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A forehead gem is a heavily scripted jewel that affixes to the wearer's forehead.
There are several types of forehead gem.
Old Style
Forehead gems with the Faendryl loresong are considered old-style.
Analyze
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Loresong
| Loresong
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Reaction
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| Your song coaxes the gem in your hand to open up a whole new world for you. Suddenly, you see yourself within the corridors of a magnificent palace. Everyone else in the castle seems to be either unaware of you or is ignoring you. Beautifully embroidered crimson tapestries adorn the walls of the great halls within. Centered upon each tapestry is the regal crest of House Faendryl. You reach your destination, a door at the end of the hall, right before the vision fades from your sight.
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| The blue sapphire gives up its secrets willingly to your voice. Your eyes are filled with the scene of a plush bedroom occupied by a beautiful dark elven lass and her handmaidens. A silver tiara sits upon a mirrored armoire in one corner of the room. Your eyes scan the mirror quickly, which reveals the reflection of a wizened dark elf entering the room. Slowly, the vision removes itself from your sight.
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| You continue to bathe your blue sapphire in gentle melody. Soon, your nostrils are assaulted by the scent of rose petals. Your eyes cloud over and you're back in the dark elven lass' bedchamber, a room fit for a princess. The old man is there too, but you catch him as he is embracing the young girl affectionately, but not passionately. A small pin bearing the Sorcerer's Guild insignia adorns his black robes. As he retreats from the embrace, he opens his hand, revealing a number of sparkling gems within. He says to the girl, "For you and your handmaidens, my dear, on the occasion of your wedding. It is only a small token of my fondness for you and your father. May the beauty of these gems always pale in comparison to your own." A smile lights up the girl's face as she gets up to hug the old mage. Just as you begin to understand what you're seeing, the vision spins away in a haze.
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| Your song gets the blue sapphire to reveal its long-held story. Images begin pouring into your mind at a frantic pace. You see a majestic ship getting ready to set sail. A beautiful elven princess, wearing a faintly glowing gem on her forehead, is surrounded by a number of handmaidens all wearing similar gems. They wave from the deck of the ship at a large crowd assembled at the dock. At the front of the crowd is the old sorcerer from the previous visions standing next to an aged Faendryl wearing a golden crown. The scene fades and is replaced by another, of the crown-wearing Faendryl and the sorcerer standing in a torch-lit chamber. A single tear sweeps down the face of the monarch. The sorcerer pauses for a moment and speaks, "Sire, they will pay with a thousand deaths for what they did to our beloved princess or I will die trying to make it so." That vision too spins away, and is replaced by another of a large island filled with what were once magnificent buildings that are now wrecked and ruined. Smoldering heaps mark the landscape of the island. A scant number of ships dot the harbor of the isle. Your view soars towards one of the ships, upon which stands the aged sorcerer, anger and hate filling totally black eyes. You snap out of the vision a bit startled.
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| Your singing allows you to pull a vision from the grasp of the blue sapphire. It starts slowly at first, part of your field of view still being filled with your actual surroundings. Soon, though, your attention is focused on a cache of gems falling through ocean-green water, causing ripples as they do. Finally, after what seems like a very long time they hit the bottom. The vision fades as this happens and is replaced with image-after-image of storm and wave crashing across the surface and floor of the ocean you were just staring at. Large and small things alike from the ocean's depth are thrust here and there, and spread across the vastness of the ocean. The tides leave some strangely untouched, and others are spread to the four corners of Elanthia.
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| You barely begin to carry a tune as the gem unravels its mysteries for you. Two halflings are diving to the ocean surface, equipped with raggedy equipment, and fishing nets, their lines coming from a large ship sailing with a pirate flag on its mast. They catch various forms of tropical fish and other ocean habitations, placing them in small jars they've brought with them. Once the jar is filled they tie it to a line and the jar is quickly snatched back up towards the ship. After some time, some shiny objects on the ocean floor catch their attention and they dive for them. After examining the faintly glowing gems they retrieve, they smile brightly, and return to the ship.
