Vierstone, also known as Lifestone, is a complex and magical element that forms the foundation of the elven race. The elven prophets say that vierstone was the substance from which their god, Riu, created the elves. Few among the elves dispute this claim, as the four vierstone deposits of Faeran were also the original locations of the first elven settlements, and all elves by nature have eyes the color of the stone.
Vierstone is an element unto itself (it is not a compound) with a unique anatomical structure. Its surface is smooth and glossy, comparable to volcanic glass, and it exists only in shades of brilliant green.
A charge of energy runs through vierstone at a precise and consistent frequency—that is, the atoms of the element move in minute, hardly distinguishable jerks that flow through the structure in waves. This is the charge of life that gives vierstone its power and its influence over the elves.
When vierstone touches the skin of elves, its charge runs through the elves’ bodies, allowing them to connect with the ‘essence’ of materials of the earth: stone, metal, glass, gems, and other elves. It does not give them power over the earth, rather it enables them to better feel, see, and understand the already existing structure and nature of the world around them. The elves use vierstone’s current, often subconsciously, to reach into other substances. The current enters the material the elf is working and bounces back to the elf with information about the material’s structure and properties.
For example, an elf without vierstone may work a piece of metal as any human might, but with vierstone, that elf can see and feel the structure of the metal’s elements and compounds and behavior and use that knowledge to work the metal with much greater skill. The most skilled of elven crafters can learn to use this knowledge to influence the properties and behavior of materials, but the process is slow and difficult, and requires an incredible level of connection to the material the elf is working. An elf typically only develops this ability with one substance.
The elves are bound to the physical earth through vierstone. They cannot connect with organic materials of the earth in the same way as they can metal, stone, glass, and each other. Air, water, gaseous and nonmetallic materials, natural fire, plant matter, and animals are comparatively mysterious substances to the elves. Though the elves use and enjoy these materials and creatures in their daily lives, they do not understand the nature or chemical manipulation of organic substances.
Vierstone itself can be worked by elves, but this skill is rarer still. Vierstone masters are few among the elves, but invaluable in their skill to work the substance into city foundations and create the vierstone earrings that enable constant contact between the elves and vierstone. When working vierstone itself, an elf establishes a sort of relationship with the substance, deciding whether to lead its properties toward those of stone, metal, or glass. They must use an outside source of vierstone, such as an earring, to bend and pull the current of the vierstone they are working and to understand its physical structure well enough to make accurate cuts, melting, etc.
Elves also use the charge of vierstone to connect to one another. Vierstone serves as a conduit for the elves’ emotions, heightening individuals’ emotions and opening them to the emotions of others.
In close proximity to large quantities of vierstone—a quarry, or a city with vierstone in the foundations—the stone’s charge runs through the very air, and so physical contact is not necessary for the elves to feel its effects. The connection is still stronger, however, with physical touch. That is why all elves wear a vierstone earring.
Without the influence of vierstone, the elves’ connection to the earth and to each other fades. They lose their skill in crafting, their sensitivity to the world, the depth of their own emotions, and their ability to experience empathy and love—to feel and experience the emotions of those around them.
