Seaglass Slime

Known by sailors as Seaglass Slime, Deep Sea Jelly, or even Diver's Resin, this rare translucent adhesive substance is highly valued by guilds, nations, and pirates alike due to its unique submersible properties and its ability to allow people to breathe underwater.
Harvested from great slime colonies found beneath floating islands, chunks of undersea landfalls, and even shipwrecks and sunken cities, this thick tree sap-like jelly has evolved the Age of Exploration in innumerable ways.

Properties

Physical & Chemical Properties

Freshly harvested Seaglass Slime resembles an exceptionally clear gel with hints of blue-green prismarine coloration. This color continues in darkness, where it gains a soft turquoise bioluminescence that is bright enough to light small rooms. When spread thin, it becomes nearly invisible, while in bulk, it appears as a purely aquamarine gelatin cube.

One of the most amazing things about the slime is that it is remarkably stable and consistant across a wide range of temperatures. In ordinary temperatures, it exists as a highly viscous gel. However, it does possess some strange properites. While it can be frozen, it remains extremely flexible, resembling frosted jade and can be carved cleanly into blocks. Boiling the slime releases turquoise vapors and the substance shrinks, as the entire cellular structure breaks down.

While freshly harvested slime can only really be held in storage for about 30 days before breaking down, the careful refining process can extend its lifetime by years - allowing it to be stored safely for at least a decade or more.

Origin & Source

Slime by Midjourney.ai

Seaglass Slime is collected from the same place they gain their namesake. Seaglass Slimes, often called Sea Jellies, form large scale colonies on the underside of sunken landmasses which allow them to float in the Bottomless Ocean. These colonies appear as floating reefs of translucent slime ranging hundreds of feet across, all surrounding a mother slime, called a "Sea Mother."

Because the slime can regrow and repopulate over several years, Seaglass colonies can become fiercely protected resources in which guilds or even nations may compete over for ownership.

Despite their immense size and corrosive nature, Seaglass Slimes are inherently nonaggressive creatures. When located for harvesting, crews often drop scented buoys that release calming agents into the water that soothe the creatures. Seaglass Slimes possess a thick, outer slime that protects their more viscious insides, this outer layer is what can be removed gently and carefully through shaving without causing pain or harm. Ivory, bone, or even obsidian tools are used for this process, as steel can often times cut too deep into the filament, harming the slime and causing the colony to attack.

Metal buckets are lowered carefully, without splashing, to gather the sheets of prismarine outer slime and carried back up to the vessel for separating the seawater from. As the water is removed, the slime becomes sticky and tacky in nature as the slime is stored in wax-lined barrels for transport. Experienced harvesting crews can safely collect 20 barrels of raw Seaglass Jelly in a full day. During transport, the slime is given seawater to remain malleable and to prevent deterioration of the slime membrane.

History & Usage

Everyday use

When spread across a ship's hull, Seaglass Slime remains inert and almost unseeable from a distance until it is immersed into sea water. By utilizing equipment such as Flood Ballasts, ships can gain the ability to sink beneath the water freely and with little effort.
As the ship begins its descent into the ocean, a reaction begins to occur. Millions of vesicles within the slime awaken, instantly repelling and consuming seawater before releasing oxygen, carbon dixiode, and other gaseous chemicals that mimic a breathable atmosphere within the bubble.

Ship in bubble by Midjourney.ai

While most air-filled bubbles would shoot violently towards the surface, Seaglass Slime becomes neutrally bouyant as it expands. This is done by forming an invisible membrane that maintains a portion of the seawater it consumes, allowing it to match the weight of the displaced water. By doing this, the only determining factor of whether the ship rises or sinks is the Flood Ballasts, giving ship crews full control under the ocean.
While inside the bubble, air pressure gradually normalizes within a matter of minutes. Once complete, people within the bubble can breath and burn fires normally. Sound from outside the bubble will be heavily muffled, as the slime consumes seawater to maintain itself and the atmosphere inside. The bubble is nearly invisible while underwater, with the exception of Seaglass Slimes' pearlescent surface, allowing it to act as a second protective hull around the ship.

Limitations

While incredibly versatile, this substance does have limitations that can be hazardous.
If a ship descends too quickly, the sticky membrane will begin to fail. Hairline cracks will appear in the bubble as it tries to consume more and more sea water to maintain buoyancy. Heat can also provide troubles with the bubble, as volcanic vents and undersea dragons can cause the coating to deteriorate quickly as it loses its viscosity. Finally, damage can be become troublesome as well. If cannon fire or a sea monster manages to break the coated hull, the membrane weakens causing water to flood into the bubble.
One of the least considered threats to Seaglass Slime is time though. While refined inert slime can last for nearly a decade, slime used on ships does need to be recoated every few months as the expansion and shrinking of the slime causes wear and tear on the membrane Overused Seaglass Slime becomes tacky, eventually to the point of downright stickiness, so prompt removal of damaged or otherwise unusable slime is of paramount importance to sailors.

Texture

Sticky, like tree resin, until wet.

Odor

Wet limestone

Taste

Very salty, with a slight tingling sensation.

Color

Crystal clear, with blue-green hues

Related Species

• Seaglass Slime

Not Just Ships!

Colloquially known as Divers' Resin, sailors can purchase tins of this remarkable substance for personal use.

Seaglass Slime, when infused with delicious flavors, is sold as a small candy that can allow users to breath underwater. All one must do is chew until malliable and blow, a bubble should form from your lips and engulf your head and create breathable air from seawater.

Candy drops by Midjourney.ai

Now available in such flavors as:

Resilient Rosehip

Grapefruit Grapeshot

Outrageously Orange Mango

Looters' Lemon-Lime

and

Guilesome Guavpaya!

All flavors are infused with citrusy, planty goodness to help combat seaborne illnesses like scurvy and rotbite!