A relic or symbol of belief
SC24 Prompt 25
Wave 3 | Prompt 5: A relic or symbol of belief
Type: Item
The Amberstone was actually something I came up with when I wrote the Delving into the Frostcrest Caverns prose for the Adventure April challenge. There wasn’t much information I created for it at the time, so I reused it for the Summer Camp event.
The Amberstone is a massive, intricately crystallized formation of amber, exhibiting a distinctly unique and captivating shape. Situated within the northernmost chamber of the Frostcrest Caverns, a frigid and remote expanse, the Amberstone is fiercely protected by the formidable Wyrm of Chaos.
For a while now, I’ve thought of having Anaq, or the Wyrm of Chaos, safeguard the Amberstone. It's a little weird, I guess, that he's imprisoned in Frostcrest and now has to guard the very item that was being used during his tyranny. He can't use it himself, though, because he's a wyrm and has no hands. So this is kind of like some “redemption arc” or a “restore honor” thing from the other Ancients that imprisoned him there? I don’t know.
The Dragonbane Order has long believed that this specific artifact played a significant role in enabling the Wyrm of Chaos and his allies to impose oppressive rule and cause widespread human hardship for countless years, known as the Twenty Year Scourge. This era of tyranny persisted for countless years, plunging entire regions into turmoil and hardship, until it culminated in the cataclysmic Draconian War, a conflict of epic proportions that reshaped the course of history.
During the Twenty Year Scourge, the Amberstone emerged as a significant artifact with a unique property - the ability to amplify light, imbuing it with enhanced potency. As the conflict raged on, Anaq's allies came to realize the potential of this artifact and sought to harness its power for their own gain, with the intent of weaponizing it. However, their efforts met with failure, and their ambitions were ultimately thwarted as they faced a tragic fate at the conclusion of the Draconian War.
It was discovered that the Amberstone could somehow amplify light. The villains of the time knew this could advance technology; however, they realized it could be weaponized. They tried to for a long time, but then the Draconian War happened, and they ultimately ran out of time and met their fate.
The Dragonbane Order views the Amberstone as an immensely powerful relic with the potential to be used as a devastating weapon against humanity. Along with trying to shift societal perspectives on the concept of having dragonkin as companions, they are also dedicated to ensuring the Amberstone's destruction. They believe that the Dragonstone not only provides instructions on how to harness the power of the Amberstone, but also contains clues on how to ultimately render it powerless.
And with that, the Amberstone is linked (in a way) to the Dragonstone, which was created for the previous prompt! Prompt 24: A document of spurious attribution.