Quickstone

"When we first became Zmajica, it was a difficult transition. We didn't know how to live underwater - we could breathe, and we could swim, but living is so much more than just surviving. Once again, Sestra saw our plight and came to our aid. She saw that our tools from the land were poorly suited to use underwater, and that we did not know how to replace them or live without them. So she dug into the clay of the lakebed, and brought forth Oblikan, the moving stone. With it, we can make any tool we can imagine, and our lives became much easier." - Morskačud, chronicler of the Rusalje

Quickstone is a unique substance drawn from the lakebed of Dvorsko Jezero, which is a Wild Place and partially embedded within the Dream. The goddess Sestra created quickstone from clay that was as much dream-stuff as physical matter, and wove it into the story of the Rusalje people to give it persistence in the world. It is a psycho-responsive material, directly influenced by the thoughts and intentions of the person holding it. Based on those thoughts, Quickstone will transform itself, altering its shape to be whatever the bearer wishes or needs.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Quickstone is extremely malleable, and will naturally shift from one shape to another based on the thoughts of whoever is holding it. It can also change a number of other properties to mimic a number of objects. Color, density, and rigidity are all variable, with the quickstone becoming hard or soft as needed to fulfill the form being impressed upon it. It cannot change its mass, so it never is heavier or lighter (although it can reduce its density to the point where it floats in water). It is extremely hard to break a quickstone tool - it will normally reshape itself before it can break. The bearer can divide it into multiple pieces at will, and can also merge those segments back into a single mass again.

When it is not being held by a thinking being, Quickstone looks like a lump of brownish-gray clay, with a wet and shiny surface. It is fairly heavy for its size, and will sink in water if let go. But once a shape is impressed on it, it will retain that form for a few days before reverting (unless it is commanded to transform again).

Origin & Source

Quickstone originated within the Dream, and does not occur naturally in the physical realm. The Rusalje are the only people who can access the dream-infused lakebed where more quickstone can be collected, and there is currently no good way to begin trading with them for it. The Empire of Vlast controlls the island where their lake is located, and the Rusalje refuse to interact with the Empire that drove them into the lake in the first place.

Type

Metaphysical

Color

Varies

Density

Varies

Related Locations

• Dvorsko Jezero

Related Species

• Zmajica

Alternative Names

Oblikan (Jezik)

Quickstone Weapons

One of the ways the Rusalje have used Quickstone is to form weapons that respond to their thoughts. While it is still in its infancy, they are beginning to create a whole style of fighting around this material, where the weapon constantly shifts during the fight. A quickstone blade can stretch out to strike an opponent, or suddenly flatten into a shield, or even wrap itself around an object so that it can be pulled from an attacker's hand. Rumors of these weapons have begun to leak out from the underwater realm of the Zmajica, and there are many people who are interested in the possibilities Quickstone presents.

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