Bluefang and Sky-Smile: On the Secret Purpose of Welkynd Stones

First Adjunct,

I am humbly requesting a paltry sum of fifty thousand Septims for magical research related to welkynd stones. As is customary, I have outlined below the necessity of this expenditure as well further information on my request, which relates to the abuse of welkynd stones.

Welkynd stones have long been known and valued throughout Cyrodiil for their magickal capabilities. The Wild Elves had a penchant for building parts of their cities underground, where the light of Aetherius does not reach. For this reason, and staying underground for extended periods of time could lead to vastly decreased magicka reserves. For this reason, the glowing blue crystals are though to have served a dual purpose as both a source of light and magicka.

However, welkynd stones were known to have served a third, more sinister purpose. Through the use of Destruction magic and a curious stone armature, the welkynd stones could be heated and coaxed into smoke and then inhaled. The stone armature resembles a three-legged spherical oven with a stem coming from the side. A welkynd stone is placed inside, and then the user stands in front of the armature, places his or her mouth upon the stem, and uses a simple fire spell to heat the armature before inhaling deeply. By smoking the crystals, the Ayleids were able to utilize a variety of effects.

The immediate effects were a sense of invulnerability and dramatically increased magickal reserves and aptitude. Those who smoked the crystals found themselves suddenly capable of incredible feats of wizardry, some of which may account for the ferociousness of Ayleid armies. Over time the smoking of welkynd stones became used by the warrior caste to increase their prowess in battle. Those who inhaled the welkynd stones were immediately identifiable, as their teeth began to take on a distinctive metallic blue cast. For this reason, those who inhaled the smoke of the stones were known as “Sky-Smilers,” “[those who have] Kiss[ed] Meridia,” and “Bluefang.” The wartime effectiveness of those with the blue teeth was not only due to raw power, but also because of the curious ability to communicate spontaneously and verbally with other sky-smilers, regardless of distance. This strange effect allowed for a level of militaristic cohesion that has yet to be seen again.

The potency of the stones was also incredibly destructive to the user. Indeed, a common punishment in the days of the Ayleid Empire for rebellious slaves was to force them to smoke a welkynd stone; the anatomies of men are less inclined for magickal abuse, and would almost always result in an immediate, luminous, and explosive death. Ayleid sky-smilers would develop extreme addiction and dependency, not unlike what we see with the modern skooma drinker. Besides the characteristic blue teeth, users would also develop a lilac tone to the veins and skin, an unusual shaking in the eyes, and necrosis of the fingertips. Besides the physical degradation, repeat users would also develop mental and emotional instability, making them incredibly hazardous to themselves and others. Repeat use led to a build up of magicka in the individual, which resulted in a loss of magickal faculties; veteran bluefangs would often accidentally shoot fire from their hands while reaching for an mundane object, rapidly vacillate between invisibility and clarity, accidental self-immolation, or soul-trapping those around them. It is theorized that Wendelbek was used as an asylum for bluefangs, allowing them to live out the last the few miserable years of their lives without harming the average Ayleid citizen.

Strangely, the blue teeth of the sky-smilers do not seem to be subject to the decomposition process, lasting even longer than bone. Even today adventurers still sometimes find these teeth in Ayleid ruins without remains of any kind to indicate their macabre origin. For this reason, the teeth are often mistaken for being fragments of broken welkynd stones. Throughout history, these teeth have had varying levels of value and fashionability; during the Alessian Rebellion, for instance, the teeth were often strung into a necklace of sorts and worn as a trophy of successful liberations. Around the time of Tiber Septim, this unorthodox jewelry enjoyed a brief revival amongst the wealthiest echelons of the Imperial City’s citizenry. The notoriously vicious Bretonnic hedge-mage-turned-warlord Jura Durach infamously lined his macuahuitl with these teeth, leaving anyone unwise enough to cross him with burning, caustic wounds which conventional Healing magicks were said to be unable to treat. Durach’s strange, glimmering thaumaturgical tattoos were rumored to have been applied with Ayleid incisors, although this is unconfirmed.

The teeth, however, were not the only thing left behind after the death of a sky-smiler. Smoking the stones also led to a crystalline mass building up in the lungs of the user, a substance often known as Lung-Salt. The Lung-Salt was a popular magickal narcotic amongst the nobility of Bravil in the Third Era, and the Salt Craze of the Nibenanese counties made the rare substance even more sought-after. The Lung-Salt, being a unity of flesh and solid magicka, is my primary interest.

It is my firm belief that the Synod obtaining an amount of Lung-Salt could yield answers about the mysterious school of Flesh Magick. The Sixth School has long been whispered about, but we are now in position to engage in groundbreaking research; I have found an amount of Lung-Salt available for purchase for a mere fifty thousand Septims. If welkynd stones could power legions of magical madmer, imagine what we could with the Salt. The answers that could potentially be gained by experimenting with the Lung-Salt could result in the officiation of the Sixth School, a School of Magicka owned exclusively by the Synod.

Please consider my request, First Adjunct. I have done as you asked, and I believe that it is only fair to grant me this. Last Frostfall you granted Gregorious nearly ten thousand Septims to study mudcrab domestication; surely fifty thousand is not too much to ask?

Through Magic We Are Freed,

-Third Attendant Tertullian Falx