Mithis Heartstone¶
"They are NOT made of Mithis. They OWN the Mithis." — Sancturi campaign notes, of the pieces of the Heartstone (S132)
Contested
This page is named in the open question Form and count of the Mithis Heartstone: three Fifth Age documents give the Heartstone a different form and number of pieces. The page follows the newest (S182) and sets out the others under Earlier accounts. The Spear of Radiance section also touches Anariel: dead goddess or the demigod Gwen'ariel, and the Dragon's Heart section touches Pravustiratel's death and the Cult of the Dragon.
The Mithis Heartstone is the divine object that owns Mithis. Whoever holds it, or enough of it, holds the key to the Mithis Astral Shard, and through that the power to restore the uncorrupted magic lost in the Hollowing. In the newest account it is not one stone but a set of Kalamite objects, each made for one of the gods of the Kalari and scattered among gods, demons and the lost places of the world. Asmodeus holds two of them, and his grip on the Mithis Plane rests on them.
Also called: the Worldstone Heart (S132, S138); the Astral Key (S142); the Mithis Heartstones, as if there were several (S143, S145). The Elysium Star is the oldest account's name for the piece kept by the clerics of Kalar (see Earlier accounts).
The parts¶
The latest notes describe the Heartstone as the Kalamite objects listed below, each named for its god (S182). The Kalamite Chestplate of the Rising Sun, the piece of Kalar, is the one that leads to the rest: once attuned, it "can ... be used to find the other parts of the Mithis Heartstone".
| Part | God | Last known |
|---|---|---|
| Kalamite Chestplate of the Rising Sun | Kalar | the vault beneath Alghert |
| Kalamite Axe of the High King | Khardas | Kahun'Darahl, held by Orcus |
| Kalamite Spear of Radiance | Orandos | Anariel, as Gwen'ariel among the wood elves |
| Kalamite Orb of Dominion | Arcantus | Vinias |
| Kalamite Helm of Truth | Quitas | Asmodeus |
| Ring of Air | Erolan | Asmodeus |
| Verdant Ring | Arya | an ascendant of Arya, in hiding |
| Ring of Water | Achelus | hidden in Er'Astia |
The same session notes list the Arcane Eye beside them as another Kalamite object, "Keystone to the Arcane Heart" (S182).
Gap
S182 does not say whether the Arcane Eye is itself a part of the Heartstone or a separate Kalamite relic, nor how the parts came to be made or divided. No source says what the full set does when brought together beyond granting the Mithis shard.
Kalamite Axe of the High King¶
The piece of Khardas, "lost somewhere in Kahun'Darahl. Possessed by Orcus, a Demon Prince ..., who doesn't realize what he has. He is suppressing it because it creates an unwanted hollow" (S182).
Kalamite Spear of Radiance¶
The piece of Orandos, "now in Anariel/Angwen's possession, who is living with the wood elves as the Demi-god Gwen'ariel" (S182). Anariel "uses the spear to destroy any threatening hollows and to 'bless' newborn elves (by removing any mithis blood). She will not part with it."
Kalamite Orb of Dominion¶
The piece of Arcantus, "possessed by Vinias. He also will not part with it under any condition" (S182).
Kalamite Helm of Truth¶
The piece of Quitas, "possessed by Asmodeus" (S182). With it and the Ring of Air he has a way into the Mithis shard, which is why the notes call the shard's access through the chestplate "dangerous".
Ring of Air¶
The first of "The 3 Rings", the ring of Erolan: "lost in the depths of the ocean, found by Asmodeus" (S182).
Verdant Ring¶
The ring of Arya, "possessed by an ascendant of Arya. She is in hiding in the jungles of ??" (S182).
Ring of Water¶
The ring of Achelus, "Hidden in Er'Astia" (S182).
Gap
The rings and the lesser parts are one line each in the source. Their appearance, powers and history are not described, and the ascendant of Arya and her jungle are unnamed.
The Astral Key¶
The Heartstone is an Astral Key: it "provides ownership of an astral shard" (S142), here the shard of Mithis. In the world-plot notes, "Asmodeus controls access to the Apotheosis of Arcantus, which is where you need to go with the Astral Key (Heartstone fragments) to claim ownership of Mithis. He tormented the Essence of Arcantus to discover the location" (S142). The essence of Arcantus is still in Acadia, and Asmodeus's hunt for the god's pieces is why he made "the overwhelming assault on Acadia (where 2 of his Ascendants lived)".
Holding a piece is not safe while Asmodeus can come for it. The notes' answer is that "ownership has to be given to someone, preferably an immortal which is difficult to kill, and then the key can be hidden", naming Vinias, Khardas or Arya as candidates (S142). A single piece in mortal hands "gives Arcane Magic back to the races in a limited fashion" (S142).
The Heartstone is not the only key sought. In the infiltrated Brotherhood of the Sun, "Sancturi agents are looking to destroy the legacy and for Astral keys. Asmodean agents are looking for the Mithis Heartstone and Astral keys. Eldritch agents are looking for Eldritch soul anchors and Astral keys" (S152). Astral keys in general are thus a class of relic, of which the Heartstone is the one tied to Mithis.
Gap
The Apotheosis of Arcantus is named only in S142, with no location. No source names any other Astral key.
The search¶
Asmodeus hides what he is looking for. "Asmodeus knows there are other pieces out there and that his hold on the Mithis plane is not as absolute as he would have everyone believe. He needs to search for it without telling anyone what he is searching for. He can't even have people know that Asmodeus is collecting meteorites ... This is why he has initiated a crusade to collect all non-mithis metals. His stated goal is to infuse all metal with Irathus and arm his Demonic Army" (S132).
