Aether

A Modern Marvel From The Distant Past

Aether is a resource with many uses from fuel used in Aether engines on airships to ingredients in many foods and beverages. When the first Cities of Blue emerged, they did so in a cloud of Aether, bringing the substance into our world. The Quantum Fields, fields of blue flowers called Quantums that dwell beneath the blue cities, are a telltale sign of an ether deposit. Why Aether does what it does, as well as its relation to the blue cities, is anybody's guess but it allows flight without the use of hot air, propellers, and other, more physical means of travel.

A New State of Matter

Aether is gathered in motes, and each mote has solid core, with a warm liquid coating. The coating evaporates over time, indicated by the blue haze that surrounds the mote. Aether engines are focused on maintaining heat to allow the liquid to evaporate, and the solid core to liquify without rendering the gas unstable. Unstable Aether is purple and prone to exloding if disturbed.

While in its raw form it is primarily used as fuel, if frozen to a solid state it can be used in many other ways. This process involves blending the Aether with liquid nitrogen, which defines it and leaves ot in a permanent solid state. It is brittle and can broken down into a spice, often used in cooking and in beverages. It can also be used to activate systems in blue cities and attune to Quantum Keys.

The Taste of salt and mint

When consumed Aether tends to have an exceptionally strange taste. Some describe it as a salty, sweet, friuity, and earthy, often with the same cooling feeling that comes from consuming mint. The flavors and smells always change depending on what it is used in. When combined with food or a beverage, the taste and smell changes and eventually compliments the flavor and smell of what is around it as a chemical reaction occurs during the process. This chemical reaction leaves it in a consumable form that is somewhere between its refine state and its natural state. A blue smoke that seems to Glow will rise from the drink it is put in and the food will often feature similar qualities as well as glowing blue spots that's will appear in the food after cooking.

Aether and The Blue

Blue cities have a direct connection to Aether. They are powered by it, harvest it, and create it. Artifacts found in blue cities will likely need refined ether to activate and use.

The Imbued

The Imbued are the reanimated dead, created in an experiment of the Locksmith. They are not sentient or even self aware, but as time goes on, this may change. Many imbued regain past memories and become "alive" again. This creates a moral dilemma, as the imbued are used for labor due to their dependence on Aether and their immunity to its radiation. They consume the Aether to maintain their bodies and give them unnatural strength. Many imbued have already awoken and showed their "masters" great displeasure at quality of life.

Dangers

Apart from the radiation brought on by the gas, raw Aether is toxic in every way. Breathing the fumes can cause a slew of afflictions, consumption can kill you, and the slightest amount of heat can trigger a reaction, leaving the Ether unstable and prone to explosion. This makes harvesting it difficult. The only true way to harvest safely is taking advantage of the blue cities. The blue cities have their own way of collecting matured deposits and they store them inside their own vaults. Finding the vault and collecting the spoils will give a high yield of raw Aether. No one has found a safe method of pulling it from the ground by any other means. Apart from taking great care when striking a vein to chip of a mote and wearing heat and radiation resistant clothing, there is little one can do to prevent a meltdown of the entire deposit.