Sepán Eligav

The Glowing Stones of Cerreg

"How is it possible to keep this cavern city so lit up? It’s like there is daylight inside.” - A curious traveller to Cerreg.
“It’s because of the rock we call sepán eligav, which is currently only found inside this mountain.” - A Cerregian commoner.

The Cerregians are particularly proud of their discovery of the rock called sepán eligav. Roughly translated to ever light in common tongue because of its property of being a rock that has a light blue glow to it. Most Cerregians use the stone as an alternative to torches and lampposts, since the air inside the city cave Cerreg is too valuable, and limiting pollution inside is a priority... well, mostly for the wealthy.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Sepán eligav has similar properties to that of a rock crystal. It is less transparent due to the glow, and it is hard to stare at it for too long without the eyes hurting. If looking at the edge of the rock, one can see the crystallisation is also slightly blue. Some believe the glow stems from a crystallisation process of the glum mushroom, which also glows in the dark.

Since both the glum mushroom and the sepán eligav are found near Cerreg and inside the Myndoed Galline, this theory is currently the most logical.

Geology & Geography

The sepán eligav is currently only known to be found in Myndoed Galline in the caves. The largest deposit recorded has been in Cerreg, but after depleting it, the search has expanded to other parts in the mountain range. There have been found other deposit since, but the sizes of the rocks have gotten smaller over the years, making the large ones that are used to light up settlements rise in price.

Since the doctrine of Iragregeimian has less representation of Ghrefeims in the Book of Irath, they have come up with some stories in their own version. Though they might tell you that no Dynbodauls know all the deeds of Irath, and some are just preserved for the Ghrefeims. The sepán eligav is one of such important stories where Irath has been added to it.

Type

Mineral

Rarity

Currently, only found near Cerreg

Color

Light blue rock that seems to glow

Related Locations

• Myndoed Galline

Related Species

• Ghrefeims

History & Usage

Discovery

There are two stories containing the sepán eligav’s discovery: one is the religious and one is the folktale.

In the religious version, Irath had pity for the Ghrefeims, who had a better dark vision than Dynbodauls, but could not enjoy the light of her creation, the Glux.
That is why she told the ghrefeims to seek out the largest cave in Myndoed Galline and make a settlement inside of it. The cave would provide the things they would need and even provide light to their darkest corners of their settlements.

One day, a Rathamaen, the stone-skinned species and one of the First, saw how the Ghrefeims could not settle in their new home. Some would get injured while trying to build their homes and churches.
So one of the Rathamaen told a ghrefeim to follow him. He showed the back wall of the original cave of Cerreg and told him that on the other side there was another cave that held stones of light. Since the Rathamaen had no use of such things, he told the ghrefeim to get the stones so they would always have light in their darkness.

The folktale tells of a similar story, but is still different.

One day, a miner had ventured deep into the original cave of Cerreg, where he met a slumbering Rathamaen. The Rathamaen got angry at being disturbed in his slumber and smashed through a wall, right into the back left side of the cave, which created a passage to the other cave on the other side. The miner explored the cave after this meeting and found stones that shone as bright as stars. He stood on a large stone and knew this could be used as a light source for them.

The priests try to explain the folk tale by saying it was a different cave than the one in the Iragrefeimian version. But it is curious that the two versions shares so many similarities.

Everyday use

For the darkness inside Cerreg, light is valuable, and since sepán eligav glows, that makes it perfect to be used as lampposts inside Cerreg. The street lights are often made of iron, and have a casing where the crystal is placed. The wealthier district lights have more elegant designs and also the rock has been shaped as well, while the poorer or dirtier districts has a more crude designs to their lampposts. Near the fishing streams and lakes in the caves beneath Cerreg, there have also been placed sepán eligav lampposts to help the anglers see in the dark.

Transportations between the cave towns and cities inside Myndoed Galline also bring a torch or lantern with sepán eligav, to help light up the journey between there. It is too expensive to have street lights between settlements, so this became the compromise to help travellers.

Some homes also have lamps inside to light up the otherwise very dark rooms. The wealthy ghrefeims have a little locket with a small sepán eligav rock inside to always have light with them in case they do not carry a lantern or a torch.

Cultural Significance and Usage

Similar to the tradition of Emberstones, those who can afford to gift their deceased a sepán eligav to guide them to Irath'las. But in contrast to the emberstone tradition, the sepán eligav tradition is not for the poor, but only for those who can afford the smaller sepán eligav.

This makes a stark contrast in the society where the poor try to steal sepán eligav to help their deceased, since they cannot afford neither the funeral pyres nor the light burial that is the middle class and above tradition for taking care of their deceased. That is why the poor people in Cerreg have adopted the emberstone tradition to help their beloved on their last journey.

Industrial Use

The stones are hard to work with, since the stone glows and hurts the eyes for too long. Any lapidarist who works on these stones can only do so for a small amount of time during the day in order to preserve his eyesight. The stones are often cut in cones, orbs, or ovals depending on their use and their original shape. Street lights are often cut in cones or orbs, while the lockets contain oval shaped. The finer cut, the more expensive.

The stones are often evaluated to figure out which are more fit for cutting, and which should keep their crude shape. The clearer the outline of the rock is, the more valuable it is, and the easier it is to cut, since they are more likely not to contain any faults. The raw types of rock are mostly used in the crude lampposts, and the smaller ones are often tied together to make torches or lanterns.

Byproducts & Sideproducts

Ghrefemian physicians believe that stones can be used for medicinal purposes as well. The smallest stone can be swallowed and is good for the heart, since it will not feel the darkness that Rathias tries to poison the world with. The light within can withstand any bad moods the heart may feel. It should also be good for the females who undergo their monthly bleeding to alleviate any difficulties they might feel.
A small stone can also be worn in contact with skin to stop melancholia reach the depth of the heart.

Distribution

Trade & Market

The Cerregians are not fond of selling these stones outside of Myndoed Galline, since the demand for constant light is very high in the settlements inside the mountain range. Mostly the distribution and selling of these stones is through the settlements’ mining company, who then sells the raw stones to lapidarist. The lapidarists evaluate the stones and cut those with value.

Then lapidarists sell cut gems and sepán eligav to goldsmiths and the settlement government, who then decide which lamppost they should be placed in. The governments mostly accept the stones that fit for lamppost, but have been known to accept smaller stones to light up government-owned buildings as well.