Black Pearls

Black Pearls are said to form when the lost and wandering souls of mariners who perish violently at sea are captured by an alabaster pearl. The souls are entombed in a blanket of watery darkness, coming to know peace as the growing pearl feeds upon the deep despair, fear, and anger that prevents the soul from escaping it's watery grave. Once the soul is purged of these emotions, the it forms the nucleus of another Alabaster Pearl, perpetuating the cycle.

Black Pearls are a creation of Valkur, Captain of the Waves and Deep Sashelas, as a method to harvest the souls of mariners and seafarers who perish at sea. Umberlee stretches her power accros the oceans trapping the souls of the dead beneath the waves using the fear and dark emotions which weigh them down. These lost souls are cursed to wander aimlessly through Umberlee's domain. Over the centuries of the First Age, the accumulation of the black energy began to corrupt the ocean going races. Sea Elves are transformed into Sahuagin, https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/sahuaginravening beasts which prey on all aquatic creatures and surface dwellers in coastal villages. The emerging sahuagin race worship Umberlee, taking joy in bringing pain and suffering to sailors and coastal dwellers throughout the world, sacrificing them to Umberlee. Drawing on the power of the oceans, Valkur and Deep Sashelas alter the pearls of alabaster oysters to feed on the dark energy, filtering it from the ocean waters and secreting the maleficent power, trapping it in a solid form in a Black Pearl. Cleansed souls are free to escape from the watery prison, returning to the Aether to be reborn or enter the afterlife promised by it's patron deity.

Significance

The crystallized black emotions stored in the pearls are an excellent source of energy for necromantic spells, alchemy, and other magical applications. In a realm threatened by a staggering number of dormant undead, Black pearls are a critical material component used in semi-annual ceremonies performed to ensure the restless spirits and corpses of the victims of the Great Upheaval remain dormant.

Black Pearls are an especially potent magical component for increasing the power of spells related to necromancy, summoning evil extraplanar beings, infusing arcane power into the inks used to write scrolls, increasing the strength of deadly poisons and are a critical component of specific magical spells.

Item type

Consumable, Magical

Current Location

Wel's Shamble

Rarity

Rare, primarily found in remote, secluded oyster beds deep beneath the treacherous waters of the Western Ocean. In most coastal lands Black Pearls are available only when Merfolk or Sea Elves are willing to trade with surface dwellers.

Weight

2 grams

Dimensions

3 - 6 cm sphere

Base Price

1gp

"I don't know, some people just like the contrast of a black pearl against an ebon background!" Zaphodicus Beeble Broxius