Power in the Stones
Or
Description
The value of the wyrdstone shards is not
simply the coin that nobles and
merchants are willing to pay for them. It is a
well-known fact that the stones are rich in
magic, and they are said to grant a variety of
powers to those that learn to use them. Tales
are told among the common folk of stones
that caused a certain farmer’s harvest to
double, or of the stone that made old Herr
Grutenbauer's dog speak like a man. True or
not, these tales hint at the powerful and
chaotic forces at work in the stones. The most
common use for the stones’ magic has to do
with the discovery of the famed alchemist van
Hoffman of Reikland. It was he who first
observed that Wyrdstone can serve as a
catalyst in the transmutation of base metals
into gold. This usage of the stones has come
to be the primary obsession of those who seek
it, for many are willing to pay princely sums
for stones that will make them an even larger
fortune. Yet there are those who continue to
seek the stones for their more arcane
uses, and even mercenaries have
been known to keep a stone
or two that was thought
to bring luck, healing,
or other magical
benefits.
Yet the stones
are ultimately
the work of
Chaos, and
those who
seek to
use
them
often
learn
to
fear their magic rather than harness it. For
every tale of a harvest that doubled, there are
two about the harvests that rotted in the field
when exposed to the strange glow of the
stones; and for every tale of a dog that learned
to speak like a man there are darker tales of
animals that turned into a gruesome parody of
a man-beast. The tales of magical healings are
mixed with many of mutation and death
brought on by exposure to the stones. Yet
greed is the downfall of many in the City of
the Damned, and the greed for power is
perhaps the greatest of all...
Note: Witch Hunters, Sisters of Sigmar,
Bretonnians, High Elf Shadow Warriors and
Dwarfs are all too aware of the corrupting
power of the stones, and will not make use of
them under any circumstances.