Magical Gaseous Catalyst

Dear Colleague,

We emulated the tests you have proposed in your last writing. As per your suggestion, we introduced a mixture of air with 45% Neonic Gas to the setup and infused the crystal with the same amount of heat magic as before. Where the crystal had before started to slightly glow and give off heat based on the amount of magic, the result with the gas mixture was remarkably higher than before.

However, we won't be able to conduct any experiments in the near future. The destruction of our laboratory and the surrounding structures was more total than anticipated. The necessary paperwork will keep us busy for months.

A magical gaseous catalyst is an otherwise chemically inert gas that acts as a catalyst for magical transfer or processes in solid crystals, often increasing the magical effect of said crystal or sometimes even transforming it slightly.

When introducing a certain mix of gasses like Neonic, Helionite or Xenion to a system with any solid body with magical properties, subsequent magical bursts will have an increased effect on said solid material. For example, a rather weak Kinegem that is able to move a light object for a few hours could be made more potent in suddenly pushing an object a hundred times heavier than its normal maximum for a short time.

Some mixtures have some odd side-effects, however. Instead of simply increasing the potential, they transform and warp both the solid material as well as the magic that was given off. This has led to both beneficial effects - such as a possible way to dissolve the dreaded Blue Steel Taint from tainted steel - and severe negative effects, such as a sudden biological degradation of the surrounding material. One team of scientists report they were having trouble with some aggressive tentacles sprouting from their clothing as a result.

In the case of increasing a solid's potential, the law of magical energy conservation is never violated - The energy given off is still the same, simply the timeframe has shortened and the transfer rate has increased significantly. This effect alone opens up a wide range of new applications, significantly propelling the development of crystal powered machinery forward. Some possible alchemical applications are being currently researched as well.

This effect was first discovered and is widely used in the Daylight Crystallamp, where the moderately lightly glowing Grinna Amber is mixed with Neonic Gas as well as some Sulfuric Gas to increase the lighting capacity enormously. It is difficult to gauge the changes this had on the growing industry in the world, however, many production facilities are now able to work for longer and with a safer source of light - increasing their productivity significantly.

The negative side-effects of the Gaseous Catalyst are still researched. There are speculations, that some effects of the dreaded necromancy can be explained with these effects, as well as the spreading taint in various locations, for example in the Old Coppania Lowlands.