Midnight RPG - Chapter 10.61

This conversation takes place during the eight-hour rest break that fell in between our descent into the hole and the beginning of our trek down the root. Durgaz will approach Kyuad and Zal'Kazzir, either separately or together, and lead them back to Eranon.

Durgaz/ Andrew

Durgaz: "Nobody else is saying anything, so I will. We need to discuss what we plan to do once we are inside the Spire. If we have enough time to do anything.

"I don't know what your intentions are, Kyuad. I know even less of yours, Sarcosan. I do know some of Eranon's, and that is why I have come to you. Eranon believes that he can break the curse on this marsh from somewhere within the Spire, and that it may have some connection to an artifact called the Sunder Shard. But he knows nothing of spells or curses, and neither do I. We are hoping that you do.

"Eranon can tell you more, as he has already told me. But I would like to know your plans as well. Neither of you is planning to actively seek out or attempt an audience with Vrolk, I hope. I have no interest in meeting the master of this place, and some of the things you have said make me worried."

Kevin

• [A]: A question to consider... What is this "curse" that Durgaz is saying that Eranon believes can be broken? Are they speaking metaphorically or literally? Just a consideration for Kyuad and Zal'Kazzir.

• [A]: Bill... Assuming you would want to make a Lorebook check about this "Sunder Shard"...
  : ROLL: Kyuad (Lorebook +8) ROLLED: 18+8 = 26
  With this roll - Kyuad gains Obscure, known by few, hard to come by....

It is told that Vrolk travelled beneath the Spine of the World and back again with terrible artifacts and ideas to build his fortress of death. Hellish deals were made under the mountains, two of the most powerful artifacts he came away with were the Cadaverous Eye and the Sunder Shard. The Eye is all but unknown, however the Sunder Shard is said to have been the seem that grew the black tower in the Dead Marsh.

This Sunder Shard could possibly be from one of two origins, according to Kyuad's studies...

#1. The fact that the Vile gathered it from beneath the Kaldrune Mts. suggests that it is possible that it is related to the things that dwell in the deep... Many terrible things lay in the dark far below in the recesses between rock and Dwarven mines. Their is told tales of the Slumberer, a foul beast old as the mountain itself. It sleeps in the depths below the old city of Moria, feared even by the dark denizens that infest the ancient city buried in the ash and bone of the men of stone who died when the greatest Dwarven city fell. The Shard could be an artifact of volcanic means, a rock which is a type of naturally occurring glass, produced by volcanoes when a felsic lava cools rapidly and freezes without sufficient time for crystal growth. It is found only within the margins of felsic lava flows, where cooling is more rapid. The Slumberer Beneath the Spine of the World nests within this felsic lava flow and as it writhes in hate the Shard may have been formed. The Shard like basalt would be dark because of ferromagnesian enrichment. Obsidian is mineral-like, but not a true mineral because it is not crystalline. Its composition is very similar to that of granite and rhyolite. Because obsidian is metastable at the Aryth's surface. over time the glass becomes fine-grained mineral crystals), no obsidian has been found that is older than the pre-Sundering. If such a Shard were taken it conceivably could be magically worked to grow into such as thing as the black spike knows as the Obsidan Spire.
It is called "Sunder Shard" due to the fact that something that happened during or post-Sundering seemed to have made these mystical materials exist...

#2. A second educated theory would be that the Shard is somewhat less unique but equally as mystical. In difference this theory focuses on the Shard as Tektites (Elven for the Scar glass) which are natural glass objects, up to a few centimeters in size, which were rumored to have been formed by the impact causing the Scar in the Northern Marches when the Shadow fell. Tektites are obsidian shards produced by the lunar volcanic eruptions exposed on the Sundering, though few scientists are able to fathom this hypothesis. Tektites are among the "driest" rocks, with an average water content of 0.005%. This is very unusual, as most if not all of the craters where tektites may have formed were underwater/snow-ice before impact. This suggests that the tektites were formed under phenomenal temperature and pressure. An (unnoted) Sarcoson scientist's terrestrial-impact theory states that the impact melted material from Aryth's surface and catapulted it up to several hundred miles away from the impact site. The molten material cooled and solidified to glass. This impact theory states, tektites cannot be found everywhere on Aryth's surface. They are only found in strewnfields, which are associated with known impact craters. How it would have come to the Vile's attention from the peoples/things under the Spine of the World are unknown. Regardless this Shard would likely have similar makeup of the felsic shards noted above...
It is called "Sunder Shard" due to the fact that these materials seem to have been created as a direct result of the Shadow's fall to Aryth...