Glass Needles

TThe Glass Needles of Tarshish are monuments to the Malika of Saba's conquest of the Nagarajya. During the invasion, she used these arcane devices to unleash hordes of glass constructs in support of her forces. She originally possessed nine of these obelisks, but seven were destroyed by resistance fighters. The two surviving needles now stand in the courtyard of the Malika's palace in Tarshish, visible to all who pass. Since the invasion, they have been deployed only once: during the Abna Suhq Rebellion, when a glass needle vanished from the courtyard and reappeared in the harbor at Hanish, releasing its deadly payload upon the rebels.

A Glass Needle is an obelisk of multicolored glass rising nearly seventy feet high. Its surface is etched with branching, interwoven patterns along the seams where the colors meet. From within, the needle glows with thousands of tiny, shifting lights. To the unknowing, the sight inspires wonder at their beauty; to those who understand what lies inside, the restless sparks are a source of dread.

When a needle is deployed in battle, its panels open, and the lights stream forth like bees from a hive. Each spark is bound within a tiny glass creature - most often insects and arachnids - which swarm in every direction, stinging, biting, and harassing the defenders. Their stings carry a strange venom: glass splinters begin to form at the wound, growing and then shattering inside the victim's body. Razor shards slice the victim apart, while the remaining splinters lie dormant as seeds awaiting new hosts. Anyone who accidentally cut themselves on one of these shards would fall prey to the same fate, the cycle repeating again and again.

The only way to halt the process was to destroy the Needle that birthed the swarm. After each battle, the Malika commanded her constructs to gather the surviving shards. Some whisper that she keeps them in reserve, awaiting the day they are needed once more. Occasionally, glass constructs are spotted in the vicinity of the Burj Alhikma, and some believe that the enchanted shards were instrumental in the creation of the Glass Shadows as well.