Theodor Habermas was the third Magister Patriarch of the Gold Order, known for creating power stones through the solidification of magic, starting with the Yellow Wind of Magic, Chamon. His invention revolutionised High Alchemy and led to the creation of the legendary Philosopher's Stone.[1a][2a]
History[]
Although warpstone is forbidden from use by the law and tradition of the Imperial Colleges of Magic, this has not stopped many of the colleges' Magisters from experimenting with ways to store amounts of pure magical energy in solid form for future usage. Despite every one of the colleges practicing some form of runecraft, Human Magisters are far from experts in the ways of binding magic to items through means of runes. Unlike the Dwarfs, Human runecraft tends to have a limited effect and lifespan, and so is not therefore the best way to store large amounts of magical energy.[1a]
It was the Gold Order that first theorised that power from a single Wind of Magic could be isolated and forced under an intense and artificial pressure, making it into a tangible, solidified "stone" of that Wind of Magic. This stone would not have the raw and dangerous power of warpstone, as it would only possess the powers and predilections of one of the strands of magic, not all eight of them. It would be of manageable power and not blinding to Magisters.[1a]
The wizards of the Empire learned the secret of solidifying magic into power stones from the High Elf Archmage Teclis himself, one of the founders of the Human Orders of Magic, and creator of the Orbs of Sorcery. It was the third patriarch of the Gold Order, Magister Patriarch Theodor Habermas, who first succeeded in devising a way to fold a strand of Chamon in upon itself again and again, somehow imposing physical laws upon it, until eventually it became like a glistening yellow mist, then a sparkling yellow liquid, then eventually a kind of semi-translucent golden stone that shone with an inner light.[1a][1c]
The properties of this stone were marvellous, for it could be used in different quantities as a reagent for any alchemical experiment, and could also be used to power certain devices and magical implements used by the Magister Alchemists of the Gold Order.[1a][1c]
Philosopher's Stone[]
Habermas spent years studying the legendary Prism of Power of Leonardo da Miragliano, invented three centuries earlier by the renowned Tilean genius. Habermas eventually used aethyric refraction to create power stones.[2a]
Habermas regarded the stone he had created as the ultimate facilitator of the studies of his order, and so named it the Philosopher's Stone. Since that time, all kinds of wondrous capabilities have been ascribed to the Philosopher's Stones of the Gold Order, including an ability to turn base material into gold and even grant immortality. These stories are patent exaggerations, but this has not kept privately studying alchemists from trying to reproduce the creation of the original Philosopher's Stone using non-magical alchemical means alone -- an impossible and fruitless venture.[1a][1b]
Over the centuries since Habermas' breakthrough, leading Magisters of the other Orders of Magic have found ways of achieving the same end with the other Winds of Magic.[1b]
The wizards of the other orders were skeptical of whether the utility of Habermas' stone justified its intense production process. Though the Philosopher's Stones were significantly safer to use and handle than warpstone, the gems were smaller and more fragile than the Orbs of Sorcery, and their energies expired quickly. Furthermore, Habermas boasted that the yellow stones possessed unproven properties such as granting immortality and transmuting base materials into gold. Nevertheless, the Gold Order continued refining power stone production techniques and renamed them "Goldstones." As the Colleges of Magic grew, wizards learned to compress other magical winds using similar techniques.[1b][2b]
Over the last century, the colleges have constructed tower laboratories on arcane fulcrums and leylines, thus improving production efficiency from weeks to days. The Bright Order now utilises "Fire Rubies" in wands and rings of great destructive potential. Braziers full of power stones have even substituted Orbs of Sorcery as fuel for great arcane war machines, such as the Celestial Hurricanum and Luminark of Hysh.[1b][2b]