Crystal Pyramid of Samul Shan
Appearance
From the outside the crystal looks similar to an upside-down pyramid made from a semi-translucent material. Countless runes constantly move and change around its surface and small lightnings can be seen on the inside. Despite the various runes that sometimes are even projected like a small holgram from the surface, the whole pyramid is perfectly smooth and symmetrical. Observing the crystal for a longer time one can see its coloration change slowly across the whole spectrum: While at the time of its cration, the crystal was dark red, it is currently yellow trending towards green.
Origin
Before the Divine Era, wizards and other magic users where far more spread on Sanctum and their knowledge was much deeper than in modern days. During this time many magicians formed various organization to help eacht other with their research. One of this organizations was the Taberian Circle, that heavily focused on the creation of artefacts and other magical items.
While most don't know this organization, most accomplished mages have heard of their most (in)famous member: Samul Shan. He serves as an example for the dark side of magical research, that is often used to frighten new novices or prevent them from going down the same path. Samul was considered a genius magician in his early days, creating his first artefact at the age of 16 and earning the title of Archmage before they turned 30.
As most geniuses, Samul had various flaws and vices but the one that ultimately led to his demise was his desire for immortality. Unbeknowst to his coworkers and friends, Samul began to work on his masterpiece, that should prevent him from ever dying. When they had a working theory and only lacked the necessary materials, they presented a project to their superiors in the Taberian Circle: A structure that could be fueled by arcane energy and slowed down ageing in its vicinity. Every magician secretly hoped to get more time for their research and Shan's plan was eagerly supported.
A few decades later, inside the Taberian CIrcle's headquarters Samul's team was nearly finished with a huge crystal structure that brimmed with energy. Excited to finally see the results of their funding the whole upper echelon from the Circle and many other organizations came to witness the completion of Shan's masterpiece. Samul themselve was also satisfied with his project and eagerly awaited the activation of their contraption, that should gran them immortality at what looked like a small prize in Samul's eyes: The souls of everyone present at the exhibtion.
By extracting and refining all this energy inside the crystal, Samul believed to had created something similar to the phylactery of a lich without its drawbacks. When they finally activated the device, it seemed to work prefectly, filling with souls and refining it into pure energy but the protections Samul installed on themselves cracked under the enourmous pressure of the artefact and their own soul was drown into the crystal. Even worse, instead of cracking the protective spells warped and fused with Samul's soul, preventing it from being assimilated into the energy vortex inside the crystal. After exterminating every lifeform in the surroundings, the crystal did its intended work, turning everything into pure lifeforce and pouring it into Samul's soul, that was now trapped inside the crystal for all eternity.
Function
When activated, the crystal beginns to draw in all surrounding souls, purifying them into energy. This process only stops when there are no more souls in range. At this time the crystal begins to convert all stored energy into lifeforce that is than poured into the soul described as the target in its enchantments. After fusing with what was left of Shan's soul, the crystal inherited their protective spells, making the crystal incredible difficult to destroy. The fusion also gave the new artefact a sense of self-preservation, what means that when the crystal is under attack it activates its original function, effectively killing all attackers and charging itself.
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