Seal Stone



"If there is even one Seal Stone left in the world, the Black Mage cannot fully regain his powers. For that is the great wish of the people of Maple World."

- Gelimer, in his notes on the Seal Stones

A Seal Stone is an object of immense power, greater than that of a Transcendent. The Seal Stones were created by Freud to be used as both safeguards and weapons during the war against the Black Mage.

Properties
According the Gelimer's research, a Seal Stone has the following properties:
 * 1) Is a gem
 * 2) Contains mysterious power, greater than that of a Transcendent
 * 3) Requires many conditions to use, mainly the desperate wish of many
 * 4) Once it demonstrates a power greater than cause and effect, it will be destroyed

Limitations
There appears to be little to no limit on the power of the Seal Stones, as they are strong enough to bring someone on the brink of death back to perfect health (such as the Alliance member during the Black Heaven crisis) or to turn back time for an entire continent (the original purpose of the Stones).

However, the main restriction on the Seal Stones is that they cannot be used to grant the wish of an individual. Rather, they can only be used by the collective desire of a population. Additionally, a Seal Stone will be destroyed upon use, as seen when the Alliance used the Seal Stone of Ereve to revive the Alliance member who defeated Gelimer, or when the citizens of Maple Island used the Seal Stone of Maple Island to restore their home after the Black Mage's attack.

History
The Seal Stones were originally created by Freud, the leader of the Heroes, who sought to use them to restore any damage sustained to the various lands of Maple World in case they lost the battle against the Black Mage. The exact process of creating a Seal Stone is unknown, though Evan did inherit Freud's research on the Seal Stones from Afrien, which detailed three key points in creating a Seal Stone:
 * 1) A focal point for where the power of the Seal Stone must be channeled (a continent, person, etc.)
 * 2) The combined will of (at least) five individuals to give the intent for the Seal Stone's power
 * 3) A strong desire to abandon destruction and seek peace.

During the final battle with the Black Mage, Freud used the Seal Stones in another way. He added actual magical seals to the stones themselves, such that they could draw the power of time that the Black Mage stole from Rhinne and seal him away. To do this, the seals needed to be powered by the sacrifice of a living person's time - provided by Shade - and activated by Luminous, through baiting the Black Mage to use his full powers.

Centuries later, the Seal Stones were objects of interest to the Black Wings, who sought to collect all the Seal Stones in order to revive the Black Mage. In reality, the Black Wings were ordered to collect the stones by Orchid for Gelimer to use as power sources to revive Lotus, who had been mortally wounded by Phantom. Despite the newly awoken Heroes' best efforts, the Black Wings succeeded in stealing all but one of the Seal Stones by the time of the Black Heaven crisis. However, Gelimer was unable to harness the stones' power to revive Lotus, as one of the conditions for their use was the collective desire of the masses. These stones were eventually destroyed, leaving the Seal Stone of Ereve as the final one in existence.

After the Black Mage was accidentally freed from his seal by an Explorer, he laid waste to Maple Island. Through the efforts of the Explorer and several of their comrades, the Seal Stone of Maple Island was created and used to undo the damage inflicted by the Black Mage.

At the end of the Black Heaven crisis, the Maple Alliance used the final Seal Stone to revive the Alliance member who defeated Gelimer. However, the use and subsequent destruction of the Seal Stone removed the final restraint on the Black Mage's power, as the  people of Maple World's desire to stop the Black Mage was being channeled through the Seal Stones.

The Black Mage remarked that "A new archenemy has been born, with the Seal Stone in their arms", perhaps hinting that the Alliance member who was revived by the power of the Seal Stone had somehow obtained an unknown power as a result.

Known Seal Stones

 * 1) Seal Stone of Victoria Island - Francis created puppets of various monsters in order to possess them and obtain the Seal Stone. It was recovered by Phantom and Tru, who gave it to Aran and Lilin on Rien for safekeeping. However, the stone was eventually stolen by the Black Wings by the time of the Black Heaven crisis.
 * 2) Seal Stone of Ellin Forest - Aran attempted to recover this stone by going through a crack in time in Ludibrium into Altair Camp. However, Hiver managed to steal the stone before Aran could recover it.
 * 3) Seal Stone of Orbis - The Black Wings stole this stone by tricking Evan into aiding them. The young magician sprayed a growth accelerant on the Nependeaths, allowing Hiver to steal the stone during the chaos. Aran discovered the theft while remedying the situation on Orbis.
 * 4) Seal Stone of Mu Lung - Once again, Aran arrived too late to stop Hiver from obtaining the stone and escaping.
 * 5) Seal Stone of Ludibrium - Evan, tricked into helping the Black Wings, destroyed the enchanted doorlock which was guarding the stone, allowing Hiver to steal the stone.
 * 6) Seal Stone of Nihal Desert - The Black Wings stole the stone while it was being secretly transported from the Nihal Desert to Henesys for safekeeping. It was recovered by an Explorer, but was eventually stolen once again by the Black Wings by the time of the Black Heaven crisis.
 * 7) Seal Stone of Ereve - Also known as Shinsoo's Teardrop, this stone was nearly stolen by the Black Wings, but the Cygnus Knights managed to stop them due to a warning from Aran. It was later used and destroyed during the Black Heaven crisis to revive the Alliance member.
 * 8) Seal Stone of Maple Island - Though this stone did not originally exist since Maple Island did not exist at the time of the Seal Stones' creation, the combined efforts of the citizens of Maple Island resulted in its creation and use to remedy the damage done by the Black Mage to their home.