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New Style
Newer forehead gems have been released via new methods, including the Ebon Gate digging game and random prize offerings. They have the same analyze results as the feathers from Return to Black Swan Castle.
Analyze
You analyze your quartz feather and sense that the creator has provided the following information:
This is a forehead gem that can be worn between the eyes. You can WEAR, REMOVE, RUB, and TAP it. TAP will toggle the ambient messaging on and off. It is currently OFF.
Alterations may be made by a talented jeweler, but it must remain a type of gem capable of sparkling. It adheres to the forehead magically; no reference to chains or adornments should be made. It can have both a long and show description. A corresponding color for the gem's sheen can also be chosen; it is currently pearlescent.
There may be additional restrictions on alterations.
You get no sense of whether or not the feather may be further lightened.
Loresong
| Loresong
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Reaction
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| As you sing to a cabochon of black dreamstone caged in silver, it glimmers slightly, and slowly, a vision begins to unfold.
A young boy plays with his friends, gleefully slogging through the muck and mire of a small stream. Something glittering in the riverbank catches his eye, and he stops to look. To the great delight of his friends, he has found a small, clear sapphire. Soon, all the boys are covered head-to-toe in mud as they try to find their own buried treasure. Each boy returns with a handful of pebbles and brightly colored stones, but no more gems.
The moon rises, and the young boy sits on his bed, staring in rapt fixation as starlight glints off his sapphire. Suddenly, he pulls a small knife from a pile of string, rocks, and other typical boy fare and begins to chip away at the gemstone. He pauses, holding it up catch the starlight again and then gently carves away, humming beneath his breath. Soon, a tiny heart-cut clear sapphire lies in the palm of his hand.
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A cabochon of black dreamstone caged in silver glimmers in XXX's hand as she sings to it.
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| Your vision quickly reappears as you sing to the dreamstone. The boy is older now, almost a man, and before him are several gemstones, each meticulously carved. He holds a violet feystone in his hand, singing to it as he carves away every flaw and turns the simple gem into a breathtaking miniature rose. He sings as he polishes it, and the feystone rose grows brighter. A light blue aura surrounds it briefly before being absorbed into the gem.
The scene changes, and the boy stands in a shop, showing his feystone rose to a stooped old man. The man takes the rose and rubs it. He chortles happily as a light blue glow seeps into his skin. He hands the boy a few gold coins.
The vision fades as a very happy boy runs down the street to his home.
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XXX sings to the dreamstone in her hand
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| As you whisper your song to the dreamstone, a new scene unfolds. Several years have gone by, and the boy is now a man. He sits in a small shop filled with carved gemstones, each shelf holding a sign explaining the properties the stones hold. He is deep in concentration over a star-cut ruby, pausing in his singing every so often to press it against his forehead and letting it fall into his open palm again.
He jerks up from his work as a bell jingles, and his shop door opens. A beautiful young woman walks in.
Flashes of time pass before your eyes as the young man courts the woman. You see a cottage with a garden of bright roses and tall lilac trees. A kiss, an altar, a ring. You see both working, her in metal and him in stone. And when he presses a peridot against her forehead one day, it stays, casting a cerulean light across her face. The woman cheers, and they kiss exuberantly. An overwhelming sense of happiness infuses each scene, and as your song's influence fades, the vision disappears.
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XXX sings to her dreamstone in soft, lilting whispers, and her eyes grow misty as a vision overtakes her.
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| You barely start to sing to the dreamstone before a vision appears. The joy that permeated the previous scene is nowhere to be found here. The young man's countenance is haggard, his appearance disheveled. He looks the madman as he rants and raves in the garden. A raven lands nearby, and the man throws a diamond at it. The bright roses have all gone to dark shades, and even the lilac trees look denser, more foreboding. Yet, the garden is well-tended, and even as the man mutters and weeps to himself, you see him lovingly caring for each bush and tree.
