The Gift of the Star

In the wake of the impact, strange stones began to surface all over the world. People called them Sacred Stones, and said they had come down with the star itself — a gift from the gods. A Stone would grant its power to anyone strong enough to wield it: the borrowed strength of an animal spirit. But those who could not contain what they had taken were consumed by it, and burned from within.

Predator and Prey

It took generations before anyone understood that the Stones were not all alike. Some carried predators. Some carried prey. A predator Stone always gave its bearer greater raw power and strength — but the prey Stones granted gifts of their own, of a kind the hunters never had.

The Four Dragons

Above every other Stone stood the dragon Stones. Only four were ever known to exist.

White Stones sat at the summit of every class. They were the purest, and they gave their bearers a closer, stronger contact with the animal spirit than any other Stone could.

A Hundred Left

For an age the world tore itself apart over them. Stones were lost in battle, and Stones were destroyed in it. Fewer than a hundred are said to remain anywhere in the world today.

The Law of Blood

The king decreed that only the strongest and the purest were fit to inherit a Stone. In practice it built a closed system: Stones passed from one noble house to another, or never left the same family at all, generation after generation.

The Prophecy

Then the Church announced it had uncovered an ancient prophecy. If the world held its peace, and the Stones were used for good, Eldeerath would prosper and its people with it. If it did not, a second star would fall — and this time it would destroy everything and everyone, as punishment from the heavens.

The wars stopped. And for a time, Eldeerath knew peace.

Nobody ever found a black Stone.… or so they believed.