Phar knows that the stone that the old shrine has dug out of is the cause for the magical darkness. It is a rare stone called Cenahite that occurs naturally but has a magical effect regarding shadow magic and darkness. Many religions that worship the shadows would consider such a place sacred. Elven priests of Alathrien consider the stone a great catalyst for creating magical runes while priests of Darahl believe that the stone enhances earth and nature magic. The Order of the Sacred Mountain consider Cenahite to be sacred to Tarsellis, the Elven God of Mountains, Rivers, and the Wilderness. The stone often glows blue-green under the light of Kulan's first moon, Novan, so it considered a blessing by many moon deities, especially the North Goddess known as Ramara.
Unfortunately, followers of evil gods often work to corrupt places where the stone forms. Clerics and necromancers of the Sword Gods work to find places with Cenahite and twist them for dark rituals, especially Druaga, the Sword God of Fiend Summoning. Thus, it's not surprising the Crow God cultists created a shrine out of it. If there is more in the complex, it could give the cultists a deadly edge, if they have done more than simply cut into it.
Phar knows that if he takes some cutting of the plant with him and keeps it alive, it could counteract the magical darkness elsewhere in the temple complex. A cutting would need to be properly cared for with broken up dirt mixed with crumbled Cenahite for its roots and a bit of fresh water each day.
Note that the altar wasn't made of Cenahite, as the stone is VERY HARD (but not as hard as Adamantine), so Maur's hammer would not have danaged it hardly at all. It can be used to shape powerful magical hammers and other bludgeoning weapons that have natural shadow magic effects by a skilled weaponsmith (with at least 10 ranks). Such weapons can damage any type of lycanthrope without having to be enchanted but have to be masterwork in quality. (such items are not automatically considered masterwork.)
Cenahite
This hard stone adds to the quality of a weapon. Weapons fashioned from cenahite have a natural ability to damage lycanthropes without having to be enchanted, automatically bypassing damage reduction. As well, all light within 10 feet of a cenahite weapon is considered to be of shadowy illumination. It takes a skilled stonemason to cut through cenahite without damaging its properties and a skilled weaponsmith to construct cenahite weapons (at least 10 ranks in each skill). While Cenahite is rare, expensive and hard to work with, weapons made from it aren't automatically considered masterwork. The price for masterwork quality must be added on in addition to the costs listed below. Weapons without metal or stone parts cannot be made from cenahite. While a light mace could be made of cenahite, a quarterstaff could not.
Only bludgeoning weapons normally made of metal or stone can be fashioned from cenahite. Weapons normally made of steel that are made of cenahite have one-fourth more hit points than normal. Cenehite has 30 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 15.
| Type of Cenahite Item | Item Cost Modifier |
| Ammunition | +40 gp |
| Bludgeoning Weapon | +2,025 gp |
