The Hand of Saol

The Hand of Saol is a staff, about 3/4 the height of a normal person, made entirely of gold and silver and adorned with a large Lycen crystal in its top-most portion

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The Staff is made of gold and silver, both of which augment the powers of lightmages. This, combined with a lycen cristal encased inside at the top end of the staff, means that any lightmage that holds the staff can produce a large amount of light. An amount so huge that when the staff is been held up towards the sun, as part of the summer Solstice ritual, its been described as having a second sun in the sky, although the light is cold and pure white.

History

When completed, The staff had been used by every Rayn during the Summer Solstice Festival in Darnia as part of its closing ceremony. However, after the destruction of Solthar and its first Temple, it was assumed by the reemerging Darnians that the staff was lost. A new one would not be commissioned thanks to a lack of funds at the time. However, during the reconstruction of parts of the Temple, a secret room was found. There, the skeletal remains of the last Rayn of the First Age were found. Its bony hands were still clutching the Hand of Saol. It was assumed that the Rayn was sealed inside by his own will and died protecting the staff. The staff was retrieved and the closing ceremonies were resumed.
During the Solian schism, between 1308 BC and 1226 BC, the Rayn of Vrahlis claimed to be the rightful owner of the staff, and held onto that position until the Great reconciliation of 64 BC, when both Temples rallied together against the Essanian Empire and both called for a crusade against it. In the mists of the chaos of those chaotic years, it was mutually agreed upon that the staff should remain in the city it was created in, Solthar.
The High Rayn of Solthar possesses the staff to this day.

Significance

For Solian fateful, this item is the way that the High Rayn has access to Saol's power and is one of the reasons that legitimizes his claims of the position as the moral authority of Hysal.

Item type

Religious / Ritualistic

Creation Date

Constructed in 2810 BC

Current Location

City of Solthar

Rarity

This item is unique, although many cheaper replicas exists, mostly made of bronze and tin to replace the Gold and silver of the original. The crystal at the top is usually replaced by a jade gem, emerald gem or an Amethyst gem
Some Arcans posses a smaller version of the staff, made with less silver and no gold, which is swapped out for bronze. The lycen crystal inside those staff is smaller and less well crafted than the original.

Dimensions

The staff is about 1.5 metres long, with a diameter of about 3 cm along most of its length, but which bulges to about 10 cm where the crystal resides.

Raw materials & Components

The staff is mainly made out of smaller silver and gold strands melted and fused together to form one large and thick staff. Occupying the top last 30 cm of the staff, a large and smoothly crafted Energised Lycen crystals was inserted in between the strands, creating a sort of cage in which the crystal rests. The metal bars then curve back towards each other and are fused together again. The bottom and top of the bar are smooth and polished while the sides are carved with shallow engravings that have mostly been erased with time, especially the ones on the golden parts of the staff.

Tools

Presumably, any metal working tools and a good ferromage could create another staff like the original, but the high cost of those precious metals and the large quantities required, plus the Lycen crystal, means that recreating the staff is considered a fool's errand.