He sleeps in a thicket of lilacs and washes himself in the pond, and you get the impression he never enters the cottage, perhaps never leaves the garden at all. As time passes, an older woman, his mother, brings him food, passing it over the garden walls and imploring him to come out. Time and again, he refuses.
The vision grows black, and as it disappears, you hear him whisper resolutely to the four winds, "I am keeper of the garden, for of the garden she is. And here, forever we are."
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XXX sings gently to her black dreamstone. Her eyes gaze into the distance, lost in song and sight.
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Usage
| Verb
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Style
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First
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Third
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| WEAR
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You position a <gem> between your eyes so that it casts a sparkling <color> sheen across your face.
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Person positions a <gem> between her eyes so that it casts a sparkling <color> sheen across her face.
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| Hidden
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A sparkling of <color> light comes from somewhere close by.
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| REMOVE
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You gently touch your <gem>. It glows warmly for a moment and then falls away from your face.
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Person touches her <gem>. It glows warmly for a moment and then falls away from her face.
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| Hidden
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A bright <color> glow emanates from somewhere close.
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| RUB
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Worn
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Your <gem> gives off a momentarily bright <color> glow against the backdrop of your face.
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Person's <gem> gives off a momentarily bright <color> glow against the backdrop of her face.
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| Hidden
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Suddenly, a bright <color> glow illuminates some shadows but they soon darken again.
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| In hand
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A bright <color> glow emanates from your <gem> as you rub it.
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A bright <color> glow emanates from Person's <gem> as she rubs it.
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| Hidden
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Suddenly, a bright <color> glow illuminates some shadows, but they soon darken again.
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| TAP
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Turn on
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A sparkling <color> light races across the surface of your <gem> as you tap it.
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A sparkling <color> light races across the surface of Person's <gem> as she taps it.
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| Hidden
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A sparkling <color> appears momentarily out of nowhere and then vanishes.
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| Turn off
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Your <gem> grows still as you tap it.
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A perfect <gem> that Person is wearing grows still as she taps it.
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Additional Information
Ambients
An ebon shadow swirls through your <gem>, momentarily casting your countenance in darkness.
An ebon shadow swirls through a <gem> on Person's forehead, momentarily casting her countenance in darkness.
A delicate silver filigree pattern swirls briefly within the <gem> against your forehead.
A delicate silver filigree pattern swirls briefly within the a <gem> set against Person's forehead.
Your <gem> glitters brightly for a few moments.
A <gem>, which is set against Person's forehead, glitters brightly for a few moments.
When Hiding Others See: You catch something glittering out of the corner of your eye.
A shower of dancing <color> and silver sparks flare up from your <gem>.
A shower of dancing <color> and silver sparks flare up from Person's <gem>.
A starburst of silver and <color> sparks erupts from the <gem> on your forehead.
A starbust of silver and <color> sparks erupts from the <gem> that is on Person's forehead.
Your <gem> flares into <color> flames, causing the air around you to waver.
A <gem> on Person's forehead flares into <color> flames, causing the air around Person to waver.
Your <gem> pulses against your forehead, sending silver and <color> sparks dancing around your lashes.
Person's <gem> pulses against her forehead, sending silver and <color> sparks dancing around her lashes.
Your <gem> pulses against your forehead, giving off a faint glow.
Person's <gem> pulses against her forehead, giving off a faint <color> glow.
Your <gem> dims and then suddenly brightens again as silver sparks swirl around in the gem.
Person's <gem>, which is set against her forehead, dims and then suddenly brightens again as silver sparks swirl within the gem.
When Hiding Others See: You see a sudden <color> burst of light.
The <gem> on your forehead dims drastically as a cloud of darkness roils deep within the gem. After a moment, it fades, returning to its normal state.
The <gem> on Person's forehead dims drastically as a cloud of darkness roils deep within the gem. After a moment, it fades, returning to its normal state.
The <gem> on Person's forehead dims, then suddenly brightens in a luminous plume of tiny silver and gold sparks that radiate out from her eyes in a feather-like pattern.
