Lemirus

This is magic made physical. Inside these crystals is enough arcane power to blow us all into the great barrier. I can't wait to start testing them

— Professor Quinn

Lemirus refers to the magical crystals that grow in areas with large amounts of ambient arcane magic. These crystals themselves contain and radiate this arcane magic creating a sort of feedback loop. The type and amount of crystal that grows are dependent on the type and abundance of the arcane magic present.
These crystals can be used for all manners of thing from spell and rituals to power sources and magical drugs.

Properties

Characteristic

Lemirus forms a hard transparent crystal of varying colours. A given crystal will grow to the size of a grape before new crystals begin to form around it. However, in areas with particularly strong ambient magic, there have been reports of crystals growing to the size of babies before this occurs. As crystals get larger or more crystal form in a cluster the amount of magic they produce and store increases. This results in larger grouping releasing bouts of their energy randomly into the surrounding area.

Elemental Variation

Lemirus grows by storing the arcane magic that surrounds it. As such it varies depending on the particular magic that it has grown from. The types of Lemirus and their corresponding arcane energies are as follows:

• White - Drained
• Yellow - Lightning
• Cyan - Frost/Ice
• Green - Nature
• Red - Fire
• Pink - Rejuvination/Life
• Black -Necrotic/Death

Magical Properties

To be able to control the intake and output of a crystal it must be processed into a Foci or Conduit. Otherwise, the only way to access the energy inside them is to break them and then magically manipulate the energy it releases. something only possible by those that get their power from the weave such as Wizards. If one is unable to control the arcane energy that is released it will do so explosively often with disastrous results for anyone nearby.
Lemirus crystals, due to their nature have special behaviours when they are brought into proximity of one another. Two reactions that can occur are known as Discordance or Kinship.

Discordance

Discordance occurs when crystals of opposing types are brought into proximity of one another. A violent reaction occurs in which the two crystals will annihilate and release a huge amount of arcane energy. This is normally in a large explosion but another common effect is that nearby object to be affected in strange ways by the out of control magical energy. Notable examples are teleportation, mutation, space warping along with a myriad of other strange and horrible outcomes.

The area that a discordance event will affect is based on the size and purity of the Lemirus crystals involved. For standard grape-sized crystals, anything within 5ft will be affected.

Discordance has been observed with the following combinations of Lemirus:

• Black & Pink
• Red & Cyan
• Green & Red
• Pink & Cyan
• Yellow & Black
• Green & Yellow

Kinship

Much like discordance kinship occurs when certain types of Lemirus come into proximity of one another. However, in Kinship, the crystals synergise with one another to produce useful magical effects. If a white crystal is placed nearby this blend of magic can be Imprinted on it allowing that crystal to store the new arcane energy, which could then be used in a Foci or Conduit.

The known groupings for Kinship are:

• Red, Purple & Yellow
• Cyan, Green & Black

Usage

Extraction

The extraction process of Lemirus is rather straight forward. As the crystals form inside of geodes, all that is required if for the geodes themselves to be extracted and then the rock casing to be removed, leaving behind a cluster of Lemirus crystals.
However, this must be done with care. If the crystals inside the geode are damaged while removing the outer shell then a violent jet of arcane energy would be released. This could easily cause harm to anyone nearby and if the deposit is large enough, to anything in the local area. Another danger associated with extracting Lemirus is the locations the deposits are found in. The high magical density associated with Lemirus deposits often drawing in powerful monsters or producing dangerous conditions.

Deposits can either by 'Active' or 'Dormant', Active deposits will grow as long as the area contains enough energy and is the main source of extracted Lemirus. However, the growth of deposits is rather slow. Dormant deposits no longer grow and do not have any arcane energy surrounding them. These deposits normally form when a large burst of energy is created from a ritual or other magical events.

Refinement

Foci

Foci are created when Lemirus crystals are melted down in special Arcane Crucibles that purify the Lemirus. The purified Lemirus is then cast into specific shapes which ease the process of both storing and drawing arcane flux from the crystal. Foci are often used in magical tools used by wizards in order to aid in spell casting. They are also used in conjunction with Conduits in order to supply the Conduits with flux.

Conduits

Conduits are created by first grinding Lemirus crystals down to a fine powder using special tools (which prevent flux release) then the power is infused with a large amount of additional Arcane Flux (often with the use of Confluxes). This causes the powder to become 'Entwined' with the Weave, allowing it to manipulate Arcane Flux that passes through it. Once this is done the powder is fused together to form a pattern which, when flux is passed through, causes a specific magical affect to occur depending on the pattern. Foci are often used in order to supply the Conduit with enough flux in order for it to operate.

Formation

Deposits of Lemirus grow in areas with strong arcane energies. These can be in locations such as Gates, or Ley Confluxes. However, there have been huge deposits found in magically deprived areas. In these instances, it is believed that these sites were once active, but as the Lemirus deposits grew beyond a critical mass they absorbed all the surrounding arcane energy.

A given deposit of Lemirus resembles that of a geode where the actual Lemirus crystals are surrounded by a hard rock coating. It has been noted that this exterior coating grows as the deposit inside of it grows, making many believe that this exterior coating is created by the crystals themselves. This has also given rise to the notion that Lemirus may have on some level an intelligence.

It should be noted though that not all Lemirus form in geode deposits. A notable exception to this trend is the Black Variant that can form in the roots of the Corpse Blossom. There are a number of other examples of non-geode formations that occur. However, common among all these outliers is that the formed deposits are very small. With these deposits normally only having 1-3 crystals present.

Flux Powder/Ether

Flux Powder/Ether is a magically infused drug created using Lemirus powder. Each variant of Lemirus can form its own Ether by mixing it with another substance. The resulting drug can then be consumed in order to give the user limited magical powers along with strong chemical effects. However, there is a danger in using Flux Powder as the side effects can be incredibly harmful, and when combined with how addictive the powder is leads many users to their death.
The known Varients of Ether are as follows:

• Black - Black Venom
• Pink - Pixie Seeds
• Yellow - Spark Juice
• Red - Hell's Kiss
• Cyan - Frozen Heart
• Green - Lotus Dust
• White - Void's Embrace