Red Caltrop Diamond

The Red Caltrop Diamond is the central Overgod talisman of the Crown of Life and the last of its three missing components. Reports of the talisman launched a hunt crowded with counterfeits, while the genuine diamond passed from Brodie to Clementine and finally to Linley before merging into the crown. (Chapters 733, 736–757, 762)

History

Brodie's discovery and decoy

Brodie found the genuine caltrop-shaped red diamond lying in the grass and discovered that holding it rapidly healed his body, defended his soul, and let him channel lethal energy through physical contact and a weapon. He used it to survive bandits, fuse with a Highgod spark, and defeat the much stronger Allott. When pursuers closed in, one of Brodie's divine bodies carried a counterfeit and died as a decoy while his original body escaped with his wife and the genuine talisman. (Chapters 737–743)

Hidden in the Okerlund Plane

Brodie eventually left the diamond in the Okerlund Plane, concealing its interspatial ring inside a Silverhorn Snowlion. Clementine found the hidden ring and used a false ring as a decoy while fleeing the other Paragons, but Linley caught him and compelled him to surrender the genuine talisman. (Chapters 750, 754–757)

Completion of the Crown of Life

Linley retained the diamond despite pressure from Sovereigns and attempts to intercept him on his return to the Yulan Plane. When he brought the three talismans together, the Red Caltrop Diamond entered the crown's final setting and became part of the completed Crown of Life, ending its independent existence as a separate held item. (Chapters 758–759, 761–762)

Abilities and properties

The diamond emits nurturing energy that can heal the body, strengthen and protect the soul, accelerate regeneration, and channel a devouring soul attack through contact. Its effect scales with the holder: it transformed Brodie's prospects but gave a Paragon only a modest increase in power and regeneration, and Linley's already powerful soul gained no noticeable strengthening. Brodie's killings and Linley's pursuit therefore also depended on their own strength and techniques, not on an unlimited power supplied by the talisman. (Chapters 737–738, 757)

It is shaped to fit the central indentation of the pentametal crown and, as an Overgod talisman, is indestructible by ordinary means. Numerous market copies and Brodie's decoy lacked its distinctive energy and durability; their destruction did not damage or transform the genuine diamond. (Chapters 736, 742–743, 751, 762)

Ownership and custody

Brodie was the first cited holder of the genuine diamond, later hiding it in a beast-borne interspatial ring in the Okerlund Plane. Clementine recovered it there and transferred it to Linley under compulsion. Linley carried it safely to the Yulan Plane, where it left his direct custody only by joining the other talismans as the Crown of Life's central component. (Chapters 737, 750, 754–759, 762)