Purpose

The Concordance for Survival requires every sophont inside the Kirinal Concordance Zone to bear an ident-a-hedron. Beings from every nation in the world and most of the multiverse come to the Zone. Most of the multitudes are merchants, pilgrims, and warriors. But some are hiding their true nature as criminals, anarchists, or parasites. The worst want to destroy the world and turn it over to fiends, the Far Realm, or worse. The Zone Authority's job is to know where they all are.

Characteristics

An ident-a-hedron is a small hex crystal that fits in the palm of a hand. It comes in five shapes: tetrahedrons (4), cubes (6), octahedrons (8), dodecahedrons (12), and icosahedrons (20). The more sides it has, the more rights are conferred on its bearer. White hedrons indicate that the bearer is a non-resident visitor. The hedrons of local residents have colors matching their home canton.

They can be carried in a pocket, but most bearers attach it to a necklace or bracelet. Spellcasters with a flare for the dramatic have them orbit around their head or body like a satellite.

It is impossible to steal them, as the bearer can tell if they are taken more than 10 feet away from them and can summon them back to their hand at will. If taken more than 20 feet away, they disintegrate, and the portion of the soul in the hedron returns to the bearer. They can be destroyed with a strong blow from a weapon. The law requires that destroyed ident-a-hedrons be replaced within 24 hours.

Ident-a-hedrons are powered by a link between the bearer's soul to the Orrery of Worlds. The link usually only works inside the Zone. Spellcasters can use their magic to extend the link when they travel elsewhere in the world or even on other planes.

Uses

Identification

The hedrons main purpose is to serve as identification. They can be used by their bearer to display a picture, name, and current address, usually on request by a Zone official at gates and borders.

Communication

It can send a 25 word message to any other hedron that it has formed a com-sync with. Messages come with a unique soul signature that's impossible to duplicate.

Currency

The banks of the Zone use the unique message signatures to authorize instant transfers between accounts. The folk of the Zone rarely carry physical currency.

Spell Focus

The hedron's hex crystal matrix create a perfect magical focus. Many spellcasters in the Zone use their hedron to focus spells instead of carrying another separate item.

Timekeeper

Bearers can ask their hedron for the time, set a timer, or use it as an alarm.

Distress Beacon

At will, the bearer can cause their hedron to flash brightly, make a loud shrill alarm noise, and call for the authorities.

Concordant Zone Ident-a-hedron Offices

Box of Ident-a-hedrons by Branden L

Every road and every rail station in the Zone has a Concordant Zone Ident-a-hedron Office (ZIO). All first-time visitors to the zone are required to stop at the ZIO and have a hedron made.

A ZIO Agent casts the cantrip "soul crystal", pulling out a drop of the visitor's soul, and placing it into a crystal. Most temporary visitors get a white four-sided one, indicating that its bearer is a short-term visitor to the Zone.

Children get a visit from a ZIO Agent within a day of their birth. Infants born within Zone borders receive a twelve-sided crystal indicating proviso citizenship.

Ident-ahedrons must be renewed annually at the ZIO to update the relevant information, and are encoded to stop functioning after a year. Non-functioning hedrons turn solid black.

Counterfeit Ident-a-hedrons

Ident-a-hedrons are made from a bit of your soul. How do you counterfeit a soul? They're foolproof!

— Baddwaibot Napwokul - Gnome Inventor of the Ident-a-hedron

Of course, ident-a-hedrons have been counterfeited. The methods are dangerous and difficult but it can be done. The two known methods are Warlock's Ident-a-hedrons and the copies made by the Anti-hedrons.