Magical objects?

[Tom]

Blehh. So I have a magical object in my story. It comes in around the end, when it's revealed to be the cause of recent natural disasters such as earthquakes and lightning storms. The object belongs to an extinct branch of the Vazkyrohk culture, which was governed by warlocks. These warlocks used mathematics to create objects designed to amplify magic. Over the centuries they've lain dormant, some of these objects have become corrupted by stagnant magic and are dangerously unstable when used.

I can't figure out what the objects look like, or how they function. I was thinking a metal cube with a lodestone suspended in its center (magic in this universe is connected to the magnetic field of the earth), with carved channels amplifying the magic. Would it make sense for the object to have to be used in a special room (one carved with the same channels), to make it even more powerful? For plot purposes, it needs to be non-transportable.

I don't know, I'm just really stumped on this one. I feel like some input would help me organize my thoughts.

 

[Saigonnus]

That same idea placed on an obelisk? Anything that weighs several tons is pretty much not moveable. Maybe it has runes about the base and is in a spot along a fey line... where the fields overlap a little.


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[Chessie]

If it needs to be non-transferable, how about the objects being rendered unusable if they're taken out of a particular vicinity, like the rooms they're found in?

 

[ThinkerX]

'Amplifies magical forces.'

'Responsible for earthquakes and lightning storms.'

Ok, some area's are far more prone to earthquakes or lightning storms than others. Think fault lines, volcanoes, colliding climate areas. Each of these phenomena represents natural power, which in many systems translates t magical power. Hence -

Your ancient warlocks specifically sited and 'tuned' these devices to exploit those forces. Remove them, and the link is broken. Also, given just how destructive earthquakes, lightning storms, and the like are, these artifacts are likely massive monuments in their own right.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

Lightning and fault lines branch, so I was thinking so thing tree shaped would work. A diamond shaped crystal inside a sphere or cube is an option. Perhaps a type of fractal is the shape you want. Here are a few simple ones, you can search for ones more complex.

 

[Tom]

If it needs to be non-transferable, how about the objects being rendered unusable if they're taken out of a particular vicinity, like the rooms they're found in?

This exactly what I was thinking. In this case, the object only works in the chamber in which it was found.

'Amplifies magical forces.'

'Responsible for earthquakes and lightning storms.'

Ok, some area's are far more prone to earthquakes or lightning storms than others. Think fault lines, volcanoes, colliding climate areas. Each of these phenomena represents natural power, which in many systems translates t magical power. Hence -

Your ancient warlocks specifically sited and 'tuned' these devices to exploit those forces. Remove them, and the link is broken. Also, given just how destructive earthquakes, lightning storms, and the like are, these artifacts are likely massive monuments in their own right.

The culture that produced these objects lived in a mountainous region that sat on a fault line, and the warlocks noticed that their magic was stronger along the fault line. Magic itself tends to radiate outward from fault lines in ley lines, creating a network across continents. The objects were created to harness this power, and were so powerful that they became destructive. The warlocks who made them were exiled, and most of the objects destroyed along with their plans. However, a few survived, and until now were forgotten. So yes, these are VERY powerful objects.

Lightning and fault lines branch, so I was thinking so thing tree shaped would work. A diamond shaped crystal inside a sphere or cube is an option. Perhaps a type of fractal is the shape you want. Here are a few simple ones, you can search for ones more complex.

Fractals! That's genius! I really wasn't feeling the whole lodestone thing, so this is really helpful. Crystals cut into fractals are perfect.