Vusinium

Elemental Quiddity

Used by the magical elite and named after the deity of arcane innovation and invention, this heavy gas magnifies the output of spells.

Among arcane practitioners there have been debates for millennia about the source (or sources) of magic; how it functions and why it obeys certain natural laws while disregarding others.

One of the greatest and most shocking discoveries the Dannamore has made was proving the existence of a 'magic' element - a literal and measurable element with such powerful situational and mutable effects that it can be manipulated in innumerable ways.

As a joke, the student who discovered this element named it 'Elemental Quiddity' to represent how absurd the existence of such an element is. Roughly translated from an ancient scholastic human language, Elemental Quiddity means 'basic 'whatness'' of the element.

Originally it was theorized that the element was actually some kind of anomaly or residue left by a previous experiment, however after extensive testing it was discovered that the gas is in fact a newly discovered, naturally occuring, transient element.

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Unfinished Thoughts

Magical alloy that makes combining magic with science much more powerful. How is this discovery/element viewed? Is it offensive to some magic-users? Is it's existence known to everyone or closely guarded or monitored? Each school of magic has a version of it, like Periodic Elements?

Properties

Material Characteristics

Vusinium is a colourless, odorless, and tasteless gas that can't be detected by Arcana unless present in large quantities. At standard temperature and pressure, vusinium forms a monatomic gas with a density of 9.73 kg/m3, approximately eight times heavier than the average atmosphere. Vusinium is the densest known gas and is slightly cool to the touch.

Although colourless at standard temperature and pressure, when cooled below its freezing point of (−71 °C), vusinium emits a brilliant blue radioluminescence that turns from cyan to deep-red as the temperature lowers. Upon condensation, vusinium glows because of the intense radiation it produces. Vusinium is not very soluble in water, but it is appreciably more soluble in organic liquids, like saliva or blood.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Vusinium is classified as an inert gas, and left alone has an extremely long half-life. It is nonreactive to most common chemical reactions, such as combustion, but given the appropriate conditions and combination of effects can produce incredible and powerful effects: this is the true value of vusinium.
Theoretical studies on this molecule predict that it should have an extreme enhancing effect when included in the process of spell-casting.

Compounds

Because of its cost, experimental research is seldom performed with vusinium, and as a result there are very few reported compounds. Due to the scarcity of resources, it has not been possible to study the compound in great detail, however it has been proven as a viable component in nearly every form of spell-casting.

Ancient Secrets

The Ancient Eiyudi people used raw vusinium dust in their steel to craft nearly indestructable chains that weighed whatever the sailor holding it wanted it to weigh. It was their first and last foray into metascience that their ancestors will likely never know about but will always suffer for.

Type

Elemental / Molecular

Odor

None; in solid state it emanates a sweet scent similar to hazelnut

Taste

Dirt-like

Color

Invisible

Boiling / Condensation Point

-62'C

Melting / Freezing Point

-72'C

Density

9.73 g/L

Common State

Gas