The Pact Shard
The Pact Shard is the specific moon fragment used in the First Moon Ritual � the stone the First Voice held when Yssara spoke for the first time. It is small, cracked down the middle, and still radiates more energy than fragments ten times its size. The Tide-Weavers recovered it from a submerged scriptorium and immediately stopped selling their most lucrative finds to avoid suspicion. It is the most important object in Northern Velkaris, and almost no one knows it exists.
It looks like nothing. That is the first thing anyone says when they see the Pact Shard. It is small � smaller than a Grade 3, closer to a Grade 2 in size. It fits in a closed fist with room to spare. A crack runs down its center, not quite clean, as if the stone was struck by something that did not have the force to break it but had every intention of trying. And it hums. The hum is not sound. It is vibration, felt in the bones of anyone within ten feet. The Tide-Weavers who recovered it described the sensation as standing near a low waterfall � a constant pressure, a presence that you stop noticing after a while, but that leaves you feeling hollow when you walk away. The shard resonates with Yssara. Speak her name in the same room, and the crack in the stone glows � a deep, pulsing silver that matches the rhythm of a heartbeat. The Tide-Weavers have learned not to speak her name near it. The shard was found in a submerged scriptorium on the edge of the Sunken Quarter � a building that had collapsed into the water during Greyvast's fall and remained untouched for decades. The Tide-Weaver who found it was looking for Grade 4 fragments, not history. She brought up the shard in a standard salvage bag, logged it as Grade 2, and moved on. It was only when the quartermaster noticed that the stone would not stop glowing that anyone realized something was wrong. The Tide-Weavers have kept the shard secret. They stopped selling their highest-grade fragments. They redirected salvage operations away from the scriptorium site. They told no one why. The Pale Dominion has heard rumors � they always hear rumors � but they do not know the shard exists. If they did, they would stop at nothing to recover it. The First Moon Ritual's original fragment, in the hands of a merchant guild that values profit over prophecy, is the kind of irony that the Arch-Seers would burn a city to correct. The shard currently sits in a lead-lined box in a locked room in a building that does not officially exist, somewhere in the Tide-Weavers' quarter of the Sunken Quarter. The box has three locks. Two keys are held by Tide-Weaver captains who do not know what they are guarding. The third key does not exist � the lock was welded shut before the box was closed. If the shard is ever needed, the box will have to be cut open, and whoever cuts it open will feel the hum for the first time, and they will understand why the Tide-Weavers have not sold the most valuable object in Northern Velkaris. They are afraid of it.
Connections
- used-in → The First Moon Ritual (event)
- secretly-held-by → The Tide-Weavers (faction)
- resonates-with → Yssara of the Shattered Moon (god)
- desperately-seeks → The Pale Dominion (kingdom)
→ Attributes
- Size
- Small � approximately Grade 2 size, fits in a closed fist
- Appearance
- Dull grey stone with a single crack running down its center. The crack glows silver when Yssara's name is spoken nearby.
- Energy Output
- Disproportionately high � radiates more energy than fragments ten times its size. The cause of this anomaly is unknown.
- Resonance
- Vibrates at a frequency that can be felt in the bones within 10 feet. The vibration intensifies during the lunar cycle and when Yssara's name is spoken.
- Location
- Secretly held by the Tide-Weavers in a locked lead-lined box in an unmarked room. Three locks, two key holders, one welded shut.
- Known To
- Only the inner council of the Tide-Weavers knows the shard's true nature. The Pale Dominion suspects its existence but has no proof.