The <gem> on your forehead flickers, as if a tiny <color> flame has appeared inside. Without so much as a breath of smoke, it is extinguished.
The <gem> on Person's forehead flickers, as if a tiny <color> flame has appeared inside. Without so much as a breath of smoke, it is extinguished.
The <gem> on your forehead flickers softly, causing gold flames to briefly flare within your eyes.
Your <gem> sparkles brilliantly as an errant ray of light hits it.
The <gem> on Person's forehead sparkles brilliantly as an errant ray of light hits it.
The veins in your <gem> glow a brilliant gold color.
The veins in Person's <gem> glow a brilliant <color> color.
When Hiding Others See: A few <color> and silver sparks seem to appear out of nowhere.
Ebon Gate 2009 Raffled Set
Four forehead gems were raffled by the merchant Nikhail at Ebon Gate 2009. They are special and have a shared custom loresong that tells a specific story. They cannot be altered.
There is a new forehead gem script. It has a new loresong. You can find one in the digging game. The 4 raffled here are also in the new style, which adds way more flexibility in altering, but these 4 are not alterable. They are special and have a shared custom loresong that tells a specific story. New-style ones also require my permission, but are more customizable. I'm also very generous with my permissions to alter. Mostly I just want to make sure I explain the weirdness personally to those going to alter it, to make sure everyone's clear on the restrictions. Things you can do now: pick the colour of the sheen that it casts (must make sense to the gem), put on a custom loresong if you win one and the merchant is willing (provided it isn't already a loresonged item), a long description and a show description.
Items
- an oval-cut white starstone with night blue accents
A white starstone of spectacular size has been oval-cut to highlight the patterns within its depths. Inclusions of black and night blue form eight symmetrical spirals that emanate from a paler blue crystal inclusion at the very center of the gem. A small band of star-carved gold is inset into one edge of the gem, engraved with minute script. Faint crimson stains are barely visible along the gold's edges.
In the Common language, it reads:
I give you the sun, the moons, and the stars, for you have answered my dreams.
- a velvet black moonstone carved into a crescent
Black as the velvety night, the moonstone is carefully polished to accentuate its inner fire that casts a halo about the gem with each brush of ambient light. The crescent moon cut of the gem is outlined in meticulously inlaid silver. Miniscule script winds its way along the silver edging, and faint flecks of crimson wedge themselves into the crevices betwixt silver and stone.
In the Common language, it reads:
I give you the sun, the moons, and the stars, for you have answered my dreams.
- Came in a box
a small moon-carved ebonwood box with a brass lock
The viridian-sheened ebonwood box is lined and padded with silver-starred black velvet cut into a crescent shape. All along the outside of the box, the moons of Elanthia are carved in various stages of waxing and waning, and a tiny brass keyhole is nestled between images of Tilaok and Liabo.
- With a key
a miniature brass key
In the Common language, it reads:
To Open The Moons
- a polished twilight blue dreamstone traced with midnight inclusions
- a heart-cut red sunstone with ebon markings
Loresong
| Loresong
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Reaction
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| You cup the white starstone delicately in your hand and focus your voice on it. Suddenly, you find yourself in a garden filled to overflowing with brightly hued rosebushes. A young woman lies in the grass at the edge of a pond, idly running her fingers through the bright blue waters. A bronze fountain of a mermaid sprays water high into the air from the center of the pond, birds fly merrily over head, and the scent of lilacs and roses fills the warm afternoon. A noise behind you causes the woman to sit up, a smile lighting her face as a young man enters the garden. She hurries over to meet him, and they kiss passionately as the scene fades.
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| The white starstone grows warm in your hand, giving off silvery gold glimmers as you sing to it. The smell of lilacs swirls about you, and the vision comes into focus. Surrounded by a circle of lilac trees, the young man chisels away at a piece of marble, stopping every so often to mop his brow. The scene skips ahead to show him leading his blindfolded lover toward the now complete altar, an engagement ring and a bright pink rose resting on top. A series of visions flits across your sight, the couple kissing, the two walking hand in hand, and other scenes of happiness and new love.
