Reader, my name is Isengrim. I am a magelord of the elven empire and I have fought to expand our homelands borders across the oceans. I have spent many centuries on ships travelling the great seas, and in my fifth century I discovered the Alexikeran, an obelisk of pitch-black crystal standing in the middle of a roiling magical storm. I threw myself and my apprentices at it, and I mastered it. This feat of magical power cost me my legs and the lives of many of my best apprentices, but it was worth it. I have dedicated my life to the study of these crystals, and I am certain that they hold the potential to revolutionizing our understanding of magic and how we use it. Political strife, academic conflicts and rebellious dissent has become rife in our empire, but I remain loyal to the Council of Magi and will perform my final undertaking here in secret. If I am successful it will allow us to finally become the gods of magic we were destined to be, and to empire will fall under our dominion once again.
What I seek is the solution to the Great Undertaking, obtaining true magical immortality. Not like the broken liches or damned vampires the Grand Necromancer's books speak of, but true immortality. As I write this text I am dying. I can feel the cancerous tumors borrowing into my eyes. I have ceiled myself in my laboratory and sent a message north to the Council of Magi, explaining my intention. Now then, let us continue.
The Fulgurite
The fulgurite is a black crystal or stone, often found as jagged and sharp crystals. It has unique properties as a conduit for arcane energy and is capable of retaining magical energy without losing any of the potency of the energy stored within it. One hundred percent efficiency. The fulgurites can also be attuned to the elemental planes, where it seems to sap excess energy from those potent planes, energy which can be used by a mage to destructive effect. Fulgurites attuned to other planes can also be used as portals to those planes, but that requires magical power from our world.
Though I have studied these stones for many years, I can still only speculate at their precise origin. So far I have only been able to identify a few places in the world where they can be extracted, and by far the largest concentration is in what is today Toirecíud, in the form of the Alexikeran. The second-largest deposit I identified on an island off the coast of Toirecíud.
Practical Applications
As already mentioned, the fulgurite can be used as a battery for charging magical items or storing arcane energy, as a portal to elemental planes and as a component in magic items relying on elemental energy. Using these abilities, I have created:
- Portals
- Fulgurite obelisks that fire lightning
- Rings of Spell Storing
- My staff, Isengrim's Wrath, which is an improved Staff of Fire
- Staff of Cold
- Control mechanisms for the advanced obelisk system in Toirecíud
- Weapons that fire lightning on command
But I found another interesting application for the fulgurites, as they can be arranged in circuits of automatic and programmable magic impulses, allowing me to program limited sentiences for our war automatons. These are superior to the magic-gold-based circuits currently being used, as the fulgurites are more sensitive and don't run out of power. Any power put in the system will stay there, giving the automatons an essentially limitless life, unlike our current automatons which have to be repaired and updated every few years.
These fulgurite-based circuits also hold the potential for far more advanced programming, as the fulgurites are more sensitive to magicla impulses, leading to a higher information density.
With these fulgurites I have then crafted several prototype automatons for the consideration of the Council of Magi, and I am confident I have enough fulgurite in the Toirecíud deposit for a hundred more at least.
The Great Undertaking - the Creation of Isengrim the Unbroken
It is this last ability of the fulgurites, their excellent suitability for magical programming, that I believe will be of use for the Great Undertaking. The Great Undertaking is the transcendence of our current bodies of flesh to bodies of pure magic, giving us power and immortality as a species and certain dominion over lesser races. It should be possible, with advanced enough mathematics, patience and arcane power, to create a simulacrum of an individual with the fulgurites. This would be a being of pure arcane might and intellect. The experiment would have to be refined over several attempts, but I hope the Council of Magi will see the potential of this magic.
I will try to craft this fulgurite mastercircuit, this being of pure thought and I will model it on myself. I am dying, and soon Isengrim the Broken will be no more.
But Isengrim the Unbroken will rise.
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