Crystal Fever

The hazard

Crystal Fever is a living elemental resonance that travels through glittering dust, exposed crystal, and the mountain's deep vibrations. It makes the body crystallize from within. The first signs are a chill and a bright, glassy rash; continued exposure steals movement until the victim is sealed in a faceted shell. The effect can be an environmental hazard or the lingering consequence of a powerful elemental spell.

complex
environmental
elemental
magical
crystal

Stealth: to notice the crystal dust and resonance before entering the affected area; the hazard itself is not hidden once its heart crystals are visible.
Trigger: A creature enters the affected area or begins its turn there. The hazard rolls initiative when a creature first triggers it.
Disable: The hazard has three crystal hearts, each a level 30 object with AC 50, Hardness 25, and 50 HP. A heart can be disabled by destroying it, or by accumulating three successful Crafting or Performance checks adjacent to it. Each check takes two actions. A critical success counts as two successes; a critical failure causes the character to immediately attempt a Fortitude save against Crystal Fever. The hazard is disabled when all three hearts are destroyed or silenced.
Initiative: Perception +38
Routine: On its turn, the hazard sends a low crystal note through the affected area. Each creature exposed to the area attempts the Crystal Fever save. The hazard can affect a creature no more than once per round.
Reset: The hazard is always active unless disabled. Destroyed crystal hearts regrow after days unless the site is cleansed or the source is permanently disrupted.

Damage

Immunities

critical hits, object immunities

Resistances

physical 15, except sonic

Weaknesses

sonic 15

Effects

2

Crystal Fever
DC 48
A creature that begins its turn in the area, or enters it for the first time in a round, attempts a Fortitude save. On a failure, it gains one exposure mark and its Speed is reduced by 10 feet for rounds. On a critical failure, it gains two exposure marks instead. Multiple Speed penalties from this hazard do not stack, but the duration refreshes with each failed save. On a success, it gains no mark; on a critical success, it removes one exposure mark.
Crystalline Encasement
A creature that reaches three exposure marks is encased in crystal and becomes petrified until freed. It can be recovered by destroying or carefully opening the shell, or by suitable magic. The creature remains alive, aware only at the GM's discretion, and does not age while encased.

Special rules

Resonant Reach.The affected area extends 60 feet from the three crystal hearts and includes connected tunnels carrying their resonance. A creature behind total cover from all three hearts is not exposed. A creature that leaves the area stops making saves, but its exposure marks remain until treated or removed by suitable magic.

Spell or Site.This hazard can be created by a level 30 elemental spell or arise naturally. If created by a spell, the caster chooses the affected area and the hazard ends when the spell's duration expires or its crystal hearts are disabled.

Spotting it

Discovery

The glittering dust is not ordinary mineral powder: it drifts toward warm creatures, and the crystals ring faintly when anyone moves nearby.

Perception

+38

Stop it

Signs of dangerFootprints glitter with fine crystal dust even when the ground is bare. · A nearby stone makes a faint ringing sound when struck, followed by a matching ache in the teeth. · Animal tracks lead away from the pass, while abandoned packs and climbing gear are partly crystallized.

Countermeasures

A sealed mask or equivalent protection against inhaled crystal dust grants a +2 circumstance bonus to saves against the fever, but does not protect against direct contact with the resonance.
DC 48Silence the crystal hearts with a successful Performance or Crafting check as a two-action activity adjacent to a heart. Three successes disable the hazard; a critical success counts as two successes.
Deal at least 40 sonic damage to a crystal heart in one turn to silence it until the start of the hazard's next turn. Destroying all three hearts disables the hazard.
A creature that leaves the affected area stops gaining exposure marks. Remove curse, stone-to-flesh, or comparable magic removes all marks and ends the speed penalty or encasement.
DC 48A successful Crafting check using appropriate tools can safely extract a living creature encased by this hazard, ending the encasement without destroying the creature.

In short

Block the crystal dust and singing resonance, then disrupt or destroy the three crystal hearts feeding the fever.

Its story

What it looks like

Pale crystal seams web through the mountain stone, catching light in colors that do not match the sky.

Why it is here

To guard a crystal-rich mountain site by immobilizing intruders and gradually preserving them as part of the landscape.

Who made it

Unknown elemental artisans, or the mountain itself, depending on which local legend is believed.

Lore

Mountain guides say the fever is the mountain's way of keeping its most beautiful secrets.

Where it is found

Mountain

Variants

Whiteout Fever: The hearts are buried beneath snow, and exposure also causes the area to become difficult terrain as crystal flakes accumulate.

Singing Geode: The resonance travels through connected stone, extending the affected area through nearby tunnels but not through open air.

Spellscar Bloom: The hazard was created by a spell. Its hearts are floating shards that can be disrupted with counteracting magic instead of Crafting or Performance.

Plot hooks

A renowned climber is found alive inside a clear crystal shell, and their memories may reveal a newly opened route through the mountain.

The fever has begun spreading from a remote pass into a mining settlement after miners removed one of the crystal hearts.

An elemental spellcaster needs a living, fever-marked creature to tune a device that can locate a buried mountain shrine.

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