Forge Stones

Forge Stones are specially runed stones which will continuously drain soul essence upon skin contact. In most cases the draining only triggers with contact on Astorian skin.

History
Originally forge stones were commissioned by the Spires to aid Seekers in testing if children were casting attuned, as previously testing for attunement took several days of observation. The rune etching were only known to the royal runesmiths in the Earth Kingdom originally, it wasn’t until 22AT that the knowledge was given to the runesmiths within the Spires.

The making and possession by non-Spires has been illegal since their initial commission in the Earth and Moon Kingdoms due to their potential for abuse, and its high potential for rune rot, which is accelerated on use

Forge stones were made illegal in the Sun Kingdom by 23AT as one was used in a failed assassination attempt against Sun Kingdom Royalty.

By the Second era Spires more frequently needed to relieve a built up essence due to larger soul capacities being more commonplace. This was especially important for those traveling outside of the Academy as there were no soul forges outside the grounds and were not allowed to cast publicly. As a result carrying a forge stone became a standard practice for travelling Spires.

Uses

 * Detect casting attune individuals.
 * Removing casting created illusions.
 * Relieving symptoms of prolonged essence build-up.
 * Restrain low capacity casters.
 * Traditional uses in holidays.
 * Torture devices.

Trivia

 * Some forge stones have a core made of a gemstone to increase its longevity but are generally more expensive to make.