Gem of Arkansk
The Gem of Arkansk, by far the most powerful artifact on the material plane. It was created tens of thousands of years ago and is to this day object of countless myths and stories. The Gem was created by The Order, whose members were widely regarded to be the best mages in the world. They created this artifact to defeat the god Gokran, who had attacked the kingdom of Logara a few months prior and was killing hundreds of thousands of innocents.
With help of the Book of Arkansk that the Goddess of magic Arkansa had gifted them, the Order created the Gem of Arkansk, an artifact so powerful that it infused the entire world with magic upon being activated for the first time.
History
In the year 3 b.A. (before Awakening) Gokran, the god of masonry and sculpting, travelled to the city of Lorfar, capital of the kingdom of Logara. The exact date of his arrival is under debate, most believe it to be the 14th of Gokas (3rd of the ten months), although there are various texts mentioning the 21st of Gokas.
Gokran met with the royal family and the city coucil to ask them for help about the recent disappearance of his brother Bando (6 b.A.). During the negotiations about sending search parties, Gokran found out that one of the members of the council had allied herself with one of Bandos enemies, and helped ensure Bandos capture, and eventual death, in return for riches.
Enraged by this revelation, Gokran murdered the council member, Dangora, and went on to slay the other members of the council as well, convinced that they knew of Dangoras doings. When all attempts at calming the enraged god, failed, surviving members of the council alerted the city's military. Gokran saw this not as an act of self defense, but as a declaration of war and attacked the town square, killing thousands of civilians.
Gokran begann a campaign of destruction, attacking many towns and cities under the influence of the Logara royal family. The Order, who was a close ally of the Kingdom of Logara, stepped in. They sent mages to every corner of the Kingdom to protect the cities. According to estimates the mages of the Order saved millions of civilians by fighting off Gokran. Although they never came close to fatally injuring him, they often managed to force him to retreat to tend to his wounds.
The few mages that remained on the Island of Pakoth focused on creating an artifact powerful enough to banish or slay Gokran. The Order quickly realized that they didn't posses the knowledge necessary to construct such a powerful item, especially as quickly as they would need to, before Gokran lays waste to more towns and cities.
The Order asked Arkansa, the goddess of magic, for help. Seeing the severity of the situation, Arkansa gifted the Order with a book, the Book of Arkansk. This book contains incredibly valuable information about the workings of the magic of the gods.
With the help of the Book, the mages of the Order managed to create the basis for what would eventually become the gem of Arkansk. At that time, the Order's creation was a gem the size of a football, emanating magic perceptible even to the average person with no training in the arcane arts.
In fact, the creation of this gem unleashed a shockwave of magic so powerful, it was felt by almost every magic user in the material plane and even some divine beings from the outer planes.
Upon sensing this immense power, Gokran abandoned his path of destruction across the Logara kingdom and set out to find the source of the magic that now seemed to flow through the world.
Gokran never reached the Island of Pakoth. The Order's best mages set out to intercept him with the Gem. They faced off against him in the forest near Sanuko. It was a tough battle, as even with the Gem of Arkansk, the mages were still fighting against a god. Eventually they managed to kill Gokran using the Gem.
When Gokran died, the Gem absorbed Gokran's soul and became almost twice as large as it had initially been. It's power also increased exponentially.
The Order continued to study the Gem of Arkansk for many millenia and used it to defend themselves and other kingdoms and empires from powerful beings. The Gem increased in size with every powerful creature it absorbed, until it became almost 40 meters in diameter.
The Order expanded their temple on the island of Pakoth to house the Gem, floating above the open roof of the temple. Except for major wars, the Gem always remained at the temple of Pakoth, so the Order could ensure its safety.
Significance
The Gem of Arkansk was a key element in many wars, often turning the tide when all semed lost. Examples are the Great Awakening, as described in the History section of this article, or the Split of the Order into the Askali and the Malak.
The Gem was also vital in ensuring the safety of many mortal races during the divine wars, where various divine beings raged a war against the population of the material plane and against each other.
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