Others believe it to be the remnants of the hearts of dead titans, scattered across Warlderia during wars fought in ages now forgotten. Perhaps the strangest tradition claims that Reliquum is formed from the crystallised tears of a dying god, shed upon the mortal world in an age before recorded history. There are many other theories, but remarkably few facts. No reliable connection between Reliquum and any dragon, titan or deity has ever been demonstrated, and its origins remain one of the enduring mysteries of magical scholarship.
Finding and Refining Reliquum
Reliquum does not normally occur in veins or seams like conventional ores. Instead, tiny grains are found scattered amongst ordinary soil, gravel and rock. In most places the quantities are so insignificant that attempting to recover them would be pointless. Where deposits are sufficiently concentrated, soil containing Reliquum is excavated and thoroughly dried before being crushed and broken into increasingly smaller particles. The material is then passed through a succession of sieves, allowing the larger and heavier grains of Reliquum to be separated from the surrounding earth and stone. A slower method involves painstakingly picking individual grains from the soil by hand. Although extremely labour-intensive, this process can be assisted by magic, as even very small quantities of Reliquum can be detected as magical in nature. Only in exceptionally rare locations are concentrations sufficiently rich to make large-scale extraction worthwhile.
The Reliquum Fields of Harmonias
There are only a handful of known commercially viable deposits of Reliquum throughout Warlderia. Before the collapse of the province, however, the plains of Harmonias contained some of the richest and most accessible Reliquum fields known. Recognising both their immense value and their strategic importance, Margrave Crispin maintained strict control over the Harmonian fields. Extraction was carefully regulated, access to productive areas restricted and the transportation and sale of refined Reliquum closely monitored. Crispin deliberately prevented excessive quantities from reaching the market. This maintained the extraordinary value of Harmonian Reliquum while ensuring that potentially dangerous amounts of the substance did not fall into the hands of his rivals. The collapse of Harmonias brought this system to an abrupt end.
The destruction and abandonment of settlements across the province left many of the old Reliquum workings deserted. Roads disappeared, records were lost and sites that had once been carefully guarded became part of the dangerous wilderness of the fallen province. How much Reliquum still lies amongst the soils and rocks of Harmonias is unknown. For those willing to brave the ruins of the province, however, even rumours of a forgotten Reliquum field can be enough to inspire expeditions, and murder.
