Aethercite

Aether is the leftover primordial force of creation, produced naturally by select ancient beings, but is rather scarce everywhere else. Compared to Mana that could create and destroy matter and energy, Aether can break physical laws entirely, producing effects that defy imagination.

While most humans and elves are able to naturally gather and store mana in their bodies through their Mana Lung, they cannot store aether except in the tiniest of amounts. Aether is otherwise rare on the surface world of Vreathe. Since it is required for casting the most powerful and complex Magic spells, people need a way to store it and carry it around. To do this, they carry around a piece of Aethercite, which is simply any object that can store aether. This can range from a simple piece of charcoal to a diamond.

Using aether in magic

Aether is not a requirement to cast magic, but the magic cast only with mana is simplistic, involving only the most basic of functions. One can use mana to destroy thermal energy, making something very cold very quickly. An experienced mage can combine this destruction of thermal energy with the creation of water using a specific combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen to create ice. No more can be done to the Ice beyond this simple creation and manipulation

With the addition of even small levels of aether, a mage can create an ice crystal in any shape they desire, even giving it a temporary life of its own, allowing it to move in imposible ways. This ice crystal might give off light of its own and can be manipulated to grow, shrink, split apart, or explode on command.

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The supply of aether in the ashes and embers of creation are said to be infinite but it is too far away to be used by the people of Vreathe. The Olimians were said to have built giant ships that could leave the world but not even they could retrieve it.

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Aethercite

Aethercite is simply any object that stores aether naturally. Through countless years of research, it was discovered that three elements of nature and their compounds are able to store aether: Carbon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen. Charcoal and bones can be used as aethercite, but once the supply of aether is used up, the object dissolves to ash. Crystals such as Quartz and Diamonds do not get destroyed when they run out, but finding crystals that have stored aether requires mining deep into the earth.

Not every crystal found will have aether in it. the simplest way to tell is to charge the crystal with mana. If the object doesn't have aether, it will give off a warm glow, reflecting the colors of the crystal. If the object has aether, it will do something unnatural, such as becoming magnetic or giving off the wrong colored light. A blood red ruby aethercite crystal for example will give off blue light and this light will not mix with the ruby's natural color. An Emerald will become magnetic. A Topaz crystal will become weightless. If the crystal has very large quantities of aether in it, then it will do this even without charging with mana.

A selection of Aethercite materials

Image	Description
	Charcoal Because plants are unintelligent, they never technically cast magic, but being living things they can store it in small amounts. Throughout their lives, ambient energies will flow into them and be stored in the wood, mana and aether both. When a tree is cut down, the wood can be heated in a kiln, reduced to blackened chunks. These pieces of charcoal contain minimal amounts of aether, but still more than the average person has inside them. They usually only last for a spell or two, and when the spell is cast, the aethercite will crumble into dust. Poorer mages often carry around a bag of charcoal in order to cast more powerful spells.
	Drake Hide Drakes are lesser dragons, who are offspring of the Dragon Lords. Drakes are relatively feral and unintelligent, and do not normally cast magic. Being technical dragons, they do produce aether naturally, though in extremely small amounts. Drakes are often hunted for their meat and skins. A Drake Scale has as much aether in it as a piece of charcoal and wont disappear when the supply of aether is depleted. Drake scales (as well as the magical scales of any animal) are considered varieties of Aethercite.
	Diamond Made of Carbon, diamonds are both the ultimate mana battery and the ultimate aether battery. Aethercite Diamond will turn black when charged with mana or the aether level is high enough. It will seem to swallow any and all light around it. Natural aethercite diamonds are extraordinarily rare, being known from just one source, the Moon Nodan. This second, lesser moon of Vreathe has the corpse of a Dragon Lord, that of Anarian the Diamond. When he crashed into Nodan long ago, he created a gigantic black scar on the moon. Pieces of his crystallized body made their way to Vreathe. These dragon stars are black as night and apear like voids, and only a handful are known to exist.

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Sources of Aethercite

Back in the early days of Vreathe, aether was as bountiful as the stars in the sky. In current times, it is quite rare and normally locked up in aethercite buried deep under the surface of Vreathe. Accessing it can be difficult at times, but there are still ways of accessing it.

Aethercite Mines of Rosika

The Island of Rosika is a large island in Southwest Cassel. The aethercite mines on the island are said to have the largest deposit of magic crystals in the known world. The Empire of Irellith and the Kingdoms of Cassel have gone to war with each other numerous times over the last thousand years for control of the mines.

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Graverobbing

Bones buried in the earth will naturally gather aethercite over long periods of time, similar to living trees. Animal bones aren't that difficult to acquire, but human bones often yield more magical power. Many graveyards have been dug up and robbed of their bones for the aethercite. There are usually protections put in place in modern graveyards to prevent this. Ancient tombs, like the many found in the Valley of Kings, also have numerous traps in them to prevent this from happening.

Dragon Craters

The Dragon Lords were composed almost entirely of pure aether. When they died, their bodies came crashing into the earth creating large impact craters, spreading chunks of their mostly crystalized bodies all over the world. Most of this aethercite was already been harvested and used many thousands of years ago, but finding a crystal or two isn't difficult if one is determined. The Loralkas Crater is one example. The Corruption of Maeos is another example.

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The Sun Valley

Located in Northeastern Cassel, the Sun Valley is a mystical place with only one resident, the fairy Xana. Aethercite crystals are so numerous they lay on the ground in the open and the valley is covered in a fine mist of glowing magic. The problem with getting it is that Xana doesn't appreciate visitors on her land. She once turned an entire Casselian army into animals for attempting to invade.