Cambrinth

Cambrinth is a type of mineral that can hold various types of magical energy for a magic caster to use in the application of their spells. Though it is often more convenient to say that cambrinth stores mana, it is more precise to say that cambrinth stores the energy released from the manipulation of mana. This is the same energy that powers spells, and is generated from the tendency of the streams of mana to return to their natural state when manipulated by a mage. As the streams relax, energy is released in much the same way that a rubber band releases energy when it is stretched and released.

Pieces of cambrinth are typically set into an object that can sometimes be of quite intricate design; however, it is possible to find large lumps of cambrinth that have not been fashioned into jewelry. The main function for jeweling cambrinth is to provide portability and ease of use. Cambrinth jewelry, for the most part, takes on the form of rings, earrings, pendants and armbands. Other forms are in existence such as backpacks and pouches, but these are more rare. Objects such as figurines can also be found with cambrinth in them.

The amount of energy a cambrinth item can hold seems to be directly related to its size and the size of the stone set in it. For example, a cambrinth armband holds more energy than a cambrinth ring, and a cambrinth pendant holds more than a cambrinth armband.

A cambrinth is utilized by harnessing mana and channeling it into the stone, a process known as charging. Once the stone has been fully charged, the caster must then focus on the item in order to form a link to it. If a caster can not form a link with the cambrinth, they will be unable to utilize the energy stored within. Once a cambrinth has been charged with a certain type of energy (ie: life, elemental, holy or lunar) it can only be charged with that type again or it will explode, which can cause serious damage to the caster. A Moon Mage who is skilled enough at enchanting can remove the type attunement of a cambrinth item, restoring the item to its natural, uncharged state. This process, known as retuning, requires a source for the sigil of the Phoenix be present, either through the Phoenix constellation being visible or through the use of a sigil scroll.

While cambrinth can serve as a mobile source of energy in low-mana areas, a magic caster must be able to harness at least a small bit of mana in an area to construct the spell matrix with. In mana-bare areas, cambrinth will be unable to support your spells. Cambrinth can not power a spell, they only add to the harness for a spell upon casting. For most magic users, this is noted in the form of a snapping sound, though for Bards mana seeps quietly and easily into the song structures.

Description & Other Properties

Cambrinth is a grey-black mineral with reddish highlights.

• GM Iocanthe: This is a sort of rusty ashy-silver stuff. If you took silver and mixed it with ashes and them mashed up some rusty-red crayons on the surface so it was all mottled, that's about what cambrinth would look like. You can get it more reddish or more silverish, but those two colors are its "theme", and can't be gotten too far away from.

• GM Armifer: Cambrinth has been described numerous times as a naturally occurring mineral, which is a classification that it shares with a number of other materials; such as iron. Cambrinth is not a metal in the terms by which Elanthian metallurgy would understand the word: it is not shiny, it does not conduct electricity well, it is not refined or debased for use, and so on. However, cambrinth shares many properties with metal. It is dense, solid at room temperature, malleable enough to be worked (armbands and torques and hilts oh my), and arguably alloyable by some unknown technique (Y'Shai again). Cambrinth's chemical and atomic properties have never been explored and I am not inclined to start.