Theeksfur
"And where do you source the blood for your theeksfur?" I asked him. He would not give me an answer, and so I made no more business with him. Ever.
A liquid source of fuel used to provide power to Technomaniacal Contraptions, theeksfur is the element of magical essence. It is distilled from blood, the collection of which is strictly regulated and therefore limited to the use of blood from animals otherwise harvested for food purposes.
Properties
Material Characteristics
Theeksfur is a viscous, bioluminescent glop, neither liquid nor solid. It is pourable, after a fashion. Adding one quantity of theeksfur into another quantity of theeksfur does create a single amalgam. When left outside of a container, such as on a countertop, it just sits in a thick puddle, almost a blob, and glows softly. It does not feel wet when handled, nor does it leave residue on any surface. Touching it and handling it feels almost like handling a thin, silicone sack filled with oil, even though the surface tension of the liquid is fragile enough to allow it to pass through splayed fingers, a wide grate, or even a medium-fine mesh, such as that used to screen windows.
Physical & Chemical Properties
Theeksfur is resistent to both melting and freezing, displaying less than 5% change in viscosity when exposed to extreme temperatures in either direction. Likewise, theeksfur left on a countertop shows no sign of drying out or evaporating, even after nearly 5,000 of observation.
Theeksfur's most extraordinary property is displayed when it comes in contact with gold. This contact creates -- or perhaps, harnesses -- a bioelectrical charge unique to theeksfur. The strength of this charge is directly proportional not to the quantity of theeksfur present, but to the quality of its distillation.
Origin & Source
The electrochemical process for distilling blood into theeksfur is known as Technoalchemy, and it is strictly regulated by the Inter-island Theeksfur Council.
Life & Expiration
The only way to change the natural state of theeksfur is by depleting its bioelectrical charge. As this charge is drained, the theeksfur's bioluminescent glow dims and its mass condenses. Once the mass has been fully depleted, the dried crystalline remnants become highly reactive to oxygen. Therefore, most technomagical contraptions have capacitors that limit depletion to 95%, making the waste safe to handle.
Still, the careless, the desperate, the foolish, and the greedy will find ways of bypassing such safety features, almost always with disasterous results.
History & Usage
Hazards
Theeksfur itself has no known hazards in its natural state. It is only once its bioelectrical charge has been depleted that the crystalline remnants become dangerously reactive to oxygen. When exposed, these crystals -- known as dross -- immediately explode with a a force that is directly proportional to the crystalline mass of the dross.
Dross is so highly reactive, that a sand-sized grain exposed to the air inside a room will react with enough force to destroy everything in a 300 cm. radius. A crystalline matrix the size of a fist would destroy a large community.
It is for this reason -- as well as the requisite blood -- that the processes by which theeksfur can be made remain closely regulated knowledge.
It's kid's play slime that blows up when it dries out! How do you use it? It just gets put into the magic item?