Liquid Flame

Liquid flame is a unique alchemical and magical concoction created by the College of Arcane Metallurgy in the year 4226NA as a new way to generate power.
It is, in the purest sense of the word, power. Liquid flame, true to the name, is a magical liquid that generates heat passively yet does not boil. When exposed to air it burns with an incredible intensity, but it can be easily contained in glass without melting it. Liquid flame is a bright yellow in color and has an unnatural glow.
Initially it was used in the Creation War as a weapon. Concentrated amounts of it was placed inside flying contraptions and sent toward the enemy only to explode and ignite in a terrible inferno large enough to scorch an entire city to ash. Such weapons were banned in the Treaty of Veluca, but liquid flame was found to have infinitely more uses as a fuel than as a weapon.
Steam power was the basis of much of the metallurgy automatons for three thousand years. While the technology allowed for more and more efficient uses of steam there were natural limitations to the nature of the power source that held metallurgy back. Primarily in terms of the weight of water needed. Automatons needed to be large and bulky to carry the necessary water and interior furnace, which limited their practical capabilities.
This is entirely overcome with liquid flame. A single vial can serve as fuel for an automaton for days, allowing for the creation of smaller and smaller machines that could still function. Soon human-sized automatons were common place and mere toys could enjoy a level of sophistication normally reserved for large engines of war. It also opened the door for faster vehicles and eventually the skyships that are so iconic to the College of Arcane Metallurgy.

Type

Metamaterial