B E A C O N
Image Source: Angel Ganev
Intent: A reward for participants of the upcoming exploration of Pax Insul.
Development Thread: N/A (Will Provide if Necessary)
Manufacturer: Braith Achlys
Model: N/A
Affiliation: Pax Insul
Modularity: No
Production: Limited
Material:
- Wild Force Shards
- Life force of human sacrifices
- Braith's blood
- Passive Force Enhancement: Due to the presence of the force imbued within the crystals they resonate with the force itself, and carry no alignment to light or dark. Each of these crystals passively enhance the quality of the force, which could be compared to an unrefined edge on a blade to a now-refined, sharp, bladed edge - the former being without the crystal, the latter being with its presence. This does not make the wielder capable of calling on more than they would be capable originally, but does somewhat amplify the output of power to a modest degree. (See Below for disclaimer)
- One-Time Replenish: Each crystal contains the drained life force of one sacrifice to Braith from nearly ten and a half millennia ago. A capable force user whom is familiar with utilizing force-imbued objects can thus pull the life force stored within one of these crystals to rid themselves of a majority of their fatigue, though this generally has a lesser impact on those whom have greater stamina reserves. Those who utilize the one-time stamina-replenishing effects of the crystal will also obtain a slight "taste" for the act of draining the life from others, and further exposure to the dark side without precaution could cause a quickened fall to such depravity. It should be noted that to draw on this stored power is to draw on it completely, once pulled from there is no "off" switch, the life force will completely drain into the person who utilized it; there is no "saving the rest for later".
- Blood Trail: Although perceived as a coincidence with the presence of the creator's blood, a blood trail was placed on each crystal by Braith during the ritual which trapped the life force of her sacrifices within them. While due to the number of these crystals created, and their lack of true value to the witch - who believes each crystal is merely a vessel of borrowed power from herself rather than a natural amplifier to the use of the force, which is due in part to the religious beliefs which she follows - there was not much focus on the ability to track each crystal, which would mean that any who were to take the crystal to a reasonable distance away from her - perhaps a hundred meters or two, much, much, smaller than a traditional blood trail - could also safely assume they would be the new owners of a rather rare piece of history once lost to time, although if Braith were to be close enough to observe these crystals she could tell they were created by her, as well as locate them within that small distance even when hidden by most methods of the force. (I am unsure how the White Current and such would factor in, so I am assuming it would overrule the tracking abilities of a blood trail in this instance).
Ten thousand two hundred and ninety-four years ago on the planet of Pax Insul resided a woman worshiped as a deity of her kind. Her followers offered her food, clothing, service, children, but the most valuable of their offerings were the live sacrifices presented to the goddess at the foot of her temple doors at midnight to offer the souls of the soon-to-be deceased to their mighty deity. Because this woman was aware that simply burning these people at the stake or killing them outright wouldn't grant her the life force of the deceased, the application of alchemy was added to this regular offering to the degree that each sacrifice had became a ritualistic offering in return for good fortune or some other great boon - a ritual which involved the use of alchemy to trap the souls of the dying, as they died, into the small pebble-sized crystals which passively enhanced the goddess' abilities (and those around them) in order to preserve their souls for later use.
The crystals themselves later became known as a sort of 'wild force crystal' elsewhere in the galaxy, as they enhanced all uses of the force within a small vicinity - generally within a personal distance, though it depended on the size of the crystal itself - without prejudice of dark or light sides. Due to the initial nature of the crystals they still provide a constant passive enhancement of all applications of the force within a personal range of the crystals, without regarding force alignment of neither the user nor the method of using the force as it was called upon. However, the ability of these crystals to enhance the force has been reduced over the course of ten millennia to being only a moderate increase in general force abilities. The inclusion of the life force of the sacrifices which were sealed into each crystal act as a one-time method of regaining the stamina required to call upon the force, but does not increase the wielder's ability to utilize it - an example being the wielder tired to exhaustion and then utilizing the life force of the deceased sacrifice within to then rejuvenate themselves to a passable degree of stamina with greatly reduced fatigue.
Because these crystals were also bathed in a witch alchemist's (Braith's) blood basin prior to having the life force of the sacrifices trapped in each crystal there is a blood trail on each one, which would theoretically allow the goddess to eventually seek each one out - though their worth to the goddess had never truly been great, simply a means of displaying her abilities to her followers. Theoretically these might also be used as a secondary crystal in a lightsaber, though they would provide absolutely no benefit to the lightsaber itself without further tampering with alchemy, which may release the life force contained and completely undo the force-enhancing benefits if not performed by someone who knows exactly what they are doing, such as a master-tier alchemist or Braith herself, and even then there is a risk of having absolutely all the benefits present without tampering removed.
Disclaimer: This does not mean that an apprentice utilizing this crystal will be able to produce master-tier effects, or that a master-tier character might become far more powerful than others, simply that it provides a modest enhancement to the quality of the force used as the wielder utilizes it.
Note: The woman referred to in the description is Braith.
Primary Source: (Please link the source of another writer's submission that you are modifying for your use; only necessary for "Chaos Canon" submissions)
