Maerlyn's Rainbow

Origin

As Arthur Eld fought to restore peace to Mid-World, Maerlyn became irritated; he found peace to be boring. Deciding that something must be done to re-establish the chaos, Maerlyn, whispering secret words, spun the waters of the Prim into glass and divided the white magic into twelve colored strands, which he rolled into balls. After Maerlyn created the twelve colored spheres, there was nothing but shadow left and he the rolled the shadow into an ebony ball, known as Black Thirteen. Each colored sphere contained a different kind of magic but the black one held nothing but the pure evil of the void. After all thirteen were made, Maerlyn placed on them a curse that they would only bring sorrow to their users.

Maerlyn presented the spheres the Arthur Eld to an attempt to trick him and corrupt him, thus restoring chaos. In short time, the Eld discovered the evil in the balls and ordered them buried in a deep dark cave. Unfortunately, the glammer of their magic was enough to draw thieves to their location and Maerlyn’s Rainbow once again resurfaced. Alive and hungry, the Bends O’ the Rainbow drain their users dry.

Many of the spheres are believed to have been lost over the centuries but a few are rumored to still be out there. The Green One is believed to be hidden somewhere in the city of Lud and the Blue One was last owned by a tribe of slow mutants called the Total Hogs. The Orange One was last seen in the ruined city of Dis and the Pink One, also known as Maerlyn’s Grapefruit, was last seen in the possession of Roland Deschain after he took it from the old witch, Rhea of the Coos, in the city of Hambry. The infamous Black Thirteen is discovered by Roland and his ka-tet, in the possession of Father Callahan, a former priest they encounter on their voyage through the Calla.