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The Gnarlrock is a large rock with transmutative properties, found in the Feywild.

Description[]

Appearance[]

The first shard of Gnarlrock that Bells Hells found is dull purple[1] and was embedded in a hollow metal pillar in the Underrush Mines.[2] It feels tingly to the touch.[3]

Gnarlrock shards were utilized by Ira Wendagoth as lighting in the hideout in the Hellcatch Valley that he shared with the Calloways. The shards were described as small, rough-hewn purplish stones that gave off a faint glow. All the greenery in the room seemed to be growing towards them.[4]

Properties[]

The Gnarlrock in the Feywild mutates the area around it into a "nightmarish" landscape.[5] Its origins are unknown, although there are many theories about how it may have come to be.[6]

Yu Suffiad stated that Bells Hells' gnarlrock was only a small piece of the original, and "everybody always ends up returning to it, for better or worse," but was unable to say what it does.[7]

History[]

Campaign Three: Bells Hells[]

Imogen removed a purple gem from the pillar in the mines using physical force as well as her telekinetic powers.[8] She later made an arcana check and felt that the rock wanted to change and improve her in some way, that it was unnatural, and that it did not want to let her go, but was unable to determine its exact nature.[9] She opened her mind to it and felt that it was in some way connected to the Feywild and the Nightmare King, and fell asleep cradling it.[10] That night, she had her recurring nightmare about a red storm, but in the dream, she was also clutching the stone. Within the dream, she found it comforting, as if it were offering "a different means of escape".[11] She woke to find herself in a different position, still cradling the stone. She expressed her concerns to Laudna, who bundled the stone in a cloak and tied it to her belt.[12] Later that morning, Fresh Cut Grass cast Identify on the stone and told the party that it was a shard of the Gnarlrock.[5]

During Bells Hells' journey from Heartmoor Hamlet to Jrusar, Fresh Cut Grass observed that while Imogen slept, she kept her hand near the pouch containing the shard.[13]

One night as Bells Hells traveled on the Silver Sun towards Bassuras, Laudna asked Imogen how she was feeling, and Imogen brought up that she felt comforted by the gnarlrock. Laudna asked if she could take a look at it, promising she wouldn't do anything to it, and Imogen reluctantly handed it over. Laudna was then overpowered by the spirit of Delilah Briarwood, who destroyed the gnarlrock, telling Laudna it was far too powerful for her and that she'd "taken care of it."[14]

In the Calloway Layaway, Birdie, who used to have a talent with plants, wasn't able to make anything grow properly until Ira brought fragments of gnarlrock that seem to give vitality to the vegetation around them. He, however, advised her to avoid touching the fragments.[15] Fearne stole two of the shards, giving one to Laudna by hiding it in her dolls' house. Imogen threw it across the room and destroyed it as soon as it was discovered.[16] However, Fearne slipped the other into Imogen's pouch, and Imogen kept that one, telling no one about it. She later placed it in Laudna's hands after Laudna died during the battle against Otohan Thull, offering it to Delilah Briarwood so that she might bring Laudna back, but retrieved it when the attempt failed.[17]

When waiting in Pike Trickfoot's home for the necessary preparations to be completed for the ritual to drive Delilah from Laudna's mind, Imogen gave Pike the stone. Imogen told Pike that Delilah had wanted it for some reason, and Pike said she would look into it. The stone presumably remains in Pike's possession.[18]

Trivia[]

  • Laudna has theorized that the energy she absorbed from the gnarlrock fragment that used to belong to Imogen may have activated the power she uses for her Hunger of the Shadow spell.[19]

References[]

  1. See "The Shade Mother" (3x16) at 12:25.
  2. See "The Shade Mother" (3x16) at 24:15.
  3. See "The Shade Mother" (3x16) at 1:57:18.
  4. See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 2:18:04.
  5. 5.0 5.1 See "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17) at 34:16.
  6. See "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17) at 33:58.
  7. See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:27:32.
  8. See "The Shade Mother" (3x16) at 1:56:07.
  9. See "The Shade Mother" (3x16) at 4:00:06.
  10. See "The Shade Mother" (3x16) from 4:07:04 through 4:10:03.
  11. See "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17) at 14:44.
  12. See "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17) at 23:42.
  13. See "Promise and Potential" (3x22) at 13:32.
  14. See "To The Skies" (3x23) at 4:09:24.
  15. See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 2:22:59.
  16. See "Breaking Point" (3x31) at 2:46:26.
  17. See "What Dreams May Come" (3x34) from 0:46:19 through 1:14:21.
  18. See "A Desperate Call" (3x36) at 2:20:31.
  19. See "Kindling the Spirits" (3x73) at 0:41:30.

Art:

  1. Official art of a gnarlrock shard, by Shaun Ellis (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
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