ʜᴄ sᴠɴᴛ ᴅʀᴀᴄᴏɴᴇs
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons, Erythrite
Intent: A reward for participants in Walk on the Wild Side to serve as a memento, focus, or lightsaber crystal.
Manufacturer: Naturally Occurring
Model: N/A
Affiliation: Dark Side of the Force
Modularity: Suitable for implementation in numerous projects.
Production: Semi-Unique
Material: Fossilized bacteria accumulating on the blood of fallen Force-Sensitives.
Strengths: Due to being a direct product of war and the scars it leaves, it is naturally attuned to the Dark Side and may be used to draw upon the passions of the fallen. When used as a lightsaber crystal, its natural resonance produces vivid blades limned with fire, which is more effective at breaching energy shields or deactivating lightsaber-type weapons.
Weaknesses: The intense energies focused by the crystal put strain on any system involving its usage, preventing lengthy periods of activation. In addition, the oscillation of the Dark Side through the crystal causes sensory feedback that can range from mild euphoria to full hallucinations depending on the magnitude of the exposure.
Description: For a world famous for beauty and neutrality, Takodana was once a planet of harsh partisanship and deadly war. When conflict raged, Force adepts died in scores - and blood was drunk up by the hungry earth. Thousands of years later, like how amber forms from crystallizing tree sap, the sites of the worst slaughter bore the fruit of what they had been seeded with. Certain bacteria had gathered in thick layers on the essence-laden blood, gradually forming colonies of strange molds that calcified into many-hued deposits of a flaky, translucent mineral.
These stones would by-and-large rest undisturbed, if only due to the fact that few attuned to the Force would actively seek to dredge up old war wounds. Like cutting open a blister, it could only unleash a wave of negative energy accumulated over millenia of nonstop spiritual resentment and unresolved hatred. To the average scavenger who found a strange gemstone, holding on to it would lead to their weak minds gradually crumbling to madness and self-destruction.
If unearthed by someone of will and recklessness enough to use it, it could be transformed into a blade or focus - this hypothetical sword would burn with the fires of the old war, and carry in it the power and anger necessary to disrupt lesser energies by placing strain on whatever systems sustained it, channeling its own power into the foe's lightsaber or energy shield with destructive consequences. However, few devices could channel such power without overheating rapidly, and even a device with the necessary venting would be ill-suited for prolonged conflict. Similarly, meditation and focusing with such devices exposes one's mind to the still-raw emotions of long-dead Sith and fallen Jedi, inviting a gradual and creeping corruption. In spite of being able to channel energies that would normally greatly harm one's body, careless overuse of the crystal leads to the encroachment of old spirits and visions of past wars - and even judicious usage requires the clarity to resist the siren call of old ghosts.
Even a strong will or a fine weapon is ill-suited to lengthy usage of something so dangerously venomous with the power of darkness.
