On the Study of Nanoriens, vol I
by Yenith Scaithe
In this, the first of
our series dealing
with nanoriens, we
shall endeavor to
explain thier origins.
That is, where they
can most readily be
found, if one can use
the word "readily
found" and nanorien in
the same phrase. Our
later works, perhaps
several volumes
worth, will focus on
other topics relavant to
this most illusive of
magical aids.
Chapter 1:
Finding the Heart
Certainly, the thought
of doing combat with a
daemon, let alone
purposefully tracking
them down for an
encounter, is not
among the pass times
of even the most
seasoned adventurers.
However, the
daemons oft
summoned by magical
conjuration are
wise enough to leave
thier hearts in safer
places. One must seek
these creatures out
where they dwell, so
as to gain the treasure
of thier existance
more readily.
The harvesting of the
gem, these being
either green or red
depending on the social
staus of the daemon
(to be covered in our
next volume,
perhaps), is simple
enough. Found in the
chest cavity, more to
the center than one
might expect to
discover the human
organ, it is
approxiamtely fist
sized and rather small
proportionately for its
great stature. Several
reports describe it
being heart shaped,
even pulsing, though
other accounts have
described it as rather
undecernable from an
ordinary, though
admittedly large, gem
of quality.
Though there have
been claims of at least
one intrepid group
actually finding a
portal to hell iteslf, or
some plane akin to it,
and discovering a
nanorien suspended in
a pillar of dark light
as if for safe keeping,
whether placed there
by the daemon or
another, the accounter
was not certain. For
all our years of study
and first hand
experience, we have
never uncovered the
hiding place of such a
stone. Certainly, a
daemon hiding the
very vessel of its life
force would take the
utmost care in the
doing of it.
Chapter 2:
The Life Vessle
As most learned
scholars of the arcane
are aware, when a
daemon is slain on the
material plane, its
essance is not
destroyed. Daemons
are, after all,
creatures of several
forms.
If thier material form
is destroyed, thier
"spirit", if you will, is
sent back to thier own
plane of origin (be that
hell, a dungeon, or
some other). There,
they recuperate and,
in time, may
rematerialize on our
plane. This material
form seems to be a
combination of thier
own will power and
the aid of the mage
and/or daemon lord
who wishes them to
appear. But we
digress with a tangent
that could spawn a
whole 'nother
compendium.
However, if the
daemon's heart is not
within its own grasp,
it may be bent to
another's will and
made to serve the
master of the
nanorien. Luckily,
few know the
intricate and often
self destructive
rituals for binding a
daemon in this
manner. Thus, most
mages make do with a
temporary sevant.
However, if the
nanorien is itself
destroyed, the
creature is eternally
slain. Several
accounts outlining the
destruction of
nanoriens (though the
waste of such potent
items is beyond the
conception of this
author) state that the
deed often is
accompanied by a
rather deadly
explosion, as the
life force burtst forth
from its crystaline
shell. I assume
several overzealous
daemon slayers have
joined thier victims in
oblivion with this
killing stroke.
Chapter 3 :
Variations on the
Theme
One last thought that
might come to the
reader's mind before
we end this first
work, is what of the
halfbreed? Those
rare but pitable souls
who are the offsrping
of a human and
daemon union.
These creatures are
even more rare than
thier sires, for many
are killed as children
by superstitious, or
perhaps well
thinking, parents and
neighbors. Though
most are undecernable
from the rest of
humanity, the real
question as it pertains
to this work, must
certainly be whether
they too bear
nanoriens.
The answer seems
like all others of
genetics. Some do and
some do not. In the
legend of The Merlin,
born of a scorceress
and Incubus, there is
no accounting of such
a stone. Neither with
the shape shifter
Sylrusea of
Moonglow.
However, several of
our peers have
compiled credible
claims of halfbreeds
bearing
nanoriens...several
without out even
having been aware of
the fact.
In all cases of
nanorien bearing
halfbreeds, the facts
seem conveniently
regular. The
creatures do not have
pulses, but rather the
steady rushing of
blood through thier
veins. If cut open,
they do not die, even if
the nanorien is
extracted, which
might prove rather
beneficial in certain
circumstances.
However, besides the
threat of enslavement
as detailed earlier,
halfbreeds must
contend with another
trial.
Unlike daemon childer
born from an
incubi/succubi who
are then solely evil,
true halfbreeds
are like any human
babe, to be molded by
thier environment.
However, there
seems to be a hidden
bond to the daemon
parent (and we
suspect such is the
intent of the daemon
when choosing to
couple).
From the two cases
we have personally
researched, it seems
the child has one score
years to find its
deamonic sire and
destroy that sire's
nanorien. If not, the
sire will attempt to
slay its child and bind
the nanorien of the
child to its own, thus
gaining a slave on our
plane. The
unfortunate offspring
would then be a puppet
to the will of its
diabolical parent.
Why the span of 20
years is crutial to this
unwritten contract,
none have been able to
uncover. Enough to
say that it had been so
for both cases. Of
course, for this
binding of nanoriens
to take place, both
must be in the same
locale, perhaps even
touch physically.
Epilogue
So ends our first
volume of this most
auspicious series. It
is our hope that
future volumes will
be found equally
enlightening on the
harvesting and use of
these magnificent, if
somewhat dubious,
treasures arcana.
