Stellarchiac Jewels

The Stellarchiac Jewels were twelve pre-Break magical artefacts believed to have been created by the pre-Breaking Trevultines as signs of temporal authority and focuses for astrological energy necessary for working the highest levels of magic possible. For the most part, they are considered to be legendary items only, in that most of them have not been located since the Ancient Breaking, though the few that continue to exist lend credence to the supposed existence of the others. Like much of magic, the power of the Stellarchiac Jewels is tied deeply to the Zodiac and other astrological forces on Colmaris. The name is a reference to the Stellarchs, ancient heirophant-monarchs believed to have been world leaders before the Breaking.

Artefacts the like of the Stellarchiac Jewels are considered impossible to reproduce by even the most learned of modern scholars. Though the materials of their craft are known, almost all contain either impossibly large quantities of those materials or were worked by crafts whose secrets have since been lost. All of them are primarily composed of some form of processed or artificially-created Stellated Phosphorite.

In addition to their own immediate powers, legend holds that the Stellarchiac Jewels have powerful effects that can control the fates of entire nations at once. It is believed, for example, that the Trevult Empire owes its military primacy to Emperor Joachim both pocessing and being the rightful master of the Cabochon of the Judge.

Known-Extant Stellarchiac Jewels

The following Stellarchiac Jewels are known to have survived the Ancient Breaking and remain in the custody of a known party:

• The Cabochon of the Judge, which is tied to the sign of The Scales and other yellow stars, is known to have survived the break and is considered the most precious of all the crown jewels of the Trevult Empire. To that end it is considered a personal posession of Emperor Joachim through his position as the monarch, and through him is an heirloom of House Volta. It is a large cabochon of blue mineral shot through with an impossibly fine tracery of gold wire.
• The Carsine Ascelpius is a staff of blue mineral which is wound around with a snake wrought from electrum. Some three and a half feet long, it is an ancient symbol of authority now held by the government of the New Colmaris republic, and is considered a badge of office of their President in Congress. It is closely associated with the Crab.
• The Twinned Mirror is a polished mirror made from a rich, ultramarine form of stellated phosphorite, held in a bronze body. Under normal use it shows no reflection save for the glare of nearby light, but it is said a user proficient in its use can exploit it to a variety of divinatory effects. The mirror is an ancient relic held within the Feng Empire by religious officials and used in several state empires including the coronation of their own emperor. Unsurprisingly, this is associated with The Twins.
• The Heart of the Ocean is a large and perfectly trapezohedral figure made from Stellated Phosphorite - a mode in which the crystal does not naturally occur. It is known to slowly pulse with its own light, visible only in otherwise perfect darkness. The stone is held as a sign of of the authority of the Sultanate of Gerb, where it was found during Deepsky Condensate Harvesting early in the Age of Rediscovery. This is most strongly associated with the sign of the Waters.
• The Virginal Crown is a religious artefact and headdress maintained by the Greatwinds and their religious leaders at the Temple of the Innocent in Lisan, the largest of the Greatwinds settlements. Usually kept hidden under lock and key, the crown is only brought out of its reliquary when the Greatwinds feel the need to appoint a Marshal of Wars, at which point it becomes that figure's badge of office. By all accounts ancient and modern it is the "smallest" of all the jewels, as the portion made of Stellated Phosphorite is no more than a fair-sized emerald-cut piece that rests at the center of the forehead of the wearer. The artefact is strongly associated with the Maiden, though the exact provinence is split depending on the source.

The Lost Stellarchiac Jewels

There are five additional Stellarchiac Jewels that are both well-attested to exist and of unknown resting place. It is possible they were destroyed in the Ancient Breaking or remain irretrievable in the Underworld.

• The Cabochon of the Bull, which is tied to the Bull, was a shield with a large cabochon at its center which was once associated with the Trevultine noble house House Bergeron. The metal of the shield itself was unknown, documented only to be "light as wood and stronger than steel" and "of shining iridescence". The artefact appears several times in the histories of House Bergeron and is occasionally referenced in other house histories but disappears from the historical record some time before the First Skies War.
• The Baguette of Forces is another gem-cut example of a Stellarchiac Jewel, associated with the Ram, bloodshed, and warfare. The jewel is referenced in various historical treatments, usually as one of the earliest Stellarchiac Jewels created (or, according to some scholars, discovered). Various weapons are attested to have been created with the Baguette at its center, acting as a source of magical energy for the weapons thus designed. No example of it nor a machine made to utilize it has been recorded since the Ancient Breaking.
• The Celestial Arrowhead is unsurprisingly associated with the Archer, and much like the Baguette of Forces, it is strongly associated with warfare. Unlike the Baguette of Forces, whose mythology surrounds weapons capable of destroying whole cities at once, the Celestial Arrowhead is associated with individual combatants, usually as a token of divine favour or as a weapon used to fell a single, otherwise invincible foe. According to legend it was used to assassinate the Last Ground King and presumably is still to be found in the Underworld.
• The Net of the Fishermen is associated with the School, and features heavily in the religious mythology and symbolism of the Greatwinds, though they believe the artefact to have been lost. It supposedly took the form of a great net with beads of mineral around its edge, which could be used in manner alike to a casting net. According to the Greatwinds, the School granted the use of the net to the Maiden, who used the artefact to entrap the Scorpion before it could finish destroying Colmaris.
• The Broach of the Immovable is a large, baguette-cut Stellarchiac Jewel supposedly to be worn as a broach or cloakpin, which is strongly associated with the Goat. The legendarium posits it as the magical antidote to both the Baguette of Forces and the Celestial Arrowhead in that it can confer strong protective effects to either a single wearer or, if used correctly, entire kingdoms. Its whereabouts at the time of the Ancient Breaking, and therefore its ultimate fate, are entirely unknown.

The Supposed Stellarchiac Jewels

There are two Stellarchiac Jewels without sufficient evidence to confirm the reality of having ever existed as they appear only in one ancient treatise on the subject of the jewels.

• The Mantel of God-Kings is a jewel deeply associated with the Lion, the exact form of which is unknown. Given its name, it is probable that the object has been worked into a headdress or badge of office similar to the Virginal Crown. According to the texts, the Mantel of God-Kings was created by an unknown Stellarch to confer ultimate authority to themselves or another, in order to place them above the influence of (or perhaps even in command of) the other Stellarchiac Jewels.
• The Seal of the Great Lie is another jewel, this one deeply associated with the Scorpion. It is believed to have been a loose gem cut and difficult to work with as it contained a flaw rendering it so dark as to appear to be a flat, black tile when viewed from any angle, meaning you could only infer the shape from turning it over in your hands and making observations about the way the shape changed. If it ever existed, it supposedly only did so in order to entirely subvert the authority of the Mantel of the God King.