Zedonia

Deep into the caves of Greze Urngorr, mysterious egg-shaped objects lie frozen in stone. A faint hue distinguishes them from any other fossil, showing a semblance of life. This essence is a treasured resource. Once extracted and turned into a crystal, it slowly releases energy that can power machinery for years that would otherwise require many mages to keep running. However, it is a finite resource, and eventually it will run out; are the people of Eshil prepared for that?

The pickaxe lands with a dull thud on what seems like stone. Odd.. it always slices through like butter. Danmir takes a closer look at the stone he just hit. An eerie black hue emerges from the small crack.
"Dhomec!" He yells through the cavern wall. "I got one!"
"Awesome!" It sounds far away. "I'll sent a bird up to get the extraction team!"

Discovery of Old

Centuries ago, the Mandri living in Matona did everything by hand. The mountains made life even more difficult. Man, woman, and child, led labour intensive lives, which cost their clans many people. Continuously, they were looking for alternatives to make the hard tasks better to handle.
One day, a scout stumbles upon a calcified egg that was brought to the surface by volcanic activity. The heat of the lava caused the fossilised outside to crack and crumble a bit. The light emitting from the core stood out to the scout, and he brought it back to the village. The dwarfs didn't know what to do with it exactly, so they sent it to their friends in Chikomo.
A group of mages from the local mage tower studied the egg-shaped object intensively. While they couldn't determine what it was exactly, they did find a way to extract the life essence that it held. The Mandri kept sending more of these objects to the mages to continue their studies. Eventually, they managed to turn the essence of the egg into a crystal that slowly released a form of energy. The mages named the object Zedonia, meaning "life from the mountains". The name refers to both the raw material (the egg), and the refined crystal.
This newfound power source excellerated the industrial growth of the region. At first in Matona, where the scouts found a large open space in Greze Urngorr filled with Zedonias. Here, the dwarves developed the technology to extract them and refine them more efficiently. Limani, and more specifically the Limani Supplies Dealer, benefited greatly from the crystals as it helps them run the factories for the shipyard and building vehicles. The mages in Chikomo have been able to extrapolate their studies to more day to day uses with smaller Zedonia crystals, which has helped the rise of the Kingdom of Illtresi immensely.

"Extraction team is here, Danmir! Light up a flare will you!"
The dwarf chucks a long stick on the wall. The sparks coming off ignite a cold fire from the tip end showing bright green. Danmir throws the burning stick in the direction of Dhomecs voice.

Moments later, a small team of dwarfs arrive with a large barrel-looking machine.
"Where's it?"
"At the axe, black hue," Danmir answers pointing at his pickaxe still sticking out of the Zedonia.
The other dwarf nods and gets to work. With his colleague, they carefully pick along the egg to make more space for the machine. At least half of the egg must be exposed so the machine can fit around it. On the backside, Danmir spots the tiniest blue Zedonia powering the twelve nails inside the machine. A deafening noise echoes through the cavern as all twelve nails strike into the surrounding rocks. The Zedonia is free! The dwarfs put the machine back on the ground and lift the lose egg into the barrel to take back with them.

"Nicely done, what is your mining number?"
"42069."
"We'll make sure to put it on your record."

Zedonia Crystal by Milad Fakurian

Type

Organic

Rarity

Very Rare

Density

Very Dense

Common State

Calcified

Related Locations

• Greze Urngorr

Related Professions

• Miner

Actual Nature

The Zedonia indeed an egg, a very very old one. It stems from the time when dragons were still roaming the plains of Hesli millenia ago. They are, in fact, dragon eggs. The majority of the living population nowadays doesn't know this. The only ones who knew about the true nature of the Zedonia were the Haldir.

This group was reliant on the Zedonia to quench their addiction to draconic blood. When the miners of Matona first came into contact with these dwarfs, they were mercilessly slaughtered for "stealing" the treasure of the Haldir. This lead to the conflict, better known as the Haldir Frenzies.

The Kingdom of Illtresi and the governing body of Matona never learned why the Haldir needed the Zedonia to survive. It is the sole reason why its secret is still safe.

It is the magical properties that the mages from Chikomo have discovered, but they are not aware of its true nature yet. For now, they are happy to have a sustainable source of power.

Tread carefully!

Contains Secrets!