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| With a swirl of dark red rose petals, the scenes are obscured, and when the petals flitter out of your sight, you see the young man looking slightly angry as he argues with the woman. She kisses him on the cheek, whispering something soothing into his ear, then slips from the garden into the cottage beyond. The man is left behind, slightly appeased but with a worried frown creasing his brow.
Just before the scene fades, you see a black rook with emerald green eyes watching the man from the top of the garden's stone wall.
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| As you sing to the starstone in your hand, your present reality fades, and you find yourself standing in a small, homey cottage. In one corner, the young woman works on sword, hand-etching a pattern of briars and roses along the flat of the blade. Around her are various bits of metal art. A different young man, an aristocrat, stands before her, waving a knife about and pointing at its broken hilt as he tries to get her attention. At long last, she looks up at him, points imperiously to a counter, and then turns back to her work. The man scowls, but he drops the knife on the counter, along with several gold coins, and walks out.
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| The scene shifts slightly as the woman moves out the back door of the cottage and into the garden. Once again, her young man is working in the ring of lilac trees. He laughs as she tells him of the aristocrat, then kisses her and returns his attention to the handful of gems on his table. She watches him painstakingly carve a design into each gem. He speaks a few words that carry the force of a spell, and the gems absorb the magic. He puts several completed gems into a velvet pouch that he hands to the woman. However, four gems he puts into a small box and pockets, shaking his head as if he has a secret when she looks at him questioningly.
With a golden flash, the scene abruptly changes. Once again, the young man and woman argue, and once again, the woman tries to reassure him. This time, however, she is not so successful. He storms away. The scene grows cloudy and begins to fade, and as it does so, the emerald-bright eyes of the rook glare down at you.
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| Holding the starstone close, you whisper your song to it. Ebon mist swirls about you, dissipating into a grey day in the garden. The man pulls out his box of four gems and works on them, but his heart is clearly not in it. A stray cat winds its way about his feet, purring loudly even as the man scowls at it. The cat persists, and the man sits back, allowing it access to his lap, where it quickly ensconces itself. The man relaxes, and soon, a happy smile crosses his face. The scene skips a bit. Night has fallen, the cat is gone, and the man awakens in his lilac circle. The young woman approaches him with a bouquet of rue and pink roses, and they kiss passionately, all arguments forgotten. Something emerald glints in the boughs of a lilac tree, its living light unnoticed by the lovers.
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| Another time skip, another parting, another reconciliation. Similar scenes repeat themselves, covering the course of several weeks, and each time, the unnoticed rook presides over it all. Finally, your singing pulls forth a more solid scene again. The woman kisses the man goodbye. Soon thereafter, the now-familiar cat jumps into the man's lap, but instead of snuggling up to him as it usually does, it puts its front paws on his chest and looks him straight in the eye. No amount of singing can coax sound to the vision, but judging from the man's expression, the feline speaks to him. The cat suddenly jumps off his lap, disappearing into the nearby rose bushes, and leaving the man looking stunned.
Several minutes later, the same cat comes wandering back, snuggling up in the man's lap. The man glances at the cat with trepidation, but it just purrs and makes itself comfortable. He closes his eyes and does not notice the emerald gaze of the rook from within the nearby rose bushes. The scene abruptly goes to black.
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| Swirls of rose petals obscure your view, but the magic of your song pushes through, and the vision returns to show the man skulking behind the woman, his eyes mad with suspicion. The woman ducks behind a building and does not emerge. When the man finally goes and looks, she is gone.
The scene skips again, and the man sits, talking to the cat. He yells and shakes his head in disbelief, pushing the cat from his lap and stalking away.
