Crystals
The Battery and Catalyst of Mystia in the world.
Crystals are a mineral found all over the world. For a long time, many thought that crystals were Mystia in its raw form. However, researchers later discovered that crystals are in fact a battery of sorts, able to hold on to a small amount of Mystia. for long periods of time. However, one must be careful when mining crystals. Proper protective gear must be worn, for the Mystia they contain is in its purest and rawest form, and if not handled correctly, it can lead to radiation poisoning. After mining the crystals, miners must refine them. The Mystia also needs a separate refining process.
The Uses
Crystals are used in a variety of ways. First, when crystals are mined and pulled from the ground, they go through a refining process, and the Mystia contained within is drained and put through a separate refining process. That Mystia is then used to power the infrastructure of the world, such as lights and factories. Wizards and sorcerers use the crystals, once refined, to augment their own Mystia reserves. They may also be used as batteries for guns and other items. However, because of all of the myriad use cases for crystals and their status as a finite resource, they are growing scarce and harder to find. Today, the largest deposit in the world is in the Shattered Lands of Arcticus.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
The unique internal structure of crystals is thought to be what gives it its unique property of being capable of holding a charge of Mystia for a long period without degrading. No one knows for sure how long these minerals can retain the Mystia within them, though some theoretically believe it to be forever. No one has ever peeked inside to see just how these wondrous minerals work.
The Colours
Crystals come in a wide variety of different colours, which may determine the colour of the Mystia found within. Dark grey crystals may contain Darkness Mystia, while bright red crystals may contain Element Mystia. However this may not always be the case. It is unknown exactly why this may occur, but you may also find green crystals that contain Light or Earth, even Wind Mystia.
Crystals come in many colours: dark grey, red, blue, turquoise, green, white, and purple. There are also a myriad of other colours such as yellow crystals, pink crystals, even rainbow coloured crystals.
Manufacturing process
Both the crystals and the Mystia contained within must go through separate refining processes in order to be used.
Refining the Crystals
The initial action involves draining the Mystia from the crystal to refine it. First, pound a magic tap into the crystal's core. Then, drain the Mystia into a specially treated and enchanted vessel.
Next, they cut and shape the crystal, cutting away the impure parts and shaping it down to its purest form. Some crystals are purer and more refined than others and take better to this process. They sell the lowest quality crystals as chipped for mere silver, while they sell the highest quality ones, which make their way into the highest-end shops usually, for thousands of gold.
However, with crystals being a finite resource and hence the Mystia contained within is also a finite resource, and with the world's power reserves coming dangerously low, leading to a spark of conflict over the deposits in Arcticus, a new solution had to be found.
The Solution
A scientist, by the name of Dr Gavin Bloom, has spent his career searching for a solution to this existential problem of the Third Age. The problem, as he saw it, was twofold. Crystals are becoming scarcer and harder to find, and that hence made the Mystia contained within harder to obtain as well. So the question was how to procure more of both finite resources?
He first needed to learn how crystals formed to figure this out. So he travelled the world in order to learn the answer to this question. He visited scholars in all parts of the world, learning about the different cultures in which they all lived, and he learned that many people had different interpretations of how crystals were formed.
For the Quatrican people, they were a gift from their Guardian gods, from legendary Mystimon such as Phoenix and Solord, and Lunord. That made sense to him; Mystimon are, after all, the purest source of Mystia in the world. Many Mystimon have larger Mystia reserves contained within them than sorcerers or wizards, even the highest of their class.
But for the Vikarahns of Highwind, they were deposited there thousands of years ago by their ancestors, and for the Native Atlantean people of Atlantea, they were a gift from their spirits, which closely resembled the Quatrican myth.
It was therein he had a thought. What if the formation of crystals was a geological process? Could the solution to the problem lie in that? Was there a way to mimic the geological processes that caused crystals to form?
But he had a problem. He was not a geologist. So he needed to find someone who was. Enter Dr Arachi Demos. She provided the geology expertise that he needed to find a way to solve the world's energy crisis, which was growing by the day. By early 2734, the problem has become existential. It was forcing countries who were supposed to be allies to come to blows over land, such as the island of Easari, anywhere they could find that might have untapped crystal deposits. When Highwind laid claim to the island, archaeologists took a stand and declared that the island should be left alone for its historical and cultural significance.
Dr Demos and Dr Bloom together came upon a solution that would cause crystallisation to occur, and could successfully grow a small crystal in their lab. They are still working on refining the process.
History
Crystals were first tapped for the Mystia contained within them in the early Third Age, when industrialisation first began, starting with the invention of airships.
Significance
It goes without saying that without crystals, the world's infrastructure simply could not work. The world relies heavily upon these minerals and needs a steady supply of them. So as they grow increasingly more scarce, war can and will inevitably follow.
Continue your journey!
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Grave Secrets
Crystals are found all over the world; however, they are growing scarcer by the year.
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