Lazotep

Gear; Magic

Lazotep is a magical blue mineral exclusively (?) found on the world of Amonkhet. It interacts with necromancy in strange and powerful ways. Lazotep is the main reason Nicol Bolas turned his attention to Amonkhet.

The extensive presence of lazotep on Amonkhet is likely related to the Curse of Wandering. That's what the residents call the phenomenon of humanoids and some other biological life automatically rising from the dead. This phenomenon may be unique to Amonkhet and has had a profound effect on the civilization there.

Lazotep can be fashioned into magical objects that enhance necromancy magic, especially around control.

Hardoun identified himself as the leader of the refugees, and a "lay priest of the great Kefnet, to whom this barge is consecrated." He spoke with Lyndi about the lazotep, explaining that his god "is both a hoarder and sharer of Knowledge. We have proudly continued his traditions in our hard exile from Naktamun. His sacred teachings helped us find many of the invaluable skybarges on which we survive. His subtle teachings also school us on lazotep, if we listen dutifully to the flow of his poems. We know now that this special substance is not a danger in itself. Rather, it is something quite uncommon in the air or light or endless sands of our world that seems to interact with it most exotically and brings out its murky evils. Woe that it does this, for surely that is the distinction that brought the madness of the God-Pharaoh to Amonkhet, and with him the gross perversions of our sacred traditions and whole society. Those evils are of course also released through death magics." He ran one hand down his trunk, like a human stroking a beard. "I believe you can trust the lazotep to behave itself, to a point, if you keep it sealed in something more impermeable than those rune-marked crates. Sadly, two of our brothers fell to the slavers when they attacked our glorious barge above our beloved Amonkhet, and they did not rise again."

((Lazotep, Amonkhet, and Nicol Bolas are all WotC creations. See: https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Lazotep ))