Draconitae

From the field notes of Salan Kir'ith:

"The Draconitae, or Dragon-Stones, are a gem famed throughout the Empire for their luster and luminescence; indeed, so valued are these prizes that few care to mar their brilliance by re-shaping them. What is less known by the common fancier and unenlightened of the nobility is the nature and origins of these blessed gems.

"What may be observed about the Draconitae? They have the shape and form of a spar of crystal, or Stone Ice as some call it; smooth of facet, transparent and durable. Unlike crystal, the Draconitas may possess a tinge of nearly any other colour, though most specimens tend to faintly smoky or golden in hue; more to the point, a Draconitas glows softly with its own inner light, concentrated along the edges of its facets into a incandescent brilliance. Some few, though less sharp of facet, all but rest within a halo of their own making.

"All well and good; but what of their origin? This is a thing which few have concieved of, imagining the Draconitae to merely be a favoured prize of the great Dragons and thus named Dragon-Stone. To this I say nay; the Draconitas is indeed a product of the great beasts.

"Truely, these magnificent gems begin existence as mere shards of crystal; the resemblance is a true one, for they are one and the same. The dragons, feeling some internal need, swallow the shards in mouthfuls, storing them within an organ much like that of the crop of an avian kind. Here the stones lie at rest, mingling with the energies of the great beast's breath and absorbing the essence thereof; till they reach a point of saturation, and are disgorged before the drake begins anew.

"Alas, the sure purpose of the Draconitas I know not. The subject requires further research ..."