There is one island in the world were It can be found, and in 1000 years of periodic war, siege and espionage, no nation or warlord has ever been able to wrestle control of the material from Ustjubai. Greystone is but one name – the Empire’s name – for the material. In Ustjubai itself, it is called Eagori. In Zhûrasca it is rather enigmatically referred to as Jhuska Toor, the Crow’s Speech. In any tongue, it is precious. By the Magi, it is called Runestone.
To the Emperor and the Khaja of Zhûrasca, the Runestone is a mystical foreign thing, so precious and rare that wars are fought to keep it’s influx regular. In Ustjubai, the stone has been revered since history began and rich tradition and protocol surround it’s mining, cultivation, refinement, use and distribution.
The Stone itself is made of the very stuff of the cosmos, or so the legend goes. It is the physical remains of the god Tsre for the Ustjubaji – the flesh of a god that gives one the powers of a god. The Stone can be used it two ways:
First, and most commonly, the stone can be inscribed with Runes that contain spells in the ancient tongue of creation. When grafted into weapons, armor and, most devastatingly, firearms, the stone releases the power of the spell inscribed on it and the material is consumed. Runescribes are very rare, but not as rare as Magi.Magi, for reasons unknown, are able to actually ingest the material. This gives them ability to cast spells spontaneously. Originally a coven in Ustjubai, the Magi have spread to every corner of the globe in secret sects, protected by the respective rulers as part of the trade agreement that keeps a trickle of Runestone coming in. Magi represent the religious elite of this world and the rare outsider that makes it into the Magi is privy to the very secrets of the Stone, and the power it contains.