Summary
One of the most beautiful and exotic sights upon
Veltrona, fields of crysium have ever inspired artists into capturing their gem-like splendor and odd, but captivating structural growths. Whether it be with the sun's magnificient rays refracting through their clear surfaces, or the powerful, concentrated
mana within twinkling, swirling, and moving to an alien dance, there's been no end of works concerning them. All the moreso that those who deal in
magic–such as
mages or
cultivators–have had great interest in crysium as a material source. Where their often rich and powerful interests look, many others certainly follow.
When
manarium becomes sufficiently 'dense' or concentrated with mana, a crystallization process begins within the ore. The mana becomes encapsulated and stored within a crystal structure, which then amplifies the mana's energetic properties even more. The result is a self-growing crystal structure, aspected toward one principle mana type, that continues to evolve into increasingly complex, richer structures. In this form, crysium itself essentially becomes a 'mana generator', conspiring to draw in or create more and more mana.
From its initial, grass-like growth, it sprouts up, growing into spectacular looking tree-like forms. As crysium matures, and becomes even more concentrated with its amassing mana, it solidifies into columns of highly geometric shapes. In some respects resembling bismuth or basalt, these seemingly perfect, self-replicating designs have fascinated people for countless generations. There isn't any real idea what the 'final form' of crysium may be, if it has any. Even the most gargantuan of crysium deposits (rumored to stand over entire castles) have either been strip mined out, or have yet to grow into a newer, more distinct form.
To say crysium is valuable would be a dramatic understatement. Whole wars have been fought over crysium fields, and even the hint of one emerging is enough to draw powerful attention.
As a source of mana, it is single-handedly capable of powering all sorts of incredibly demanding magics. Mages who, otherwise lacking the internal capacity, can utilize crysium sources to achieve remarkable results. Enchantments and other static forms of magic essentially treat crysium components like batteries, siphoning steady and reliable mana to run uninterrupted.
For some engineering projects, an invaluable component entire branches of technology wouldn't be possible without. Architects absolutely love utilizing it in construction, creating surreal and stunning designs in a display of skill and opulence. Some historians even argue it was the envy for even more crysium that led civilizations to develop silicate-based glass.
And, perhaps even more curiously, gourmet foods.
Despite its gem-like appearance, the actual 'crystal' structure of crysium is either salt or sugar based. If one can overcome its supernatural durability, crysium itself is in fact entirely edible, even to non-manavore based life. Due to its relative rarity and extreme demand, crysium as an ingredient is typically a hallmark of exorbitant wealth. No end of people go in search of it for such a purpose, as safely consuming crysium can potentially make one even more permanently powerful. It is a fairly common thing among cultivators, for example.
Those who are not careful, however, may fall victim to
crystalsis–a deadly condition where pieces of crysium begin to grow inside a living being, and ultimately try to turn
them into more crysium.
Though its been derided as a malevolent force as a result, crysium itself simply grows regardless of the circumstances around it. This growth is driven by the heavily concentrated mana within, which slowly destabilizes the surrounding environment, surges its own mana intensely, and the crysium growth expands to contain the newly acquired mana. Veltrona is long used to such an affair, tempering crysium's ceaseless nature through manavores, a robust ecosystem, and sometimes the crysium itself just destabilizes and crumbles.
Nonetheless, crysium itself is a fairly rare material to encounter. Manarium needs to already be present, and then further charged with mana to such an extent to start crystallization. In a natural environment, young patches of crysium grow slow, while older ones either grow fast or are stagnant against the surrounding ecosystem. It can make finding a prime field of crysium even trickier, but all the more desirable as a result.
There are certain events that can result in the explosive growth of crysium. These 'crysium eruptions' happen when crysium is able to condense more mana, but not necessarily grow further. Like fuel being poured into an ever expanding bucket, these supercharged crysium deposits eventually ignite and erupt in a catastrophic event. Crysium flash grows within seconds across dozens to hundreds of meters, tides of mana annihilate the surrounding landscape, and the high energy emissions cause great ecological disruption.
As a result, surveying for manarium and crysium is important to do on a regular basis. Entire settlements, oblivious to the crysium underneath them, have been destroyed by these sudden eruption events. While the resulting crysium presents a wealth beyond comparison, one must be alive and well to have any hope of using said wealth.
Physical Characteristics
The basic structure of crysium is always consistent in being either salt or sugar based, but its growth patterns can differ significantly. The type of mana the crysium embodies influences what structures it usually takes on. A simple summary of their structures will be listed:
Veltron-aspected favor highly geometric, but simplistic and smooth forms of crystal.
Fire-aspected appear like eruptions frozen in time, jagged, erratic, and strangely chaotic against the orderly foundations they grow from.
Wind-aspected favors swirling, encircled growths that allows it to flow without impediment through the crystal.
Water-aspected have bulbous, container-like growths that are connected through rigid 'arms' resembling pipes or channels.
Metal-aspected have very jagged, orderly growths that feature sharp angles, strong cube/rectangular shapes, and a heavy sense of stagnation.
Tempest-aspected are a mixture of structured crystals, and then parts of crystal seemingly 'breaking free'. The raging tempest mana tries to escape, but then reverts back into its growth structure, making it seem both alive and violently temperamental.
Lightning-aspected form repeating prongs, pillars, and other tower-like configurations that lightning discharges between frequently. The lightning mana within violently swirls up and down the crystal structure, as if striking the ground, retreating to the heights, and then striking again.
Ice-aspected are renowned for their curving, smooth yet fierce edges and enticing swirls intermixed with sharply angular, snowflake-like growths. When in its own environment, the ice mana is very docile and floats with a shimmering beauty. When intruded upon, it aggressively swirls like a caged beast trying to defend itself.
Eclipse and radiant-aspected crysium are by far the rarest, and something that often only exist in legends. They're also unique in that the two are only ever found together, never separate. Their most well known form is a kind of central crystal spire that consists of the radiant mana, which is usually crystal twinned with eclipse mana. Unlike most other forms of crysium, this arrangement is both chaotic in what shape it takes, but predictable in that it will happen.
Ultimately, all forms of crysium veer toward titanic monoliths of varying degrees. Size is an appropriate measure of age for crysium, leading to the simplicity of 'older is bigger, and bigger has more mana'. This rule is largely universal, but in cases in which crysium cannot physically grow larger, it condenses instead. Such is what makes the aforementioned 'crysium eruption' events happen. In theory, if one can perfectly contain crysium, it will continue to condense further and further. What limit this has, if any, is unknown.
Crysium itself is also generally quite robust despite its salt and/or sugar basis, supernaturally so. Younger specimens are by far the frailest, easily splintering apart or shattering like sheets of glass when struck. These disruptions also violently release the mana they contain, and can lead to incredibly bizarre effects or dangerous explosions suddenly running rampant. It also amplifies the ever present concern of crystalsis as well.
Older specimens have not only well-deserved resilience, but also a general stability about them. They're unlikely to chain react or radically release dangerous amounts of mana unless their structure is seriously compromised. In such a case, the danger they do pose is far more than younger deposits. Where ever crysium is concerned, there is always some degree of risk involved, but circumstances change what kind of risks there are.
Hence, crysium jewelers, artisans, smiths, and the like have spent countless centuries refining their crafts to turn crysium into something safely usable. Properly processed crysium wares are eons beyond their wilderness growing kin, possessing fantastical safety, mana capacity, magical arts viability, and more.
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