Mana Seeking Arrows
There are several varieties of homing arrows, each for specific purposes. In the case of Mana seeking arrows...it's in the name. They seek out Mana. This works by the use of a piece of White Jade Aethercite crystal. This type of Jade has strange properties when charged with Aether. It forms an attraction to objects charged with mana, or to living things that are casting magic. Other varieties of Jade will not work like this.
A sharpened piece of Jade isn't enough to become a mana seeking arrow on its own. On either side of the arrow are two bronze tuning rods, these will detect then amplify sources of mana, guiding the jade arrow to its destination. Jade is also rather soft, so a bronze cap is placed on the end of the arrowhead in the hope that it has a better chance of penetrating its target.
One other precaution that needs to be taken with these arrows is that Jade loses its aether charge quickly, so the arrowheads must be stored in some type of oil or in a container of aether glass until they are ready for use.
Jade is not normally found in Cassel, it has to be imported either from the Dark Lands across the Aetheric Ocean, or from the continent of Tensen. Because of this, Jade arrows can be expensive. There are some varieties of Deep Sea Corals that can have a similar effect when charged with aether, but not enough research has been done on the subject.
Average Price: 200 Beryls per arrow
components:
Sharpened Jade Arrowhead
Aetheric Tuning Rods
Ash Arrow Shaft
Hawk Feathers
Effects:
Arrowhead is designed to seek out powerful sources of mana.
Tuning rods will pick up and amplify weaker sources of mana allowing the Jade to hit weaker signals.
CAUTION: Do not cast magic or be near a spellcaster while using these arrows. It will arc around and hit them instead.
components:
Effects:
Chryssa
"I'm not mad! I swear. I am totally composed right now...(Deep breaths Chryssa, deep breaths!)...grrrRRRRR...I SWEAR ON THE SAINT! MYLES IF YOU SHOOT ANOTHER FUCKING HOMING ARROW WHILE I'M CASTING MAGIC, YOU WILL REGRET IT!"(Seriously, I will throw this Fire Ant Bomb at you!!!)
Love the quote!!! These arrows sound really expensive, but I suppose if you can't tell who is casting magic, it would be definitely worth finding out who to kill first! After all, if there had been magic in England, Dick Cade's line would have been "The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers."