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 ==== The Storm Crystals ====
-An oblong crystal the was implanted in the forehead of
-its victim.  It stretched from the top of the head to the bridge of the nose,
-withered the host body into a state of undead, and could not be removed
-without destroying the host (with Pelham being the sole exception).
+An oblong crystal the was implanted in the forehead of its victim.  It stretched
+from the top of the head to the bridge of the nose, withered the host body into
+a state of undead, and could not be removed without destroying the host (with
+[[Pelham]] being the sole exception).
+Originally, these crystals were called "Shadow Crystals" due to their dark,
+foggy appearance.  However, since these crystals have nothing to do with the
+[[Shadowlord]] or the Elemental Plane of Shadow, modern arcanists use the
+less-confusing term "Storm Crystals".
+==== Origin ====
+Centuries ago, an evil sorcerer was imprisoned, his soul pulled from his body
+and housed in a great, flawless crystal.  His presence darkened and tainted the
+crystal until it took on a black, translucent color.  When the crystal was to be
+destroyed (thus permanently destroying the mage), he exerted his great will to
+hold it together.  While he was unable to escape his prison, he did succeed in
+maintaining the integrity of his soul, despite the fact that the crystal was
+shattered into hundreds of shards.
+The heroes who imprisoned him realized that his soul remained intact, so they
+began destroying the individual shards.  They soon discovered, though, that when
+one shard was destroyed, the mage's soul fragment slipped into the remaining
+shards.  If they continued destroying the shards, they would only concentrate
+his power and risk his release.
+Thus, with no access to sufficient arcane skill, it was decided to separate and
+protect the shards in the hopes that they would never again be joined together.
+==== The Storm Cloud ====
+Late in the eleventh century, [[Pelham]] unconvered one of the shards and, after
+experimentation, discovered it could be used as a focus for certain evil magics.
+[[Pelham]] devised a plan to summon [[Hades]]' [[storm cloud]] and expand it to
+subdue [[Lowland]] and perhaps [[Backbone]].
+When the [[Dark Mage]] emerged, he forced [[Pelham]] to hand over the shard.  In
+his own twist of [[Pelham]]'s plan, he gathered together most of the remaining
+shards.  It was for this reason that he constructed the [[Sympathetic Search
+Device]].
+As he found the shards, he placed them in the towers around the world.  Though
+he never uncovered all of the shards, he did construct several detaild maps
+which pinpointed the locations of the shards he had not found.
+==== Pelham's Quest ====
+After the fall of the [[Dark Mage]], his maps fell into [[Pelham]]'s hands, who
+then gathered most of the crystals into his possession (except those that were
+not originally found by the [[Dark Mage]]).
+^ Crystal disposition: ^^^
+| In towers at one time  |  43 | (see below for detail) |
+| Uncovered, but never used  |  21 | ([[Pelham]] does not have) |
+| Never uncovered  |  76 | (only 38 remain) |
+|  Total |  **140** | |
+|  Destroyed "recently" |  5 | |
+|  Destroyed long ago |  38 | |
+|  Remaining |  **97** | |
+^ Current status of the 43 tower crystals: ^^^
+| |  25 | in [[Pelham]]'s hands from towers |
+| |  1 | in [[Sethar]]'s possession |
+| |  6 | destroyed ([[Backbone]], Spire, [[Bearly]], [[Pleven]], [[Larinday]], [[Lendore]]) |
+| |  11 | still in towers (all on the Northern Continent) |
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