The Cintamani Stone.
The Cintamani Stone is the subject of Nathan Drake's second adventure in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, contrasting El Dorado in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The Cintamani Stone was thought to be a huge raw sapphire of the deepest blue, larger around than the reach of a man's arms. But it is also thought to be an artifact of great power, said to grant invincibility and possibly immortality to whomever possesses it. Throughout the game it is what Nate and Lazarevic both are chasing after - Lazarevic with the intention of possessing it and Nate with the intention of destroying it.
Nate starts the adventure after finding a map, hidden inside an ancient Mongolian oil lamp in an Istanbul museum. It was supposed to pinpoint the location of the Stone in Borneo , but however he realizes that this is a mistake, after looking deeper into Marco Polo's old diaries , that the location of the Stone never entered Borneo because it never left its sacred shrine in Shambhala.
Throughout the game Nate finds himself wary over the actual existence of the mythological traits of the Stone, whereas Lazarevic is very convinced, having spent years on its exhibition. Motivated by Karl Schäfer, Nate, with the help of Elena Fisher and Chloe Fraser , struggles beating Lazarevic and Harry Flynn to the chase. When in Shambhala, at the sacred shrine, it's revealed however that the Stone itself isn't a sapphire but an amber (fossilised resin), insinuating that Schäfer as well as Marco Polo had it wrong. It's also revealed that the sap from the Tree of Life (the blue resin Nate finds throughout the game) is what actually bestows the power to bring invincibility. The Guardians who defend the stone as you journey towards it are the actual results of the stone's power.
When Marco Polo's men from the lost fleet had seeken refuge in the wilds of Java (Borneo), they decided to eat the resin that they had been carrying from Shambhala, turning them into abnormal creatures of increased strength and stamina, but removing their capability of controlling their own minds.
Trivia
- 70 years ago, Nazi Germans also sought after the Cintamani Stone (presumably to strengthen their Reich) but were killed by Schäfer for the greater good.
- Around that same time, and judging by the bodies and weapons lying about the outer areas of Shambhala, others had apparently tried to get to the stone, but were killed by the Guardians.
