Dowsing Rod
"And the master wizard held out the divining rod and declared "Here we dig," and so we dug."
A shaftbuilder device, the dowsing rod is a handheld object the approximate length of a dwarven arm with a flat hollow circle at the end. Wielded by a prospector of a shaftbuilder expedition, these rods were used by the lost people to find sites where green stone could be mined deep underground. Though apparently a simple item, these dowsing rods were typically used by the highest ranking prospector on an expedition.
Dowsing rods are a relatively rare find, as the shaftbuilders only appear to have made them for the specific purpose of founding new shafts.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
The operating principles of the shaftbuilder dowsing rod remain mysterious. Though examples have been found with apparently imprinted green stone inlaid in the metal circle at the tip, others have been found with no green stone. Whether this is because they never had any to begin with or if they have been harvested or burnt out is unknown, but it is also uncertain why the shaftbuilders would make a device which requires imprinted green stone for only the most experienced prospectors to use.
The mystical powers of shaftbuilder artifacts can generally be explained by green stone, but dowsing rods have been described in shaftbuilder sources as having been used "unadorned" in many cases. How the device would be able to detect green stone deep underground despite having no magical power source of its own is a mystery to modern shaft researchers, and some even suggest that the rod was actually entirely ceremonial in most cases, and experienced prospectors general could sense green stone under their own power without the use of a tool.
I like it! I like how the general purpose of the rods is known, but the specifics are mysterious. The little nod to the classic archaeological thing of declaring something ceremonial when purpose is unknown is fun! The article makes me wonder what is the green stone. Calling it like that suggests that the modern people don't know what is
If you are looking for my Worldember articles check Magic Earth or My Worldember Progress Page
Modern people actually do know, I just haven't gotten around to writing that article :P It's a magic rock that the shaftbuilders were able to extract from the ground.
It also looks like I forgot a link. Hopefully I'll remember to fix it one month from now