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| A flurry of rose petals open up a new scene. The woman is leaving, a mended knife in hand, and she kisses the man goodbye. He seems unappeased, and she smiles a bit sadly as she walks out of the garden. She doesn't notice the look of longing and love on his face, nor the apology that catches in his throat. He sits by the pond, idly playing with the four cut gems he is always working on when the cat comes bounding up to him and tries to snuggle into his lap. With a fit of rage, he grabs the animal around the throat and throws it into the pond. He appears to be murmuring "liar, liar" as the thrashing beneath the surface stills.
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| You take a deep breath, then aim your voice's magic at the moonstone. The vision snaps into clear view almost instantly.
With a triumphant caw, the emerald-eyed rook flies down from the garden wall, transforming into a cat identical to the other and then into an old crone. She cackles gleefully.
The man stares at her uncomprehendingly before turning to look into the pond. His confusion turns to horror as a body, not of a cat but of a young woman, his young woman, rises to the surface, tangled about in lake weed.
A crack of thunder breaks your concentration, and the vision disappears.
Loresinger shivers slightly as he sings softly to the moonstone. The rich perfume of roses lingers momentarily in the air.
The moonstone grows ice-cold in your hands as your voice coaxes the final vision from it. The man frantically pulls the woman from the pond, but it is too late. Storm clouds brew overhead, and lighting flashes in the distance, and still the crone laughs. In a rage, the man snatches up a broken blade that has fallen from his love's pocket and drives it into her throat.
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| In a flash of crimson, the scene jumps forward. The man weeps openly over the body of his beloved. A wispy figure drifts away from the corpse, unnoticed by the grieving man, and with a rush of magic, her body becomes one with the garden.
Behind him, the blood of the dying crone spills across the ground. Once bright roses grow dark, and the four precious gems lie forgotten in a pool of scarlet.
Rose petals, velvety and dark, fall from the garden's bushes and, caught in the violent eddies of the impending swarm, obscure the scene, leaving behind the rich perfume of roses as you pull your gaze away from into the black moonstone.
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Ta'Vaalor Coronation
There are only two of these particular gems that were given out by King Qalinor at his coronation. They cannot be altered in any way.
The Gems
- a gold-flecked crimson blazestar
Crafted from a single flawless fiery crimson blazestar, this adornment has been masterfully cut to resemble a wyvern in flight. Subtle facets refract even the most miniscule amount of light into the illusion of outstretched wings.
There appears to be something written on it.
In the Common language, it reads:
Etched in tiny letters on the back of the gem are the words, "For service to the Crown. Gifted to Isola Le'Elfain on 5/19/5113 by King Qalinor Vaalor."
In the Common language, it reads:
Etched in tiny letters on the back of the gem are the words, "For service to the Crown. Gifted to Pulsegiver Ravenscorn on 5/19/5113 by King Qalinor Vaalor."
Loresong
| Loresong
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Reaction
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| As you begin singing, the power of the gem overtakes your sight and a vision of the past appears before you. You find yourself standing in a vast fortress in the middle of a courtyard during a lovely sunset. The townspeople and residents are seemingly at peace and going about their business as usual. After a moment, a light thumping sound catches your ear, followed by a soft horn call in the distance. Your vision blurs as you are pushed forward into that night, and you find yourself standing at one of the town's gates as it's being attacked by a horde of trolls. Bodies of mangled elven soldiers are mingled with those of fallen trolls. As the small rivulets of blood swirl together from both elf and troll, the sanguine stream passes before you in a torrent. Dark clouds gather, and with a deafening clap of thunder, they disperse. Standing in their place is an enormous troll witch.
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XXX cups the blazestar gently in her hand, focusing her voice on it. She stares blankly into its depths for several moments before her song softly fades.
