Hellstones
In searing hot veins within the infernal rifts of Nessus are found the
fiery red, strongly lawful evil gems known as "hellstones". Hellstones
are the hardest gems known - many have survived hammer blows and weapon
attacks unscathed. They are lit by an inner, flickering radiance, and
do
damage to all non-evil creatures upon the slightest contact. The Pit Fiend Alastor is
known
to bear a axe studded with
hellstones.
Sometimes, sages assert, contact with a hellstone does no damage, but
causes a subtle change in alignment, not immediately noticed by the
victim,
one step closer toward lawful evil. A crushed hellstone - one that is
shattered
into many small fragments - will lose its radiance and capacity to
cause
damage. Due to their often lethal damaging properties, hellstones are
often
called "deathstones", "doomstones", or the like. Their "scholarly" name
is Ulith, or the plural Ulithim.
Source: Nine Hells Revisited, by Ed Greenwood,
Dragon Magazine
#91
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