Blightsources
A festerfont's silver lining, or The Blight's insidious snare...
Blightsources:
Story:
There is a tale widely regarded to be fictional, but instructive, with respect to explaining the concept of blightsources and their value. Innumerable stories center around their worth, variations, and strange properties, but this one is simple enough to tell in a brief encounter. Long ago, a traveler upturned her pack over a merchant stall's wood counter. A small, bright green stone hit the table with a dull sound. The merchant, captivated by the color of the stone and, maybe, allured by something more, asked the traveler where she had found the stone. She didn't answer the question, and only asked what she could get for it. The merchant tried to bluff disinterest in the item, tossing back a low offer. The traveler accepted on the spot. She seemed eager to part with the item, as if carrying it was a burden. A year later, many more such stones flooded the marketplace. Other travelers would bring back similar items, knowing they could get a good price for them. However, most paid a terrible cost in blood and lives to make their livelihoods. That first merchant was at the center of an effort to unlock the worth of the stones beyond their base appearances. He became obsessed with the endeavor, neglecting and eventually losing his marriage, and even suffering business losses. Yet another year after that, the merchant learned two things about the original stone. The first was that, when subjected to fire, it could be used as a fuel source. This fuel source would come to revolutionize many industries in the following century. As for the second discovery, he never shared it with another soul. To the travelers who continued to sell the items to his stall, he understood that they already knew that second truth. They knew it without having to utter a word, and the knowledge horrified them. These resources are only found in festerfonts. They are of The Blight. Many such blightsources revolutionize industries, but they come at a cost. Oftentimes, the victim doesn't even know they've paid the price at all, but they have. Undeniably, they have.Intro:
Sometimes called 'Blight Resources', these strange materials can only be found within the bounds of festerfonts. Each unique festerfont will have a distinct composition of blightsources, with many variants entirely exclusive to specific biomes, festerfont configurations, and festerfonts saturations, and even the combinations of the three factors and more. Though harvesters and seekers are discovering new blightsources every year, only a few dozen are highly traded in markets. These are those with known and valued uses, while the others are still being studied for practical applications. From the first time these resources began to pass hands in the markets of the undeveloped world, they were easily distinguishable from the bounty of the natural world. Blightsources have properties that are far beyond the norm, from magical distortions or amplification to toxins potent enough to spread death across an entire city in a week. The latter is an extreme example, but suffice it to say traders far and wide salivate at the thought of upturning markets with blightsources.Description:
Over time, blightsources have been organized into groupings based on apparent features. This system of organization differs from region to region, but the Shrouded Theocracy uses a list of six major categories, each with subcategories clustered within. These are: 'blightstones', 'blightichors', 'blightfumes', 'blightflora', 'blightfungi', and 'blightanomalies'. Some blightsources are more or less useful than others. Some can be used as fuel, as magical catalysts, molded into armor, or store magical energies, among other applications. The Blightbane Guild serves as the most prominent buyer, consumer, and distributor of most varieties of blightsources. This is their major source of income and the backbone upon which they pay their staff, contractors, and bankroll research endeavors. Some Blight Seekers specialize in harvesting and transporting blightsources. They are known as 'Harvesters', but among them are the porters and guards. This work is more lucrative than taking on blightbeast culling contracts, but it comes with a unique set of risks. They must collect resources in a battlefield where they must trust that their guards can protect them, focusing on extracting what they need without damaging the product. For this reason, the Guild requires that all Harvesters be full seekers, trained to defend themselves if need be. However, if a Harvester needs to defend themselves, it is often too late.Blightsource Classification:
View the Interactive Classification Diagram
Properties
Origin & Source
Blightsources only appear in festerfonts, where Blight energies flow.
Type
Metamaterial
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