Description

The harness is made of dark leather, with heavy brass-colored metallic pieces,^[2] and is marked with elven runes.^[3] One of the pieces is a diamond-shaped funnel that,^[4] when someone is wearing the harness, would be positioned between their shoulder blades near the base of the neck.^[5] After being repaired, the Quintessence Array looked renovated and polished, with runes newly carved.^[6]

Through a short, minutes-long ritual, whoever is wearing the harness with the funnel attached to the focal point of the back of their neck can drain the power of a designated target that is either inscribed with adaptation runes or shares a similar essence, infusing the user with that energy. If the user and the targeted creature are too different and there isn't any form of runic adaptation, the person wearing the harness can be destroyed.^[7] The fate of the drained creature, place, or object depends on how powerful it is: an entity such as a celestial or an archfey could potentially survive the process, but lesser beings (such as the nymphs Ludinus targeted with the device) would wither, being completely destroyed by the ritual. Imahara Joe believed it could be used to siphon power from a powerful enough object or place without harming it.^[8]

After its repair, its exact properties were revealed:^[9]

• The harness can take magic from magical items permanently when placed in the funnel for 1 minute (except for artifacts), granting the user special benefits depending on the rarity of the item:
  • Common: The wearer gains 5 temporary hit points.
  • Uncommon: The wearer gains 10 temporary hit points.
  • Rare: The wearer's maximum hit points permanently increase by 2. They also gain advantage on attacks rolls and ability checks until the next long rest.
  • Very rare: The wearer's maximum hit points permanently increase by 5. They also gain advantage on attacks rolls, ability checks, and saving throws until the next long rest.
  • Legendary: One of the wearer's ability scores increases by 2, as well as their maximum for that score.
• Particularly powerful items can bestow additional benefits.
• If a magical creature touches the Quintessence Array for 1 minute, it loses its magical capabilities for 24 hours, bestowing a unique benefit upon the wearer until the next long rest. If the creature touches the harness for 1 hour or more, it is destroyed, and the wearer gains a permanent benefit (which can vary depending on the creature).
• A creature can't benefit from this item a second time until the next long rest. Moreover, if the harness is used again in the next 24 hours there is a cumulative 20% chance that it will break; if the harness is activated twice for the same wearer and creature (to grant a temporary benefit and then a permanent one) the device counts it as one single use, since it is the completion of the full hour-long process.^[10]
• If the benefit conferred by the harness is a spell with a saving throw, the DC is either the user's normal spell DC, or if they are not normally a spellcaster, 8 + proficiency bonus + modifier for the highest of their Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma scores.^[11]

Use of the harness over an extended period of time creates a weak spot at the base of the user's neck called the Quintessence Root^[12] which, when hit with an attack, caused an additional 8d6 necrotic damage^[13] and the loss of 1d6+1 levels worth of unused spell slots.^[14] It was harder to hit, however, with an increase of about 5 to the user's AC.^[15]

History

This device was created by Ludinus Da'leth during his time living in Molaesmyr. For several years before the fall of the elven city, the wizard, who had been researching different sources of magical energy, visited eight places in Wildemount connected to fey bound to nature, such as dryads and nymphs.^[16] Although he only marked the visited places in a map and wrote in his notes that the objective was to "feed the root", he was empowering himself through the harness, syphoning the power of those nature-bound fey in a way that destructively mimicked an archdruid's merging with nature and natural spirits in order to slow their aging process.^[17] At least one absorption (an air nymph) was performed in his own laboratory with the help of his assistants.^[18] When Molaesmyr was destroyed in 585 PD, the archmage ran away leaving behind his invention and associated notes inside a Bag of Holding hidden within his Gildhollow Tower.^[19]

Centuries later, during the apogee solstice of 843 PD, members of Bells Hells (Imogen Temult, Fresh Cut Grass, Chetney Pock O'Pea and Fearne Calloway), along with Deanna Leimert and F.R.I.D.A., visited the Savalirwood and explored the now-ruined Gildhollow Tower, eventually finding Da'leth's old belongings. Thanks to Deanna's magic and knowledge of the Elvish language they were able to reveal the magic of the harness, as well as the information of the notes, which vaguely described how it worked and the creatures that had targeted, but not the purpose of "feeding the root".^[20] When those adventurers traveled to Jrusar and met with the rest of Bells Hells (Laudna, Orym and Ashton Greymoore) they tried to learn a little bit more about the harness (FCG's magic confirmed that the device was damaged and that they had been holding it backward the whole time),^[21] so they visited Ajit Dayal, asking him about the item, but neither him nor his older associate, Daramon, were able to reveal much about it.^[22] It would be Keyleth, leader of the Air Ashari of Zephrah, who finally helped the adventuring party understand the purpose of the item,^[23] after which were determined to use it against Ludinus.

