Tenvanord Bark

A clasp of the hands. A mote of arcane potential embedded into the dust. Then it glowed, bright. I think I've found a way to induce magical potential.
— Hidden journal of an arcane experimentalist.

Tenvanord Bark is a special bark with influence from the Fae Lands and Shadecrest that has ended up within a forest in the Daunka Province. It has been used as kindling for torches due to its ability to burn for a long time, emitting a mass of light, but some have discovered its darker potential.

Description

When first gathered, Tenvanord Bark is a deep void-like black and it seems to have speckles in it that form faux stars in the recesses of the bark. The inside core of the bark is a deep gray that seemingly is the antithesis of everything that is natural. This is often the form that Tenvanord Bark is when used as kindling. Some people have found that while in the presence of magic, Tenvanord Bark grows deep veins of multiple colors that sparkle with a strange and wild nature. This made some mages, particularly with links to the Veritas Convention, curious about what the effects would be if the bark was ground to dust. When done, the dust is a multicolor powder.

Tenvanord Bark

Historical Information

Plane	Material Plane (Nonvyrox) Fae Lands Shadecrest
Location	Daunka Province

Physical Properties

Type	Wood Bark
Color	Deep Black Gray
Properties	Humming Aura Veins when near Magic

Placeholder Flower by Owen Davies

Usage

The primary usage of Tenvanord Bark is as a kindling for torches. Many people have found that the tree can provide a torch that burns for longer than 8 hours from a small piece of bark. This is useful across the realms as it limits the usage of more scarce materials. Something that people noticed was that although the fire was orange, there were many of these torches with embers of a rainbow of colors, which made many people feel safe in the lights presence. Tenvanord Bark has also been found to be a potent salve, helping to heal wounds and scars more quickly than many other forms. When heated inside of boiling water, the salve turns a deep gray that almost is black. When placed on a wound, it seems to almost fade into the skin, disappearing within an hour, taking any scar tissue and wound alongside it.

When members of the Veritas Convention became exposed to the bark they found that the magical aura around the bark was similar in attunement to both that of Shadecrest and the Fae Lands. When they made the bark into a powder, they began to experiment to see if they could impose magical potential onto others. After a few successful attempts, Tenvanord Bark dust is held by several powerful recruiting members of the Convention to help guide new potentials. When transformed using the magic of Tenvanord Bark, a person finds that they either shift towards magic control shadows or chaos. Though it seems that if there is already a propensity towards magic, it enhances the connection. Regardless of what it does to the person's magic, there seems to be an element of dark wild magic that is intense for those who are able to survive.

Placeholder Flower by Owen Davies

History

Since 729 AR, people in the southern reaches of the Daunka Province have found the Tenvanord Tree and been curious about its usage. Local healers used the tree bark as a salve and discovered that its very good for healing those in their care. This wisdom passed north through the Province and eventually to the capital, where several scholars mounted a mission to discover the properties of the tree. They entered the forest and seemingly haven't come back, whether trapped in some form of planar teleportation or dead from a wild animal. After ten years of trying, locals were able to grow a variant of the tree away from its original forest. They also discovered that the bark burns for a long time after an unfortunate accident involving boiling some bark for a salve. As a result, it started to be farmed and harvested for use as kindling. This was then sent up across most of the Daunka Province as a more renewable resource. In 745 AR, members of the Veritas Convention discovered the magic imbuing properties of the bark and over the next 10 years, several of them experimented on different recruits and individuals. Their experiments led them to create some new pliable magic users, but also maimed and disoriented several individuals.