Auton
You, Kalmosag Saranagi, have been convicted by a jury of your peers on one count of operating an aircraft while under the influence, one count of flying under the height limit in a high-density environment, two counts of disturbance of the peace, and one count of criminal property damage. You will serve your sentence in civilian rehabilitation at an Algorian prison. You may apply for your release in 18 months or after legally extracting 10 grams of auton and delivering it to prison officials.Auton, the lifeblood of The World Federation of Quantan(WFQ). It is essential to the Federation's energy production and transportation, but in order to maintain itself the WFQ needs a constant supply. For this problem, they have found a few clever solutions.
Extraction
History
Quantan's natural deposits of auton were depleted long ago. Instead, the Federation must look beyond its home to Algoria, the storm world. When auton despoites were discovered on Algoria in the 1500s prospectors were overjoyed. It was the exact thing the WFQ needed as Quantan's natural resources waned. However, they soon found that setting up any automated mine attracted nogi, destructive worm-like creatures with an appetite for electricity. This left no option but to mine the veins by hand. But who would do it? The Federation's population had long since outgrown the prospect of manual labor. But the prisons, they were full. The recently passed "Public Sanitation and Decency Bill" had brought stricter regulations around what citizens of urban areas can and can't do with their free time or property. Citizens could be fined for not keeping a clean yard or building face and if not paid, fines could quickly turn into prison time. The need for manual labor and the new surplus of inmates brought the WFQ to rework its entire penal system. Now instead of prison time, convicts were given a weight of auton that they had to extract in order to win their freedom with exceptions for a short list of major offenses that could land you with a life sentence.Today
The auton mines of algoria are hot, dark, and deadly. Miners work by chemical lights with hand tools and small explosives. Too much electricity runs the risk of attracting nogi and too large a blast could draw other, more terrifying creatures. Auton in Algoria's larger shafts is rare, but given the mines' infastructure and relative safety, they are still popular locations for those seeking their freedom. These places are brutal. While people may work together to clear blast areas or dig out new tunnels all hell breaks loose when the blue-green glow of auton crystals shines into the work site. Some opt to move beyond the mines in search of new deposits or to make a new life among the the People of Algoria.
Proporties and Appearance
Auton in its natural form is a blue crystal. It glows with an inner light when near living things, channeling the faint lucid sparks inside them. It is theorized to develop in areas where the Void has directly interacted with the the Darkness. It is relatively common on hell worlds like Araborea and Algoria and was once abondant on Quantan where the Void first broke free of the Darkness's grip. Auton in its unrefined form has limited usage. Practitioners of manipulation magic can use it to enhance their spells and it can be used as a crude indicator of life from its glow. But when refined auton can be used the warp the fabric of the Void and bend the reality of its wielder's wins.Use
Auton once melted to purity can be injected into a specialized alloy of carbon steel, copper, and a number of other metals. In this form Auton is often cast into 9 to 10-foot rods. In this form auton has strange properties, to say the least. When electricity is run through it they shine a bright blue and emit massive amounts of energy. If left with a continuous electrical current running through it, an auton rod will disintegrate itself. However, when put together in a circular configuration they will stabilize each other and their energy can be directed. Thus you have the auton engine, the WFQ's primary propulsion mechanism. Auton rods are also used to produce energy. Usually, they are put in a slightly unstable configuration and used to create steam. A network of ten rod can make almost a full gigawatt hour of electricity over its lifetime of about 5 years.Auton Readings
Auton is at the center of a relgious group that is based mostly in Algoria. This group, which is mostly female, refers to itself as the Sisterhood of the Living Light. They use auton in rituals of divination that usually involve the rubbing of smoothed crystal marbles on thier necks and wrists. The instesity and coloration of the marbles' glow is said to show the subject's past the future. To miners and government officials alike the Sisterhood is the nucusenc at best. They frequently attack mines and are infamous for hording the presious metals in their secret lairs.
Type
Metal