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| The crimson blazestar grows warm in your hand, swirling with tiny flecks of gold as you focus your song on it. The vision returns, bringing you to a gate flooded with waves of trolls. One after another, the Crimson Reservists fall to the troll assault. Mangled corpses litter the bridge, and the screams of terrified children echo around the gate. As the Reservists struggle to drag the bodies of residents through the gates, two unlikely visitors step forth onto the bridge and begin their own counter assault against the troll invaders. Allowing the crimson-garbed elves to drag their fallen through the gates to safety, a half-elf sorceress and giantwoman cleric stand their ground and hold the troll hordes at bay. Wave after wave of trolls meet their fate at the hands of the two women, the beasts struggling in vain. Through the cacophony of the groaning wounded amid the sounds of battle, a moment of almost perfect silence descends as a sinister herald. A panicked yell breaks the unnatural silence. "ASSASSINS IN THE KEEP!" rings out across the fortress. Like echoes, the warning of the assassins spreads throughout the defenders. A crimson-garbed elf runs from the gate and directs the spellcasters to keep the trolls from breaching the gates at all costs before rushing off towards the keep as quickly as he came.
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XXX focuses her voice on the crimson blazestar and tiny golden flecks begin to swirl within it. Visibly shaken, XXXXXX struggles to tear her gaze from the crimson blazestar. Failing, she stares enrapt.
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| The crimson blazestar cools to the touch as the swirling flecks of gold obscure your vision once again. Disoriented, you find yourself just inside the gates of Ta'Vaalor. While the wounded are being treated, the two outsiders stand near a group of Crimson Reservists who are carefully attending to the words of a commanding officer. "A map of the Keep has been recovered, along with a note implying a traitor is among us" he quietly says. Accusing eyes dart around the area and a slight chill passes through you as their gaze falls upon your position. The commanding officer does his best to ease the obvious tensions rising amongst his people. He speaks further of pride, honor, and glory, as sadness settles heavily upon his weary countenance. He expresses regret at the loss of life sustained and reminds the people that the fight is not over yet, and failure is not an option. He gives orders to protect the Keep, protect the innocent, protect each other, and above all, protect the King!
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As XXX sings softly to the crimson blazestar, the tiny golden flecks swirl faster and faster. Shivering slightly, XXX pulls her arms in close for warmth.
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| The crimson heart of the crimson blazestar flares brightly as your reality shifts backward through time once again. You are thrust violently into the chaotic scene of battle, once again finding yourself on the now familiar bridge, and once again, the two spellcasters hold back the increasing tide of trolls. Though not of the city, the sorceress and cleric risk their own lives for its safety. You watch as they combine their magic, hurling spells that manage to keep even the strongest of the troll generals and assassins at bay. A cry rings out once again in the Keep, "ASSASSINS!" The call sounds different from the others, carrying with it a tone of confusion. The horde of trolls slowly dwindles with each mighty spell cast by the women until they have all but extinguished the invading force. Glancing at each other in bewilderment at the lack of foes, the pair looks shocked as the intense sounds of battle reverberate from within the city. "VARGESH!" is the last sound you hear as your vision fades into darkness.
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The crimson heart of the crimson blazestar flares brightly in XXX's hand, pulsing slowly.
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| The blazestar in your hand returns to its normal crimson hue, though the golden flecks within move rapidly in a chaotic pattern at the sound of your voice, and the world around you dissolves. Tiope stands at the end of the bridge holding a knife to the king's throat, a wild look in her eye. Before anyone can move to stop her, Tiope laments, "What I do, I do for Vaalor!" and she drags the knife across the king's throat. His body collapses into a crumpled heap at the traitor's feet as a bolt of lightning strikes nearby. A swirling crimson portal opens directly behind Tiope, and she steps through before the stunned defenders can impede her -- the portal snapping closed in her wake. The world around you tilts precariously, and a wave of nausea nearly overwhelms you as your vision shifts again. The battle rages at the gates, Vargesh fading in and out, killing those around her. Fate guides the hand of a handsome commander with a precise, well-timed strike; he pierces the troll leader as she fades into existence before him. As she slips from his blade, the battle is won, and a disconsolate voice pierces the cheers from the far end of the bridge. "The King is dead! Tyrnian has been murdered!" You follow the rush of the crowd to the body of the king. The mass of elves falls to their knees in disbelief, and a young elf cries out in such agony, you struggle to choke back sobs of your own as the vision drifts away.