Following their new (albeit abstract) plan, Bells Hells and the Voice of the Tempest Teleported to Yios and found Dancer, an inventor, to help them repair the harness; she, however, admitted that she would need help, so she and the group traveled to Bassuras seeking the assistance of Imahara Joe, a colleague and ally of the party.^[24] After a fight against General Ratanish and members of Paragon's Call Bells Hells recruited the tinkerer, as well as Verna the Viper, another expert in that field. Together, Dancer and her two new partners examined the harness further, revealing specific conditions for its activation, as well as the consequences for both its user and its target, and explained that it would take several days to fix it, even if they had decent materials.^[25] After speaking with Keyleth about it she agreed to bring the three of them to Whitestone so they could work in a more suitable environment, with access to residuum and the potential assistance of Lord Percival de Rolo.^[26]

When Bells Hells returned to Whitestone several days later, Allura Vysoren completed the work on the harness by magically inscribing tiny runes upon it. She explained to them that the item was a Quintessence Array, a variation of old, similar devices known as "power stills" used to extract and refine arcane power from natural magical materials, or from living beings although that would be considered extremely amoral. She requested they turn it over to the Tal'Dorei Council or the Cobalt Soul once they had used it in the fight against the Ruby Vanguard.^[27] When repaired, the harness lit up and its funnel acquired an opalescent glow, vibrating slightly.^[28] Chetney tested the device by draining the magic of some enchanted silverware, learning the details of its properties and gaining 5 temporary hit points.^[29]

The following day Ashton and Fearne agreed that he should use the harness to absorb the spark of Rau'shan, but the process, while completed, almost killed the genasi, and the power of the titan rejected him.^[30] Although this caused a conflict between the adventurers (during which the harness was almost destroyed),^[31] after a short trip to the Fey Realm Fearne decided to use the Quintessence Array herself, proving to be more compatible and successfully absorbing the power of the Emperor of Fire.^[32]

When Bells Hells visited Ruidus they defeated Willmaster Edmuda, a powerful reilora, and when she proved to be a dangerous prisoner, they used the harness to leave her powerless for a day by temporarily granting Orym her Dominate Person ability (which he immediately spent controlling her). The adventurers considered using the full hour-long ritual to grant Orym a permanent benefit and kill the prisoner in the process, but they had to leave town in a hurry, so Laudna killed Edmuda instead.^[33] The next day, after examining a Ring of Life Awareness they had stolen, the adventurers realized it could be used to track them, so they decided to destroy it by draining its magic and thereby improving Laudna's maximum health and granting her a temporary boon to her attacks and ability checks.^[34]

Days later, back in Exandria, when Bells Hells were preparing to go to the ruins of Aeor in Eiselcross, Orym used the harness to destroy his ring of protection to give himself a permanent +2 hit point increase and a temporary boon to his attacks and ability checks for the day, which compensated for his exhaustion (since he had spent the night awake).^[35]

During their brief visit to Ligament Manor, Dorian Storm utilized the harness (encouraged by his teammates) to absorb the power of the Harp of Valor, permanently gaining 5 maximum hit points and advantage on performance checks, and temporary advantage on all attacks, saves, and checks.^[36] After that Morrigan expressed great interest in examining the harness, although she said she could wait until they returned from their important mission.^[37]

The following day, during their preparations before their mission in Ruidus with the Mighty Nein, Braius Doomseed suggested to Bells Hells that they should use the harness at least once more in case they didn't have the opportunity of doing so again. By playing Rollies they decided that Ashton would absorb the power of Dusk Hunger (gaining more Dexterity and a permanent fire-related ability), and then they decided to take a risk and use it a second time for Orym to absorb the power of Ishta (gaining Dexterity even beyond his natural limits and a permanent ability to deal magical damage to prone enemies). Although the Quintessence Array brightened a little more than normal after the second use, it resisted and didn't break.^[38] Later that same day while Bells Hells were hiding with the Volition, Imogen had a vision in which she saw her mother in pain as her feet started to disintegrate, held psychically restrained in a circle of figures and that Ludinus had his back to her, draining her power with a funnel that looked like his original Quintessence Array.^[39] In less than an hour, Bells Hells arrived and interrupted the process, showing that the new device still had the same time limitations as the prototype.^[40] Dorian successfully cast Forcecage around the archmage, cutting the tether connecting him with his victim and leaving Liliana powerless for 24 hours, but alive. Ludinus, however, had absorbed several of her powers that he could utilize temporarily.^[41]

When Bells Hells battled Ludinus at the Hallowed Cage, they discovered that his use of the harness had created a weak spot at the back of his neck called the "Quintessence Root".^[42] They therefore repeatedly targeted this location during the fight and it contributed to his eventual death. Later, in the battle against Predathos and the body it created around Imogen, Chetney decided to put on their own harness as a precaution.^[43]

Trivia

• Wearing the functional harness produces a tingling sensation that almost hurts.^[44]
• Astrid Becke stated that Ludinus had some form of itch at the base of his neck (the place where the harness would go), and that he was annoyed and angry when he saw her notice it.^[45]

References

Art: