Lycen crystals

Lycen crystals are translucent crystals that contain condensed Mana energy, which when found outside a living being is called Nexurium.

Properties

Material Characteristics

These crystals come in a variety of sizes. Some are as large as a watermelon, while others as small as a pea. However, they all have the same general appearance: Sharp-edged and semi-translucent, with a bright blue tint.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Left by themselves, energized Lycen crystals are very stable. They are not affected by water or air. However, a number of things done to them can rapidly destabilize them, causing quite a bit of damage. Magic wielder also react adversely to their touch.

Blunt force

When mined, if a crystal is directly hit by a hard enough swing, it can explode. The explosion of a large crystal may level a mid-size house, sink a ship or collapse the tunnel it was being dug from. Smaller crystal can still cause damage and their power is often underestimated, leading to mishandling and injurie. The real danger come from the possibility of crystal blowing up next to other crystal. Depending on how close they are to the blast, it may cause a chain reaction, leading to subsequent explosions.

High Temperature

If a energized lycen crystal is exposed to high temperature, like inside a fire, it will start to slowly melt away and release a gas, called Lycen gas. The crystal itself isn't flammable, but it will continue to melt a long as its exposed to high temperatures. Depending on the size of the crystal, it can take hours to melt. during that time, it will release a bunch of Lycen gas up until the last of the crystal melts away.

Magic Users

Magic users cannot touch energized Lycen crystals, as if they do, the will be electrocuted. This is because the crystals contain nexurium. When this nexurium enters contact with a magic user, it overcharges their nexus, the part of their soul responsible for their magic abilities. This causes great pain to the person.

Compounds

Crushed Lycen crystal powder is regularly mix in with molten metal as well as in molten bronze alloy. When worn by a magic wielder as a talisman, some metals naturally amplifies their magic abilities. Lycen powder multiplies that effect three fold. However, if too much powder is added to the alloy, the talisman will become unstable and unusable by Magic users.

Geology & Geography

Energized Lycen crystals is about as common as Iron, but can be harder to find as its distribution is very unequal. Crystals can be found exposed on the surface in some regions, while in other, they are found in iron or copper mines.
The Salsian highlands of northern Enaskia, the Fork region of eastern Arros, and the Thiber plateau in Osian are all regions with a high abundance of these crystals. In contrast, places like the Darnian Desert in Enaskia, most of the Gysian peninsula in Arros or the Golcaĩ river valley in Mahador have next to no crystal deposits

Life & Expiration

Energized Lycen crystals are very stable when not disturbed. A crystal dug up a century beforehand would look like it had just been fresh out of the nearest mine.
When used inside a cerabattan, they do not last nearly as long. A single mid-size crystal can give out about a dozen charges to Magic users before it loses its ability to do so. The crystal then becomes an Innert Lycen crystal. If a wielder is touched by a Inert lycen crystal, nothing will happen as the crystal no longer contains any nexurium energy. It will also no longer melt in high temperature but crumble into a pile of smaller rocks. It will also no longer emit any gas when burned.

History & Usage

Discovery

The first recorded mentions of Lycen crystals come from the old kingdom of Thenia from the first age. They wrote about how they expanded their territories to the north, into the Salsian highlands, when they found them jutting out of the ground in various parts of the cold, forested territory. The texts mentions how the Wielders in their army did not want to touch them, saying that got hurt doing so. Some Crystals were brought back, mainly as a weird oddity and they were not used in any significant way until the Second Age.

Everyday use

Lycen crystals are melted down abord winged ships by firemages to produce the gas necessary to keep the ship floating. They are also used in cerabattan, which are common weapons of peace keeping forces in charge of an area where wielders are present, aswel as in the military of most countries.

Industrial Use

When crystals are too large, they are melted down until they reach a size that is appropriate for its use in a cerabattan. Once the required size is reached, the crystal can be loaded into the cerabattan for future use.

Refinement

A lycen crystal can be used as is or be refined into a powder.
Lycen powder is created inside special facilites built to resist the explosions of the crystals when they are crushed. Large rollers, either made of stone or iron, crush the crystal into a fine powder. Once that is done, the powder is then exposed to high temperature by being placed in a rotating drum over a fire for a couple minutes. this is done to redure the Nexurium content in the powder so it may be used in alloys. After a few minutes, the fire is put out and the powder is allowed to cool inside the drum for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the drum is opened and the powder is taken out. The powered is then put in glass jar, ready to be shipped out.

Manufacturing & Products

Lycen crystals are used in the creation of cerabattan, weapons used to control and subdue wielders.
Lycen powder is used in the productions of metal talisman, where it is mixed in with the molten metal to create stronger Talismans. The powder is also used in alchemy recipes for various potions and even sometimes abord winged ships as fast acting fuel.

Byproducts & Sideproducts

When exposed to high temperatures or open flames, the crystals will start to melt and produce a gas. The gas is non-flammable and lighter than air. It is used inside winged ships to make them float.
Inert Lycen crystals are crystals that no longer contain any nexurium within them. They do not have any uses, except of niche alchemy uses, but they are nonetheless usually thrown out and burried.

Hazards

Hazards for non magic humans mainly comes from the production of Lycen powders. When the powder is let out of the rotating drum, lycen gas also escapes into the air. if the room is small and not well aired, the concentration may be enough to cause eye, skin and throat irritation that can lead to blindness, rashes and suffocation.
While Lycen gas has no effect on magic wielders, the crystal itself is very dangerous if touched directly as it caused the person to become paralyzed as their nexus overloads with energy. For them, the sensation is about the same as being violently electrocuted. 
In a cerabattan, if contact is maintained for too long, the crystal may explode is a similar fashion as if it was hit by blunt force. This poses a danger to the wielders of course, but also to the weapon holder as the explosion may cause crystal shards and shrapnels of metal to fly away at high speeds. The exact cause for this occurrence is unknown, but research is ongoing.

Distribution

Trade & Market

Large lycen crystals are pretty rare to come by in areas without a mine nearby, as they are usually melted down before being shipped. Smaller sized crystals are very valuable and thus rare as they are used as fuel inside Winged ships as well as in the military.  In contrats, Lycen powder can be found in any alchemist shop in any large enough town.

Storage

Lycen Crystals are usually shipped in bulk abord ships. Inside those ships, each Crystals is individually wrapped in cloth to prevent crystals from hitting each other and blowing up and sinking the ship. On land, they are usually stored individually in a box surrounded by wool, cotton or any other dampening material.

Related Article:

• Nexurium 

Type

Mineral