The Celsium Sphere
"The sphere was not meant to endure. It was meant to end."The Celsium Sphere is rumored to be an ancient spherical orb of immense magical power. It is said to have been created in the southern empires to be used against an incredible adversary. Who or what this adversary is, seems to have been deliberately left out of the history books. The sphere itself was used to create an incredible amount of cold to defeat this enemy. However the sphere was not able to be turned off and continued to create cold and expanded it across the lands. The area was blanketed in ice and snow and changed the landscape forever. Inadvertently the Celsium Sphere was lost in this new frozen landscape and is said to continue to produce cold year after year, even to this day. These new icy lands are now known as the Winter Lands.
Appearance
The Celsium Sphere is described as a perfectly smooth orb of icy silver metallic hue, its surface devoid of markings, seams, or symbols, unnervingly flawless. Eyewitness accounts and ancient texts disagree wildly on its size. Some claim it is just over two feet wide, small enough to be cradled or transported in an enchanted cart. While others insist it is a towering monolith ten feet in diameter, radiating a cold so intense it causes freezes the blood of anything that approaches too close. Rumored observers often describe an eerie visual effect, the metallic surface seems to ripple with frozen light, like moonlight trapped in glacial metal, and at its core, if one dares to look closely, something writhes in slow, cold agony, barely perceptible beneath the surface."It was like staring into the eye of winter itself. Not the season, but the idea of winter. Cold that thinks."
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Although speculation runs rampant, no one knows how this fabled artifact is supposed to work. They don't even really know what types of magic were used in its creation. About half of the people believe it was created with cold or ice magic by some sort of Fro’ Igi and the other half claim that it had to be made with heat or fire magic by a Fira’ Gi. If one could discover the type of magic then perhaps the creator's name could be discovered as well or perhaps by knowing the type of magic used in its creation then its architects name could finally be known.
Manufacturing process
The manufacturing process for this ancient artifact still remains a great mystery that is even more difficult to determine without actual access to the sphere. So far no one has been able to find it in the frozen expanse.
History
The Celsium Sphere was created in the ancient southern empires during a time of crisis, forged to combat a now-forgotten adversary of unimaginable power. Upon activation, the Sphere unleashed a surge of unnatural cold so intense it devastated the land, freezing armies, cities, and rivers in mere days.
Though the enemy was defeated, the Sphere could not be deactivated. Its influence spread relentlessly, transforming the once-thriving region into a glacial wasteland now known as the Winter Lands. As the ice advanced, survivors fled, records were lost or destroyed, and the Sphere itself vanished beneath layers of frost and time.
Over the centuries, expeditions have sought the Sphere, hoping to control or destroy it, but none have returned. It remains a legendary relic, its exact location and nature obscured by fear, silence, and snow.
"The war ended, but the weapon marched on."
Significance
The Celsium Sphere is one of the most feared and enigmatic artifacts in Domen Aria. Its unchecked power reshaped entire regions, giving birth to the Winter Lands, a frozen realm of ruin and mystery. The sphere is believed to be a remnant of a lost age of warfare and magical innovation, possibly created to defeat an adversary so terrible that even its name was erased from history.
Its very existence challenges the boundaries of elemental magic, drawing debate between ice and fire magic traditions, and represents both the pinnacle of arcane craftsmanship and the devastating price of hubris. To some, it is a weapon, to others, a divine curse, and to a few, a potential source of limitless power waiting to be reclaimed.
“It is a legacy frozen in fear, a mistake that will never stop happening.”
Disputed Origins Of The Celsium Sphere
The true origin of the Celsium Sphere is lost to time, with scholars bitterly divided over its creators and purpose. One camp claims it was forged by the Fro’ Igi, a secretive order of ice elementalists, who shaped the Sphere as a weapon of ultimate frost, meant to imprison or extinguish a fiery foe beyond mortal comprehension. Others insist it was made by the Fira’ Gi, fire mages who paradoxically crafted the Sphere using advanced heat magic, forcing flame into a frozen state to create a cold so absolute it burned everything away. Some theorists argue that both factions may have been involved in a desperate collaboration, or rivalry, while others suggest the Sphere is older than either school, created by a forgotten southern empire whose knowledge vanished in the very ice it unleashed.“When fire and frost make a pact, the world trembles and the truth turns to mist.”
Item type
Unique Artifact
Current Location
Current Holder
Rarity
This is a unique one of kind artifact whose construction process has never been known.
Dimensions
Tales suggest that the sphere ranges in size from 2 to 10 feet in diameter. Because of this uncertainty, some have suggested that the sphere grows over time.
Raw materials & Components
All information related to the construction of this disastrous device has been lost to time.
Properties And Effects Of The Celsium Sphere
Perpetual Cold Generation: The sphere emits an unceasing wave of supernatural cold, freezing air, earth, and water within a wide radius. The cold intensifies the closer one gets, reaching deadly extremes near the core. Environmental Transformation: Over time, the sphere reshapes the surrounding environment, turning fertile land into tundra, summoning blizzards, and crystallizing entire forests. Mountains may develop glaciers where none existed before. Magical Resistance: The Celsium Sphere passively disrupts most heat-based and elemental fire magic within its vicinity, weakening or extinguishing such spells. Cold magic cast nearby becomes unpredictable, either empowered or nullified. Untraceable Core: Attempts to scry, divine, or locate the sphere by magical means fail. It is veiled by ancient wards or reality-warping cold. Psychic Disturbance: Prolonged exposure induces hallucinations, feelings of despair, and frost-induced madness, possibly side effects of a hidden entity or consciousness within the artifact.“It does not freeze you. It teaches the world how to forget warmth.”
The Lost Adversary
The identity of the foe the Sphere was made to combat has been redacted from nearly every recovered historical text. Several speculate it was a primordial entity of flame, whose death cry scorched the heavens. Some claim it was a demonic lord from a plane of embers, and others say it was an affronted Sun-God Spawn, exiled to the mortal realm. What remains are only cryptic lines:“To end fire, we birthed frost. And now frost remembers nothing but the ending.”
Rumors
It Grows: Some believe the Celsium Sphere is slowly increasing in size, absorbing ambient magic and heat to feed its expansion, perhaps even developing sentience. The Core Is Alive: Whispered tales speak of a trapped being, elemental, divine, or demonic, sealed within the Sphere, its anguish radiating as eternal frost. It Moves: Snow nomads claim the Sphere does not remain buried but drifts beneath the ice, like a leviathan, shifting its position every decade or century. Frozen Time: Explorers who get too close are said to become locked in time, encased in ice yet still conscious, frozen in a moment that never ends. It Can Be Claimed: Cults of both the Chillifiers and the Frostblood Order are actively seeking the Sphere. They believe that whoever finds and communes with the Sphere will become the favored of the god of cold. They race against the Sunguard and the Fireheart Covenant, who wish to destroy the Sphere.“It calls to those with frost in their blood and silence in their soul.”
Comments
Author's Notes
Rewritten for May-be 2025 Gold attempt.
Generic article
| Apr 26, 2025
May-be This Could Be Done Better
Unofficial May Challenge: Time to rewrite your old articles.