Diluvialite Jewelry

Diluvialite is the rarest gemstone on the planet of Kivria. It is known both as incredibly dangerous to retrieve from the depths of the The Flood Wastes and dangerous to wear owing to the way it feeds on one's spirit on its way to becoming a mature Vimstone. Despite its known dangerous properties, the select few people that have been privileged and lucky enough to get their hands on a piece of diluvialite - almost always crafted into a piece of jewelry - have found several purposes for it over the years.

Traditional Uses

by AsterVela (Midjourney)

Showing Off Wealth

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Naturally, the political and otherwise wealthy classes fell over themselves to own a piece as a symbol of their power and riches. The most popular method of displaying the proof of their wealth was to show it off via jewelry. In the early days, many a wealthy patron died from exposure from wearing the jewelry. They were also often presented in a museum collection for public admiration of the gemstone and the wealthy benefactor.

Political Stance

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Today, the dangers of diluvialite and its ghastly connection to the Astris Genocide are public knowledge. Rather than admiration, the ownership of diluvialite - and especially wearing it on one's body - is greeted with contempt by most of the public. In some places, such as Bes and Haven, it is outright illegal for private individuals to collect, sell, or buy. The Lainist community treats diluvialite jewelry as sacred objects that have been blasphemously defiled by heartless people. Although there are some communities that take the opposite stance, these voices have largely been overwhelmed except in pockets where they are the majority.
Public figures now avoid the mention of it, let alone the visible ownership of such ostentatious jewelry. If someone of the political class is somehow forced to address diluvialite jewelry, the only socially acceptable response is to pay lip service to making its extraction and ownership regulated or illegal. These political stances range from well thought out plans to "I miss when I could wear this but I don't want my enemies to" or "I actually don't care."

Liquid Asset

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Most of the wealthy and powerful haven't truly given up on the gemstone regardless of the public's currently unfavorable opinions. They prefer instead to delegate it to a glass case in their personal collections. These hidden pieces of art are only showed off to the most trusted of guests. For some diluvialite pieces, they will never be seen by anyone but the owners, who would only sell them in the most dire of circumstances.

Experimental Uses

Repatriation of Remains

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Diluvialite was created via the release of spiritual energy upon the deaths of those unfortunate enough to be hiding within the cave systems of the Flood Wastes at the time of the Great Flood. It had not taken long after discovery for the Diasporic Astris community to put two and two together, and even less time for Yashelin familiar with the properties of nascent vimstones.
Almost immediately, descendents from around the world decried the use of the gemstones for jewelry or other baubles. It would be to no avail until the powerful Bes Astris community stepped up and demanded their repatriation.

Diluvialite Mausoleum by AsterVela (Midjourney)

While the Bes have been somewhat successful in retrieving diluvialite baubles, not everyone is convinced that they have the right to claim repatriation. The wealthy class who owns the majority of it, for example, believe that since they (or their ancestors) spent the money to pay someone to find it, they have full rights to the objects. This same class often derides the notion that spiritual energy exists, let alone the ability for people to turn into stones. The latter is an assessment reasonably agreed with by the average Kivrian scientist, though the scientists at Crevis and those with knowledge of 'magic' beg to differ.
The residents of Crevis also vocally disagree with Bes' claim to the gemstones. First of all, the Bes Astris are not the only population of Astris in the world and the average Diasporic Astris wishes they wouldn't act like it. After all, some of the Astris families who live in Crevis and the area surrounding the Flood Wastes can trace their lineage back directly to the time period of the Great Flood.

by AsterVela (Midjourney)

There is also a conflict of interest regarding what happens to the diluvialite jewelry after it is returned to one Astris culture or another. The Bes have a tendency to hide them away from public view in a series of mauseleum-vaults dedicated to the task. Crevis, meanwhile, has taken what few diluvialite remains they have been given and placed them in a memorial-museum with the explicit intention of facilitating public education and scientific research. While neither culture is necessarily wrong in their unique responses to what should be done with the plundered diluvialite, the conflicting ideals are a source of great tension within the wider diaspora.

"Yeah, sure, they might be all big and mighty nowadays, but at least we didn't run like cowards to the middle of the bleeding ocean! We live on the same land as our ancestors, so why shouldn't we have more right to claim their remains?"
"Right?! At least we don't hide them in those ugly mausoleums!"
"Ugh, don't remind me. My granny would be rolling in her grave if she saw those abominations."

Therapeutic Potential

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Some believe that diluvialite has potential medicinal properties. This is predicated upon Aravun knowledge of vimstones and is not public knowledge on Kivria. Vimstones release spiritual energy and are often used to assist the Magi in magnifying their magical work through a simple process of filling the vimstone with their spiritual energy and having it release through the vimstone rather than the user directly. The same concept is used when using vimstones to generate electricity - spiritual energy goes in, and vimstones release it.

Although still a subject of research with a case study of two people, diluvialite in jewelry form is believed to be a potential medical aid for those with troubles regulating their spiritual energy. Unlike vimstones, diluvialite does not release the spiritual energy it absorbs. Rather, it absorbs the spiritual energy and retains it in order to power its growth. Someone who is a Katuqin suffers most and usually dies as a baby due to their Kivrian body's inability to regulate the large amount of spiritual energy of their Yashelin parent.
So far, the limited research has been a success. Nanatu Zylpeiros, a katuquin adult recipient of a repatriated diluvialite necklace, has experienced a sharp increase in her day-to-day quality of life. This is due in part to the diluvialite's rapid processing of her errant spiritual energy, but it is unclear what symptoms were symptoms of being katuqin and which were the side effects of the medications which had kept her afloat until the diluvialite's properties set her free from them.

Nanatu's Necklace by AsterVela (Midjourney)

Most recently, a newly born katuqin named Riley Vela has also flourished with comparatively little medical intervention due to the careful application of a repatriated diluvialite bracelet which is placed on a special cord that will stretch with her as she grows. Eventually, the bracelet will need to be taken apart and repurposed into individual necklaces as the gemstones each grow in size. She is also expected to need it less as her body catches up to her spirit.

by AsterVela (Midjourney)

As stated above, the possession of diluvialite jewelry is frowned upon, if not outright illegal or blasphemous. The same communities that frown on its possession are also the same ones that create the conditions under which katuqin people are born. No laws have been put into place to protect them, despite the fact that these same lawmakers have been the ones to encourage their use in these test subjects. As such, the elder of the two research subjects takes great pains to hide her use of diluvialite jewelry when in public as do Riley's parents.
One pessimistic reason given for lawmakers not giving express legal rights for the katuqin to use diluvialite jewelry is that there are so few of them. Why should they bother writing whole clauses into the laws for a mere two people out of millions? The truth, however, goes deeper than mere numbers. If legal protections are codified for katuqin people, then it stands to reason that the potential medical benefits of wearing diluvialite jewelry will enter public knowledge.
Minimal, respectful research into the benefits of diluvialite jewelry is considered privately acceptable, but what if turning it into public knowledge opens up the floodates? The last thing they want is for their ancestors' spiritual remains to become a medical fad and an excuse to misuse them by scientists. They also fear turning the katuqin into targets for ridicule or violence from those who are ignorant or, most keenly, those Astris individuals, and sometimes cultures, that would rather they suffer than have access to diluvialite jewelry as a matter of principal.