Tablet
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| Location | K'veer, Laki'ahn, Noloben, Taghira, Todelmer |
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The Tablet is an ornately carved slab of stone that is linked to the bahro and the Slates. It is held, like the Slates, on a stone pedestal (the Keep) within a "link bubble"; however, its cross-like shape is designed to be held in place by the Keep until the other four Slates have been returned from their individual Takes.
The exact connection between the Tablet and the bahro is unclear, but it is apparent that whoever holds the Tablet and writes upon it—the so-called Master of the Tablet—will have complete control over the bahro's powers. However, it seems that the Tablet has some sort of will of its own, in that it will not respond to the touch of those with unwholesome purposes. The fact that both Yeesha and Esher are unable to touch it, and Esher's comment that many had tried in the past to claim the Tablet but none had succeeded, suggest that the power bestowed by the Tablet onto its master will almost inevitably corrupt them. How the obviously-corrupt D'ni were able to control the bahro using this Tablet is unknown, but it was most likely in the same way that Esher was able to manipulate it: via a chisel to write on the Tablet without physically touching it.
The origin of the Tablet is unclear as well. It is possible that the bahro created it themselves as some kind of religious item, and that they follow its instructions out of an inherent devotion to some deity, although why they were unable to simply ignore the Tablet's instructions is, again, not made clear. Alternatively, the Tablet could have been created by the D'ni to control the bahro, but the Tablet is obviously a piece of bahro technology, so the D'ni must have had intricate knowledge of the bahro's Art-bending abilities in this case. Any ideas as to the origin of the Tablet are, however, mere conjecture at this point.
At the end of the Quest, the Stranger chose to release the Tablet to the bahro themselves, freeing them of their burden of devotion to the D'ni, and freeing Yeesha of her failed responsibility. While it has been speculated that the power of the Tablet corrupts those who hold it, it has also been pointed out that such a corruption would not be a certainty now that the bahro hold it, as they simply have control over themselves now, rather than having to answer to the will of another.
