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Ætherium

Powdered Aetherium sample photographed in total darkness

Ætherium is magical energy concentrated into physical form. It appears as a very fine, purplish white powder that emits a purple glow visible in dim lighting. It is used as a fuel source for long-lasting magical effects in alchemy, enchantments, and some spells.

Handling and Usage

Raw Ætherium is highly unstable. Long-term storage requires packing the material tightly into airtight containers. If broken apart, the powdery substance rapidly sublimates into a purple vapor and dissipates into the air. In large enough quantites, this evaporation can cause wild magic to occur.

In order to harness its magical power, ætherium can be diffused into its gaseous form in an aetherium diffuser as part of the process of enchanting objects. The microscopic particles of aetherium bind themselves to the material's molecular structure, charging it with energy that can power an enchantment for many years.

Other Forms

Diffusing ætherium onto purified metals such as bronze produces aetherite, a magically-charged metal that serves as a more potent fuel source and was also used by the tolgethic tribes to forge weapons and armor.

Processing refined ætherium into quartz or other crystalline substances produces a rare and highly energetic compound called aether crystal. This material has also been used in weaponry and can support exceptionally powerful enchantments, but is very brittle and breaks easily.

Forging these materials together under intense pressure and high heat for an extended period of time produces arcanum, the most energy-dense form of ætherium known to exist. This form is extremely rare, highly volatile, and hazardous to handle, even when contained.

Production

As ætherium is theorized to be a physical hyper-concentrated form of the energy that abounds in all living creatures, the only known way to produce the substance is through a spell known as Æther Harvest. This spell, when cast on the bodies of recently deceased creatures, extracts the lingering energy from the corpse and concentrates it into small quantities of crude ætherium. This substance must been be refined to remove impurities to produce the enchantment-grade ætherium required by most magical processes.

Controversy

The Torchlight Society does not make well-known the fact that production of ætherium requires the processing of deceased bodies. Torchlight did not discover this until the year 176, and before then, ætherium was treated as a highly precious substance that was nonrenewable. Beginning in the 180s, Torchlight agents were strongly encouraged to donate their bodies to science on death. Body donation was made mandatory for all employees by the Torchlight Council in 249; this policy was repealed by Archmage Meredith Chambers in 273, reinstated under Martin Lynch in 279, and repealed again by Randall Jamesson in 284 before being outlawed by the Chambers Reformation Act in 287. In the 4th century, Torchlight still provides financial incentives for body donation, both to the employee and to their next of kin after death. The society still does not publicize the primary use of donated bodies within its general population.

Synthesis

Early experiments with aetherium synthesis revolved around the production of biological material through stem cells that could be harvested, in a similar manner to cultured meat; however, as the Society discovered during these experiments, cultured organic material that has never belonged to a living, conscious creature yields no aetherium when magically harvested. These experiments were carried out through the 2nd and 3rd centuries NE before being discontinued in 304.

Since 347, Torchlight has been experimenting with a process known as Nucleoaetherogenesis that aims to synthesize aetherium using purely inorganic materials. The process requires massive amounts of energy that can only be achieved through nuclear reaction. The Aetherogenic Research Reactor currently achieves only tiny amounts of the substance from gigawatt-hours of energy, making it prohibitively expensive as a means of mass production.