Abhainn Réalta (Aven Railte (approximately))

At long last Abhainn Réalta has made its appearance again. Ready your umbrellas, your buckets, your scrapers and your empty wallet. The universe will bless us with its most valuable treasure soon.

Geography

The Abhainn Réalta flows on a seemingly endless path through space. It can be seen for eleven months every thirty-seventh year of each century. During the ninth month, it approaches close enough to shower the planet's surface in mild mists of water and goatmilk infused with a component commonly referred to as stardust.
The scholars of the Old continent have established that the planets are moving within the solar system and this phenomenon strongly suggests that either the Abhainn Réalta, the solar systems or both must be moving in a constant and fixed pattern as well.
There are reports of a similar phenomenon on different planes.

Ecosystem

Due to the consistency of the phenomena, it is easy for researchers to prepare for studying it. As such, researchers from magic academia and rich countries built contraptions and write spells as the event gets closer in order to gain data. The first record recounting the observation through a telescope from 3037 describes the Abhainn Réalta as a 'flowing collection of colours entwined with white silk'.
It wasn't until two centuries later that the researchers managed to identify the coloured specks as crystals and the white silk as some kind of liquid.

Sample

When High mage Avalian Brightstorm, the leader of Kiyi, joined in on the fun he used his dragon form and a set of magic armour to defend against the vacuum and cold of space. He flew up to the Abhainn Réalta and took a sample. The sensation of approaching the Abhainn Réalta was described as' Being crushed and torn apart at the same time by existence itself'. He refused all further requests for getting another sample.
When the researchers bowed themselves over the sample for research they concluded that the coloured crystals his majesty had grabbed had disintegrated into the well-known stardust. The colourless crystals had melted into clear water and the white liquid that had stumped them for years was... Goat milk. Which really didn't clarify anything.

Abhainn Réalta

by MPoel

Natural Resources

The Abhainn Réalta contains vast amounts of a substance referred to as stardust by the common people. However, educated magic users refer to it as Primal crystals.

Primal crystals/ stardust

Studies suggest that stardust has taken on the form of clear, colourful crystals that range from the size of a baby gnome's fist to an adult human's head. These crystals shatter into tiny dust pieces upon entering the atmosphere, causing the coloured mist and leaving behind equally colourful spots during the ninth month.
This dust, as many researchers believe, is essential for the refilling of mana on Thieve. It is an important cycle in the grand scheme of things to replenish the magic potential.

Use of primal crystals

Stardust quickly washes away and gets soaked in by the earth with the first downfall of rain or heavy mist condensation. Both are plentiful while the Abhainn Réalta lightly graces Thieve's atmosphere. Knowing this, magic users, merchants and even common folk hoping for a big break scramble to scrape the dust off of any surface they can find.
Primal crystal is a uniquely powerful magical substance and the ideal catalyst or power source for a big spell. Even a pinch can make making a portal to another plane ten times easier. It is even said that half a teaspoon is enough to revive a person from nothing. Of course, its short period of collection time means it is incredibly rare and this half teaspoon would be worth 5000gp if one can find it.

History

The Abhainn Réalta has only two myths surrounding its creation and although many theories exist on its origin nothing has been confirmed. Both myths are attributed to Cailleach.

Remnants

When the universe was Created not everything was perfect right away. many things were made and then destroyed again to make room for new, improved things.
As such, before the current universe there existed another, one where Order ruled supreme and Ceridwen saw to it that everything followed its predestined path. Things rarely changed as Order deemed everything to be perfect.
Chaos did not agree. They looked at this universe and saw it was stagnant, like putrid water. So they send Cailleach to throw out the bad water. Naturally Ceridwen did not stand by and let this happen. Their fight shook the universe and tore it apart, reducing it to nothing but shards and dust.
When the two deities finally stopped nothing was left. And so they started anew with a balanced universe, slowly building it with the remnants of the old. Now, the only remnant of that universe is Abhainn Réalta.

Hag and goat

by MPoel

The old Hag and the Goat

An old legend from long before the last war of the gods seems to have some analogies in relation to Abhainn Réalta.
During the early stages of humanoïd existence, a small tribe of people travelled the world in search of food and a safe place to stay. The world was populated with many hungry creatures and draughts had plagued the area.
When they crossed paths with an old lady and her scraggly goat they begged her to trade the goat in exchange for half their possessions.
"I shall not trade you the goat," the hag said "But find me two items and I shall trade you all the milk that I get from it until you return."
"What is it you desire?" asked the group.
"I want a rainbow seashell the size of your fist from the western coast and a bouquet of dried flowers from the fields in the south."
The people protested, saying that travelling that far was at least eight days for a roundtrip in each direction. Not to mention that there was no guarantee she'd still be there when they returned. In the end, they split the group into three. One would travel to the western sea, the second would go to southern fields and the third would keep an eye on the old hag and her goat while she diligently milked the goat every day.
When the two groups returned on the ninth day the old lady took the dried flowers and the colourful seashell they brought back, crushed them and mixed the dust into the goat's milk.
When the group asked her what she was doing she replied "It will taste better".
When a few of them got angry at her for ruining the milk and wanted to take the scraggly goat by force, both the hag and the goat shattered into tiny ice crystals.
Seeing this the group resigned themselves and consumed one large jug of milk every day for three days. When the last drop of milk left the jug, the whole group felt revitalised and awoke to strange energy. This is how the first magic users were born.

What if it was to dissapear?

Thieve is a high-magic world and the Abhainn Réalta ensures it continues that way by delivering mana in its purest form.
Ordinarily the effects from the primal crystals would not be sensed. The most noticeable effect that can be noted within a century is the birth rate of magically gifted individuals. This number is at its lowest right before the river's arrival and at its highest right after the ninth month. Which is an increase of around 10%.
If the Abhainn Réalta were to disappear one day, the immediate consequences wouldn't be felt for quite a while. It would take at least half a millennia before the birth rate of mages has fallen to 50% compared to when the river last passed and even longer before the scarcity of mana affects spells.
It is believed that magic would dissipate so slowly that the public would simply have forgotten it ever existed in the first place by the time it is completely gone. It would be nothing more than a fantastical element in the stories told to children. A creation of the imagination.
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Type

Natural Wonder

Owner/Ruler

Cailleach