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==== The Storm Crystals ====

An oblong crystal the was implanted in the forehead of its victim.  It stretched
from the top of the head to the bridge of the nose, withered the host body into
a state of undead, and could not be removed without destroying the host (with
[[Pelham]] being the sole exception).

Originally, these crystals were called "Shadow Crystals" due to their dark,
foggy appearance.  However, since these crystals have nothing to do with the
[[Shadowlord]] or the Elemental Plane of Shadow, modern arcanists use the
less-confusing term "Storm Crystals".

==== Origin ====

Centuries ago, an evil sorcerer was imprisoned, his soul pulled from his body
and housed in a great, flawless crystal.  His presence darkened and tainted the
crystal until it took on a black, translucent color.  When the crystal was to be
destroyed (thus permanently destroying the mage), he exerted his great will to
hold it together.  While he was unable to escape his prison, he did succeed in
maintaining the integrity of his soul, despite the fact that the crystal was
shattered into hundreds of shards.

The heroes who imprisoned him realized that his soul remained intact, so they
began destroying the individual shards.  They soon discovered, though, that when
one shard was destroyed, the mage's soul fragment slipped into the remaining
shards.  If they continued destroying the shards, they would only concentrate
his power and risk his release.

Thus, with no access to sufficient arcane skill, it was decided to separate and
protect the shards in the hopes that they would never again be joined together.

==== The Storm Cloud ====

Late in the eleventh century, [[Pelham]] unconvered one of the shards and, after
experimentation, discovered it could be used as a focus for certain evil magics.
[[Pelham]] devised a plan to summon [[Hades]]' [[storm cloud]] and expand it to
subdue [[Lowland]] and perhaps [[Backbone]].

When the [[Dark Mage]] emerged, he forced [[Pelham]] to hand over the shard.  In
his own twist of [[Pelham]]'s plan, he gathered together most of the remaining
shards.  It was for this reason that he constructed the [[Sympathetic Search
Device]].

As he found the shards, he placed them in the towers around the world.  Though
he never uncovered all of the shards, he did construct several detaild maps
which pinpointed the locations of the shards he had not found.

==== Pelham's Quest ====

After the fall of the [[Dark Mage]], his maps fell into [[Pelham]]'s hands, who
then gathered most of the crystals into his possession (except those that were
not originally found by the [[Dark Mage]]).

^ Crystal disposition: ^^^
| In towers at one time  |  43 | (see below for detail) |
| Uncovered, but never used  |  21 | ([[Pelham]] does not have) |
| Never uncovered  |  76 | (only 38 remain) |
|  Total |  **140** | |
|  Destroyed "recently" |  5 | |
|  Destroyed long ago |  38 | |
|  Remaining |  **97** | |
^ Current status of the 43 tower crystals: ^^^
| |  25 | in [[Pelham]]'s hands from towers |
| |  1 | in [[Sethar]]'s possession |
| |  6 | destroyed ([[Backbone]], Spire, [[Bearly]], [[Pleven]], [[Larinday]], [[Lendore]]) |
| |  11 | still in towers (all on the Northern Continent) |

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