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The blazestar in XXX’s hand returns to its normal crimson hue. A look of discomfort crosses XXX's face as she focuses her voice on the crimson blazestar and loses herself in the song.
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| The crimson blazestar in your hand shifts under your song, flaring once in a brilliant crimson display. You stand among a group of bereaved elves facing a tall pyre surrounded by piles of wood. The area is full of onlookers of various races and backgrounds, all of them here for one reason. "Make way for the steward" declares an elven guard. While the heroic elf who struck Vargesh down that day on the bridge walks in, a procession of elves carrying the body of the fallen King Tyrnian place him atop the pyre. Words are spoken as you gaze around the assembled crowd. Tear streaks mar each of the proud elven faces. A guard steps forth and ignites the pyre. In a quick blaze, the body of the king is gone, leaving only his ashes. Guards move in to encircle the ash pile that was their king. Your vision quickens, as time hurries past. A jumble of images bombards you. Elves weeping, stunned faces, and children clinging to their mothers' hands all race through your mind's eye. Most notably, you watch as a group of gnomes build a monument of gold-flecked crimson marble around the ashes, sealing them from the world forever.
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Blinding crimson light flares forth in a fiery burst as XXX's song touches the crimson blazestar a final time.
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Return to Black Swan Castle
A black-shadowed milky quartz feather was offered as a completion prize for the 2013 run of the Return to Black Swan Castle quest. At that time it was listed as "no alterations". This item appears to have been removed from the prize list. These have the same analyze as the new-style forehead gems.
Loresong
| Loresong
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Reaction
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| Flashes of silver and gold creep across your mind as a vision unfolds of a woman in a white dress, a milky white quartz feather positioned in the center of her forehead. The woman walks down a cobblestone path in the courtyard, passing gardens overflowing with red and white roses. The walls enclosing the courtyard are a smooth white marble, and a tall keep of the same bright stone rises high overhead. The keep resembles a graceful swan, wings outstretched, frozen as if landing on water. Shadows from the marble wings cross the woman's path as your vision fades.
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XXX cups the feather delicately in her hand, focusing her voice on it.
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| Your vision returns to the woman in white, who is sitting before a mirror in a dressing room. She gently touches the milky white quartz feather positioned between her eyes, which glows warmly for a moment and then falls away from her face. She places the feather on the white marble vanity, which appears to be built into the castle walls. She stands, attends to her hair in the mirror, and slowly ascends the nearby staircase. After a few silent moments, you hear the faint sound of war drums begin to thump as your vision fades.
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The quartz feather emits glimmers of silvery gold in XXX's hand as she sings softly to it.
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| Your mind clears to an aerial view of the castle, besieged by enemy forces. Steel-plated catapults propel projectiles into the formerly pristine castle walls as ground forces gather. Churning balls of magic shoot out of the darkness from unseen sorcerers, latching onto the walls and seeming to bleed darkness into the white marble. The magic evaporates, but the darkness lingers. War drums, constant and persistent, echo through your mind as the vision comes to a close.
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XXX cups a black-shadowed milky quartz feather gently, a worried look in her eye as she sings to it.
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| The dressing room returns to your mind, though the night is silent now. As you watch, a darkness seems to creep into the white marble walls, turning them black. The darkness continues its silent journey, slithering across the floor and up the sides of the stone vanity. As the shadow passes under quartz feather, the edges of the feather darken as well. The blackness creeps toward the center of the feather, shadowing the intricately carved veins, before a hand snatches the feather from the vanity as your vision fades.
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XXX holds the quartz feather close, whispering her song to it. After a few moments, she abruptly stops singing.
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| Forehead gem Information
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| Type
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Fluff
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| Item Classification
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Accessory
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| Item(s) Applied to
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Jewelry
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| Alterable
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Yes
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| Light/Deep
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| Loresong
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Yes
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