The Eari Stones are magical "eggs" which absorb and trap magical energy. The artifacts were made from a powerful substance called demon glass, which comes from the scorched blood of the great cosmic vorwyrm Dekilia.
Creation
They came into being following the Meralian Accord when the rulers decided to embark upon the Great Purge, which was a collaborative effort to rid the world of magic altogether during the time of the Befores. The entire remaining spellcasters of the Eari sacrificed themselves to create (obtain and demonstrate) the stones, which were then used to hunt down all remaining magic users. There were 8 stones crafted, one to represent each of the sentient races in existence at the time. The eight races:
- attawa
- drendivar - dwarves
- helimer - merfolk
- humans
- inar - elves
- jrel
- meninar - half-elves
- molordyn - giants
These stones were then placed under the stewardship of the Tal Calar, or the Sacred Eight, for safekeeping and to wield their powers. Instructions were left by the Eari as to their usage, which were called the Codex Antifexa. Prior to the return of Atury, only two stones remained, known only to the Dabimbula of the Attawa people, and to the Vurg. The rest were lost, all believed to be located on the other continent.
The Stones
The 8 stones were distributed thus:
- Dwarf-stone - housed in the Hall of Deranon after the Purge, then in Wulgár's Maze
- Giant-stone - taken to Ranat
- Attawa-stone - taken to Morin
- Jrel-stone - housed in Gell
- Inar-stone - given to the humans and to be kept in Meralia, this stone was somehow stolen by Atury
- Meninar-stone - given to the humans, used against Atury; lost within the Vault of Wonders at the Shrine of Tesh by Saent Dothen
- Helimer-stone - given to the dwarfs and kept in Krenvia
- Man-stone - housed in Gadonia and stolen by the Meninar; located on Vir
Kobuka's Egg
The Attawa race is the only one still maintaining the tradition of the Tal Calar. It is in possession of the last remaining Eari Stone in the known world (as the Vurg's home of Vir is considered beyond the known world). The others were lost to antiquity. The Attawa call it Kobuka's Egg, and it is protected by a guardian called the Dabimbula. They believe the Egg has unimaginable powers. Only the Dabimbula knows the true nature of the artifact, and the secret is always passed down to the next guardian.
Procedure
The Stones worked by latching onto magical energy expended by sorcerers or ambient energy. This is why wraighs were used in conjunction with the stones. These creatures served two purposes; one was to sniff out any being with a high level of fex. The other was to attack the target, effectively making them "bleed" magic so that the stone could begin extracting it, killing the target.
Limitations
Plantlife
The Stones, by nature, would soak any magical energy that was in uncontained. While they could absorb this from magical plants, the plants would have to be destroyed first. In this case, the limitation wasn't from the stones themselves, but in the detection process. Wraighs, for reasons unknown, would not attack inanimate objects. Because destroying these was not part of the mission, plants were left alone.
Other Magic
Certain items, such as enchanted objects, could not be leeched by the stones unless they were first activated, releasing the magical energy. As long as these objects remained intact, they could be placed and used, such as for temporary protection. This fact was most famously employed by King Wulgár of Maldenon during the construction of the massive multilevel labyrinths beneath the Hall of Deranon. He ordered scholars to transport rune-laden stonework to offer an additional layer of protection to the project.
If a magical object was detected by the wraighs, Tal Calar made arrangements and the relics would be collected. An attempt would be made to activate an artifact so that the magic could be drained. Those that could not be activated would be locked away inside a vault at Castle Lakenbrad until everything was relocated to what is now known as the Vault of Wonders as a result of the Time of Decay.
Moontreaders
The Eari Stones can only access magical energy in the Material Lay. Because of this, the elves which had the ability to access the Moon Lay, who were known as Moontreaders, tried to escape there to avoid the Purge. These treaders stayed too long in that plane and became trapped there, unable to return to the Material world except as Nightwraiths. This was leveraged in the standoff with Atury, who used two nightwraiths to steal the inar stone while he opened the gateway from within a cavern to avoid detection.