An Arcane mage, Aggormaedes, recorded the same hunger in his journal. While trying to cleanse Mithis sources he was possessed, and he wrote down "the demon's total obsession with a Kalari artifact": "THE MASTER greatly desires it" (S142). Before he lost control he hid the journal, "sought out and hid the object and left clues only decipherable by priests of Kalar (using the Kalari holy language and Kalari references)", and destroyed his own memory so the demon could not find it (S142). The notes do not name the artifact, and give his date only as "410??".
The kingdom of Alghert "holds a secret: part of the Mithis Heartstone" (S181). The forces of Bhaal are making a Hollow around its vault to break in; see the chestplate.
Dragon's Heart¶
The other Kalamite object of the notes is the heart of the primal dragon Pravustiratel, "a crystal made of Kalamite" (S143). When the Dark Gods killed her, "They hid her Dragon's Heart and scattered her bones"; Necatus "possesses her dragon heart ..., which he took when he killed her. With the heart, Necatus could kill Pravus at any moment, though only a true God/Einar could pull it off (It would need to be taken to one of 3 Kalari creation sites). Destroying the heart would weaken Pravus, but not undo her existence" (S143). Reuniting her spirit, heart and body "is the ultimate goal of the Cult of the Dragon".
The heart and the Heartstone meet in Pravus's terms for alliance with Asmodeus. She asks that he "respect her Dragon's independance and ensure their Mithis blood streams are uncorruptible. (She wants one of the Mithis Heartstones)" (S143).
Seven Swords of Durnbar¶
Seven swords tied to the Heartstone. The campaign's plot list names, as a long plot line, "The Seven Swords of Durnbar (Mithis Heartstone)" with the note "Needs a lot more fleshing out, different stories for different kings" (S133). One is named: in the bastion kingdom of Ruathim, among the Riven Kingdoms, "The High Lord is rumored to wield Chasmatius, one of the Seven swords" (S319). Among the treasures of the Vault of the Ancients lie a "Map (dwarvish underdark route) & journal pages in dwarvish bundled together (seven swords??)" (S164, S163).
Gap
These three lines are all the text that survives. The sources do not say who or what Durnbar was, what the swords are made of, how they relate to the Heartstone's pieces, or who holds the other six. An image of the swords exists in the 2016 archive (S441) but has not been converted.
Earlier accounts¶
All of these are Fifth Age documents of the same campaign, a few months older than S182; they are why the page is contested.
Three pieces among three gods¶
S142 (2018-11-17): "The Mithis Heartstone was divided into three. Kalar, Ordandos and Arcantus each had a piece." Kalar "gave his to the Valnyr to help contain the archdemons (His was split into two. Asmodeus has one of these. The other was hidden)"; when the archdemons' prisons fell, the Last Valnyr "was able to escape and hide the other half of Kalar's heartstone. This heartstone, in principle, could be used to imprison an archdemon." Arcantus "divided his into 5 parts, holding the largest himself and gave the 4 others to his Ascendants"; god and Ascendants alike are now dead. "It is unknown what Orandos did with his (Anariel might be able to access his memories)."
The Worldstone Heart¶
S132 (2018-11-09), the oldest of the three, calls it the Worldstone Heart. Here the Heartstone is three pieces of a meteorite. "There were 3. They were recovered by the faithful after the Shattering and given into the keeping of the clerics of Kalar and Orandos." They "radiate no magic and only a Divine, a Seer or someone with Ethereal Vision could tell they are special. They appear as unusual metal. A metallurgist will tell you they are a meteorite made up many metals including iron, copper, silver, gold, platinum and nickel."
- Druidic piece: given by the Grand Archprefect of Kalar to the Druids to help imprison two archdemons; "Taken by Asmodeus. This is what has allowed him to take over defacto control of the Mithis Plane and bend it to his will. He has had it mounted into an object he wears."
- Kalari piece, the Elysium Star: held as a sacred relic by the clerics of Kalar, now lost. Its "last record of it was as The Elysium Star: to the clerics a literal piece of heaven and thought to be part of heaven manifest on earth (a piece of Elysium)."
- Orandos piece: hidden by Orandos. "Only the spiritual successor to Orandos, now the Fallen: Angwen may know (though she probably doesn't know that she knows)."
A fragment that makes clean Mithis¶
S145 (2018-11-16) sits in a folder the author marked out of date; S138 (2019-01-12) revises it. In the oldest Harwith plot a renegade Hollowlock holds "one part of one of the three Mithis Heartstones. He doesn't know what he has, but he knows its big since it creates non-hollowing Mithis fields around it": "this piece of rock here generates magic … an uncorrupted non-hollowing magic like what used to exist back in the days of wizards and magi" (S145). The revised Harwith start names him Thorstein, digging in "the ½ buried ruins of an old Kalari abbey ... to uncover another piece", and lists "Retrieve the Worldstone Heart" among the quests (S138).
The world-plot notes also float, as a "raw" idea, that "A Powerful Devil may have taken a piece for themselves and bargained their way into the Apotheosis to co-own Mithis" (S142).
In Play¶
Every holder named in the newest account is a god, a demigod, a demon prince or an archdemon, and the two who hold pieces openly, Anariel and Vinias, "will not part with it" (S182). Any search for the Heartstone runs into Asmodeus's agents, who are already inside the Brotherhood of the Sun (S152). The party's dealings with the Heartstone are in the Sancturi Campaign chronicle.