Prismium

Prismium is the coursing lifeblood of modern industry and the backbone of magical technology. The discovery of this valuable mineral was the trigger, alongside the advent of rune-circle based casting and the advent of the science of wizardry, for the magical revolution in which arcane machines designed by mage-scholars and powered by manastone changed the lives of billions and rewrote the rules of society as we know them.
Pulsing with arcane power, manastone was the perfect fuel for the voracious appetites of the roaring magical mechanisms that are now ubiquitous across Zenith.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Manastone in its natural form is a rainbow-colored faintly glowing translucent crystal. Refined manastone can take many forms depending on the process used, but most are one form or another of clear, bright blue, brilliantly glowing, glassy crystals.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Manastone is a solid crystalline mineral. It is tangibly energetic and sparks with magical power. The raw ore is a random rainbow of color, but refined manastone ingots and concentrated liquid elixirs of enriched manastone are bright blue. Manastone processed into elemental powders tend to take on a color matching the element, i.e. becoming red when enchanted with fire, or icy blue when imbued with arcane frost. Manastone in any form glows with energy and feels warm to the touch.
Raw manastone is highly explosive and volatile, with even a heavy impact being enough to set it off. Once refined into a more stable form, manastone is much safer to store or transport, but extreme situations can still elicit a powerful response, with the most potent form of manastone, a blue liquid known as Arcanium or colloquially as Godsblood, capable of massive explosions powerful enough to level a city in even small quantities if triggered into it by magical coaxing.

Compounds

Manastone can be used in many different metallic alloys to imbue the metals with magical properties. It is commonly used in arcane inscription, smelted onto swords and armor in the shape of runes. Manastone is one of many magical materials used to make magic inks for spellbooks and scrolls, as well as use in certain alchemic concoctions. The large crystals can be used as batteries in magic devices, and if ground into a powder or turned into a liquid it can be utilized as a very effective fuel or accelerant.

Geology & Geography

Veins of manastone ore are generally found deep within the earth, especially along magical ley lines and focal points for magical energy.

Origin & Source

Manastone is composed of a mineral that absorbs ambient mana from the surrounding material and the crystals of mana that form on it.

Life & Expiration

In its unrefined form, manastone is extremely volatile, given to explosive detonation at the slightest provocation. The handling and storage of raw manastone and even the mining of the ore itself must be done carefully, as to avoid dangerous accidents. It takes a fool to leave raw manastone sitting around for too long, as the resulting explosion will be both deadly and financially costly, the loss of such a valuable material hitting the purses of even the wealthiest producers fairly hard.
Another ticking clock faced by the producers of manastone is the tendency of the mineral to overload nearby magical reactions, and fuel strange magical phenomena in the vicinity. The large reserves of mana within the stone, combined with the strong magical field it gives off leaves it prone to interfere with all manners of magic, potentially causing spells to misfire, and even worse magical effects.
It is common wisdom that the sooner manastone is refined into a more stable state, the better.

Type

Ore/Mineral

Taste

Bitter, with an electrical sting to the tongue.

Color

A rainbow of colors in its unrefined form; A vivid blue in its processed form.

Common State

Solid