During Snowreap of Portal Year 11, a great missive known as Atlan's Treatise was found.
As Bretself the Translator exclaimed, "Do you realize what you have here? This appears to be nothing less than an Empyrean weapons manual! What a fabulous discovery! At long last we have a glimpse into the lost arts of their great society."
As the Shadow Wars began to rage, warriors would find the weapons invaluable, however collecting one of each element was timely and costly and only a special tool found in the Artifex Vault would allow the stones to be removed.
When the Shadow Armorers were later attacked an unable to make the previous quality of armor, they devised a method whereby Atlan Stones could alter the properties of the armor and the Tool became a necessary accessory for any warrior.

