| Common Name | Wizard's Stone |
 Raw, unprocessed orichalcum. |
 Refined Orichalcum. |
| Alchemical Name | Orichalcum | ||
| Color | Mottled Red | ||
| Density | Lightweight | ||
| Strength | Fragile. | ||
| Frequency | Very Rare | ||
| Value | 1000 gp per pound |
Overview
A wizard's stone is a prized thing indeed. It is a heavy metallic mineral which has a deep reddish gold hue. This stone, known to mages as orichalcum, is the only known substance able to store raw magical energy. The manner in which this is accomplished is imperfectly understood. A complicated refining process is necessary to purify and shape the substance into a useable form. The mass of any one piece determines how much energy it can store and its purity dictates the amount of energy that can be channeled through it (i.e. the level of spell that can be cast using just energy from this stone). These two images depict unrefined Orichalcum ore and refined Orichalcum (set in an iron mount).
Orichalcum's ability to store magical energy makes it invaluable in spell casting and magical research. It is an efficient storage medium and useful because it can be used many times over. However, orichalcum does not last forever. With regular use, the mineral quickly loses its ability to store energy. In a wizard’s lab, where it might see weekly use, a brick of orichalcum will last about a year. Heavy use, such as the daily use of an adventuring wizard, will completely wear out a chunk of orichalcum within 3 months.
Orichalcum is an extremely hard and brittle mineral and exceptionally difficult to mine. It takes a great deal of time to mine even a small amount of the mineral. Orichalcum mining is also a dangerous activity as there are a number of hazards including spontaneous detonations of magical energy and the Burning, a malady associated with long term exposure to Orichalcum dust. Precautions must be take against these and other hazards which further makes Orichalcum mining a slow and expensive process.
Uses
Orichalcum has found use in a variety of applications. Some of those uses are listed below, but this list is not complete. Wizards are always finding new ways to put this valuable mineral to use.
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Spell Research Tool - Mages often use it in spell research. |
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Spell Casting Tool - It can be a valuable addition to any mage’s possessions as it gives quick access to additional power for spells in critical situations. When used as a spell component when casting spells, wizards are able to add more power to their magic. |
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Magic Battery - Orichalcum can be used to store raw magical energy for long periods of time. Sometimes arch mages and other powerful spell casters will use large blocks of Orichalcum as a reliable reserve of huge amounts of energy for critical uses such as summoning ceremonies, the creation of powerful magic items and the like. |
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Potion and Item Ingredient - Orichalcum powder can be used in the incorporation of a number of potions and magical items. |
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Scroll Ink Additive - Many mages mix Orichalcum powder in their ink for when they write magical scrolls. |
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Poison - Orichalcum powder is poisonous to dwarves and it has found some popularity as a dwarf specific poison in its most concentrated forms. Although, it is an expensive poison to make. |
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Stationary Shielding - Orichalcum can be charged with one of several shielding spells and used as “active shielding” against spell penetration. This can be used to protect an area (such as a room or chamber) from teleportation, dimension door, scrying, x-ray vision and that sort of thing. Charged Orichalcum can do it 100% effective with only thin plaques or tiles, whereas the same effect would require more than a foot of lead. |
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Mobile Shielding - Smugglers sometimes will use Orichalcum (charged with a shielding spell) to smuggle magical items. This can take several forms. It’s possible to make containers that are lined with Orichalcum which is then charged with a shielding spell. It’s even possible to charge Orichalcum “rubble” with a shielding spell and then use it as a packing material. This would effectively shielded the item’s magical emanations and hide it from anyway searching for it with a spell. |
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Invisible Writing - Orichalcum dust can be charged with a tiny amount of residual magical energy and then used to write letters and symbols that are not noticeable to the casual observer, but will be easily seen to any who can see magic. |
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Glyph Enhancement – Many wizards will use Orichalcum powder when scribing glyphs, pentagrams, circles of protection and the like to enhance their potency. |
Geography
Orichalcum is a rare mineral and is only found in certain places in the world. It also varies in purity depending on its exact chemical composition. The largest and most pure source of orichalcum is in the mines of the Citadel. However, it can be found in smaller quantities in other places.
This page last updated Monday, October 08, 2007. Copyright 1990-2008 David M. Roomes.