The Shattered Soul of Bragi

"We did not know these humans... why does the silence of their voices weigh so heavily on your soul?"

Name : Shattered Soul of Bragi
Skill : Runes
Spell Restrictions : Attack, Barrier, Mask (audio only), Move
Damage : +3 Encum : 1
Price : 1200
Rarity : 10
Craftsmanship : Standard
Instability : One
Activation : As the Celestial God of Echoes, this shard can be used to nullify, boost, or even redirect sounds. The exact limits of this power are set by the GM, but it is limited to minor effects such as muffling footsteps, amplifying a voice to be heard over a crowed, a redirecting a sound so it comes form another location a medium distance away.
Implement : When your character casts an Attack spell, if the Impact effect is added, it does not increase the check’s difficulty.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

While the stone appears to be a simple blue crystal, inside it contains an immeasurable level of energy and the immortal soul of a being called Bragi, who was once a celestial who stood again The Goddess and her paragons. Defeated and shattered a hundred millennia before the first humans stepped on the surface of Alwaus, The Known World, Bragi is one of the oldest beings still alive today. 
Despite countless centuries of tireless research done in secret, we still still no next to nothing about the nature of shattered runeshards. How they are able to support a celestial lifeform on this side of The Glass Veil is unknown, nor how the strange crystalline structure has been able to withstand the patient atrophy of a hundred millennia. These artifacts and the beings within in them are simply more alien to the world today than anything else.

Manufacturing process

The general public has literally no understanding or knowledge of shattered runestone - let alone their true origin. A runestone such as this was created after the The Goddess and her Paragon Celestials defeated the Synmatre, obliterating their physical bodies and shattering the essence of their souls across the unformed world of Alwaus. Naturally such a process can not be replicated again - nor would one wish to do so as the destruction and loss of life would likely once again destroy the world of Alwaus.

Significance

One of the rarest and least understood items in Alwaus, it is possible that even Jaenesa prime Virtutem, Empress of Alwaus and The Collegiate Arcane are not aware of their existence - let alone their true nature. Instead only a few of the most curious and imaginative scholars have pieced together bits of lore surrounding these strange stones over the millennia, although few among even those have ever been spoken to by the fractured spirits within the runeshards. 
Instead runeshards are most often viewed as particularly vibrant and large gemstones where they are often incorrectly identified as whatever crystal formations that they most similar represent. Nobody is sure whether duplicate shards exist of a singular soul - it is possible in theory but the epochs that have passed since the end of celestials means it's a miracle that even the few shards that been discovered and catalogued have survived. Perhaps one of the greatest unanswered mysteries in Alwaus, understanding the nature of shattered runeshards could unlike a new horizon or power to wield, not to mention open a new level of understanding of celestial life and The Goddess herself.

Those that do study runeshards do so in secret however, as even the strictest atheist should be wary of those who consort and study the twisted Synmatre.

Item type

Unique Artifact

Current Location

The Port City of Rystanburg

Current Holder

Declan, of the Murdock Home For Boys

Subtype / Model

Lesser Rune Overview

Rarity

Potentially Unique

Weight

3 Pounds

Dimensions

4 inches long, 1.5 inches in diamater

Raw materials & Components

A dense, solitary gemstone that fits in the palm of a man's hand

Related Myths

• Armageddon