Liquid Ice

The terrifyingly frigid liquid that has spelled the death of thousands

Properties

Material Characteristics

Liquid Ice appears to all outside observers to be an odorless, colorless, tasteless liquid that gives off such intense cold that it cannot exist in a normal environment - it will rapidly evaporate in a cloud of freezing gas when exposed to air outside of extremely cold areas. Otherwise it is difficult to tell apart from normal liquid.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Liquid Ice is one of the coldest materials on Zheng-Kitar - almost nothing is known to be colder. It is so cold that the mere act of a limb or finger getting doused with it is enough to render the affected appendage useless and dead, frozen solid in a matter of microseconds, down to the very marrow in the bones. It is, in fact, so cold that merely exposing it to the air is enough to boil and evaporate it - even in arctic environments it will barely hold together for seconds until it vanishes completely.

Geology & Geography

It is found, currently, exclusively within the frigid veins of the Dai-Yukai - it is their blood, in point of fact. It is not known to be naturally occuring anywhere else, though in Dai-Yukai infused with the supernaturally cold Uttercold, it can sometimes be exuded through their pores as an analogue to sweat.

Life & Expiration

If kept in an insanely cold environments, Liquid Ice can exist for extended periods of time without issue - but the difficult of recreating those environments outside the massive, towering veins of the Dai-Yukai means that it is all but impossible to store this liquid outside of its natural environment.
When exposed to room temperatures, it will boil and evaporate almost instantly.

History & Usage

History

As far as can be determined, Liquid Ice's history is one intertwined with the Dai-Yukai themselves - it is the blood that pumps through their veins and that runs through their bodies. It came into existence when the first of the frigid titanesses did, and has existed ever since - to outsiders and non Dai-Yukai, it is known as a deadly thing to be avoided at all costs, and one that emerges when one fells a mighty Dai-Yukai and spills her blood for all to see...and if one is not careful, that very blood can splash down and completely engulf the attacker, freezing them solid in a flash in a final hurrah from the slain titaness.
Its history has been once mostly feared by others, but to the Dai-Yukai themselves it has been their first and greatest weapon - an indespensible tool used as their first and last line of defense against their enemies, as well as an incredibly handy thing that they use to keep their homes, food, and belongings as cold as possible.

Discovery

Liquid Ice was first discovered by the Dai-Yukai, it is said, when the first primordial titaness came into existence and first knew pain - as a blessing from Yezhiha, her veins were filled with liquid ice to signify the favor of the Spirit King of Water themselves...though in some stories, this blessing is told as a curse for this primordial titaness's cold-hearted cruelty to the world at large - teaching a valuable lesson to Dai-Yukai children about wanton evil.
To outsiders and non-Dai-Yukai, it was first discovered when they found the towering titanesses and sought to do them harm - it is said that upon landing the first blow upon the blue skin of a Dai-Yukai, the first outsider to experience the freezing lethality of Liquid Ice as it spilled from the wounds of the Dai-Yukai they attacked, bathing and freezing them solid and turning them into a solid ice sculpture, a frozen corpse that the injured Dai-Yukai brought back to her home and displayed for all to see.

Everyday use

Liquid Ice is commonly used as a splash weapon by the Dai-Yukai, as well as a liquid to treat their arms and armor to inure them against the cold and to freeze things solid. It is used to keep things cold and ensure the environment remains chilled, but it's primary use is as their lifeblood - no Dai-Yukai can live without it, after all, no matter how partially dead they might be.

Cultural Significance and Usage

To the Dai-Yukai, it is as important as air - it is literally the blood that pumps through their veins and gives them life. They do not especially revere it, but it is not a thing to be spilled and wasted - if spilled, it is customary to quickly store it in makeshift containers or waterskins treated to allow the liquid to stay cold enough to survive in liquid form to be returned to the village and stored properly.

Refinement

Through unknown methods, it is theorized that the Dai-Yukai somehow can use it or perhaps transform Liquid Ice into the explosive Shatterice, though this is merely a theory at best - nothing has ever been confirmed, as attempts to do so have led to the studier in question being found and trampled flat by the towering Dai-Yukai, then frozen and put on display in their twisted galleries of their frozen sculptures of enemies past.

Hazards

If not handled properly, the simple act of moving and transporting Liquid Ice can easily turn lethal to all but the Dai-Yukai themselves - a few drops can flash-freeze flesh and render skin and limbs cold and useless.

Environmental Impact

When spilled in large enough quantities, Liquid Ice can totally terraform the environment into a wintery tundra - and this property, though poorly understood by outsiders, is known to be commonly used by Dai-Yukai when they venture afield from their icy homeland to transform it over time into a landscape more suiting the needs of its new icy mistresses...and in this way, the icefields of the Shenchaun Tundra have been slowly expanded over millennia. They are not above using this ability to render an area uninhabitable to all but themselves, either - and they have done so on more than one occasion.

Distribution

Trade & Market

It is not impossible to find outside the hands of the Dai-Yukai, but extremely rare - few but the towering mistresses of frost can handle the material safely and without it evaporating, meaning that it is usually only found in the hands of the Dai-Yukai themselves when trading with others or in the hands of those who have earned their respect and the right to be traded it.

Storage

Liquid Ice must be stored in special enchanted containers designed to maintain an internal temperature cold enough to keep Liquid Ice from evaporating - the specifics of these containers are known only to the Dai-Yukai.

LI

Type

Organic

Value

Valuable

Rarity

Rare

Odor

Odorless. Getting close enough to smell it can freeze the vapor in one's nostrils.

Taste

Tasteless. It is so cold it will freeze off skin and taste buds alike long before you could taste it.

Color

Colorless.

Boiling / Condensation Point

-320.4 F

Melting / Freezing Point

Liquid Ice freezes solid below −346.0 F

Density

Extremely light.

Common State

Liquid.

Related Species

• Dai-Yukai