Etherion Resin Crystals
Light-form Etherion can be stored in resin crystals from the Arkett's mother tree. The process requires a captured Shadow, but once a Shadow is bound to the crystal, it acts like a battery. Resin crystals filled with Light power everything in the Arkett's world. The technology is still alien to the humans, but some groups are beginning to find ways to take advantage of it.
The crystals must be perfect in order to hold a Shadow and Etherion. It can take weeks to refine even a single crystal. Once the Shadow is captured, the crystal battery can be recharged and reused thousands of times. Eventually they do break down, especially if they have microscopic flaws, and when this happens, the result can be explosive. The huge crystals powering the engines of the Arkett ships are carefully monitored, maintained, and replaced. Failures in the engine crystals are the main cause of Arkett ships falling from the sky.
Arkett tools are made of Etherion metal, but that material does not conduct Etherion Light. Only the resin can contain and conduct the energy, so it is also used to make wires and pipes.
Utility
The Arketts use this technology for every aspect of their lives, and have done so as long as anyone can remember. Humans, however, have a very limited supply, so they primarily use the crystals to make weapons, defenses, and transportation. In Greenhaven particularly it's for transportation; resin weapons in this region are very rare.
Manufacturing
Arketts make the resin by piping it gently from their trees. Cadmus, on the other hand, scours the land for fallen Arkett trees and strips them until they are utterly depleted.
Social Impact
Among the humans, User abilities (depending on the individual, their skill level, and their amount of practice) are often limited to one or two specialties. Having access to tools such as Etherion-powered shields and weapons adds more abilities to their skill list, turning a User into a more versatile fighter. That will come later, though. For the time being, resin crystals are being introduced in Greenhaven to the rich, to those who would benefit from small conveniences. It's being sold strategically, starting small, so that when Greenhaven is ready to look for advanced weapons, they already have sellers to go to.
Access & Availability
Among the Arketts, resin-based technology is omnipresent, but among the humans of Greenhaven, it is rare enough to be enviable.
Complexity
It takes years of training to be able to mold resin crystals safely, and even more years before one becomes good at it.
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