Tenvanord Bark

Hidden beneath the bark itself seems to be some thrum of extraplanar existence. If I were a poet, I would say its harmonizing with this plane of existence itself. I believe that by introducing a fleck of arcane magic to the bark it should be granted additional abilities that are unlike others on the material plane. It is possible that the broken down variant of the bark would allow someone to pass magical potential from the bark to another, though something of the sort would be immensely dangerous.

— Writings of Dan'lysk Naethra

Tenvanord Bark is a special bark with influence from the Fae Lands and Shadecrest that has grown around the Kaldor Forest in the Daunka Province. It has been used as kindling for torches due to its ability to burn for a long time, emitting a mass of light, but some have discovered its darker potential.

When ground down Tenvanord Bark is turned into a dust known as Tenvanord Powder. As Tenvanord Powder, the material can be used to imbue someone with sorcerous potential regardless of if their previous bloodline would allow it.

Tenvanord Bark

Historical Information

Plane	Material Plane (Nonvyrox) Shadecrest
Location	Daunka Province

Physical Properties

Type	Wood Bark
Color	Deep Black Gray
Properties	Humming Aura Veins when near Magic

Description

When first harvested, Tenvanord Bark is a deep void-like black. Throughout the bark it seems to have speckles in it that form faux stars in its recesses. The inside core of the bark is a deep gray that seemingly is the antithesis of everything that is natural, it hums with an internal energy, even the deepest woodrot cannot penetrate this core.

Some people have found that while in the presence of magic, Tenvanord Bark grows deep veins of multiple colors that sparkle with a strange and wild nature. This made some mages, particularly with links to the Veritas Convention, curious about what the effects would be if the bark was ground to dust, creating a multicolor powder known as Tenvanord Powder.

History

Since 729 AR, people in the southern reaches of the Daunka Province have found the Tenvanord Tree and been curious about its usage. Local healers used boiled tree bark as a salve and discovered that its very good for healing those in their care. This wisdom passed north through the Province and eventually to the capital, where several scholars mounted a mission to discover the properties of the tree. They entered the Kaldor Forest and to all knowledge haven't come back.

After ten years of trying, Kwyndar locals were able to grow a variant of the tree away from its original forest. They discovered that the bark burns for a long time after an unfortunate accident involving creating some of the salve and an accident prone apprentice. As a result, the wood started to be harvested for use as kindling in fires across the region. The growth and harvest of the tree bark became a core industry for the people of Kwyndar and is still integral to their economy.

In 745 AR, members of the Veritas Convention discovered the magic imbuing properties of the bark and over the last 10 years have experimented with its effects on different recruits and individuals. Their experiments led them to create some new pliable magic users, but also maimed and disoriented many others.

Usage

The primary usage of Tenvanord Bark is as a kindling for torches. Many people have found that the tree can provide a torch that burns for longer than 8 hours from a small chunk of bark. This is useful across the realms as it limits the usage of more scarce materials. Something that people noticed was that although the fire was orange, there were many of these torches with embers of a rainbow of colors, which made many people feel safe in the lights presence.

Tenvanord Bark has also been found to be a potent salve, helping to heal wounds and scars more quickly than many other forms. When heated inside of boiling water, the salve turns a deep gray that almost is black. When placed on a wound, it seems to almost fade into the skin, disappearing within an hour, taking any scar tissue and wound alongside it.

When members of the Veritas Convention discovered the bark they found a magical aura around the bark was similar in planar attunement to both that of Shadecrest and the Fae Lands. When they made the bark into a powder, they began to experiment to see if they could force this magical potential onto living beings. After a few successful attempts, Tenvanord Powder is held by several powerful recruiting members of the Convention to help guide new potentials.

When transformed using the magic of Tenvanord Bark, a person finds that they either shift towards magic control shadows or chaos. Though it seems that if there is already a propensity towards magic, it enhances the connection. Regardless of what it does to the person's magic, there seems to be an element of dark wild magic that is intense for those who are able to survive. Research is currently taking place to see if the Convention can use the powder to manipulate bloodlines of nobles to open them to sorcerous abiltiies.