Crystal wood

Anyone who sees crystal wood is impressed by its appearance. Brown wood is streaked with white, almost transparent veins. It is partly reminiscent of marble. In contrast to the rough wood, the crystal threads feel smooth and slightly cool.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Crystal wood has different shades of brown depending on the tree species. Even when unprocessed, the clear lines reminiscent of crystal can be seen throughout the wood. The wood is harder and more robust than normal wood and can only be processed by experienced craftsmen. Laymen would probably damage the special properties of the wood.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Crystal wood has slightly magical properties that are responsible for its durability, hardness and robustness. The strength of the magic is shown by the thickness of the lines that look like crystal. The thicker the lines, the stronger the magical properties.

Geology & Geography

Crystal wood can be found anywhere, as chance determines whether a tree absorbs magic or not. Only a few cases are known in which there were entire groups of crystal trees. Usually there was a conflict in the time before the crystal trees grew, in which a large amount of magic was released. For unknown reasons, this favors the growth of crystal trees.

Origin & Source

Crystal wood is obtained from crystal trees. These can be different types of trees, such as oak or fir, in which magic has been stored. These trees grow more slowly and take around 50 years longer to reach the necessary size to be felled. Due to their rarity, they are particularly protected and unauthorized felling is highly punishable.

History & Usage

Discovery

The crystal trees were discovered a long time ago by the Upirs. They could sense its magical properties and felled the first trees to find out more about them. Through various tests, also carried out by magicians, they discovered their special features.
However, they were unable to find out the nature of the magical layer. As larger exposed layers resembled pure crystal, they decided to call them crystal layers or crystal threads and so the wood was called crystal wood.

Everyday use

As crystal wood is so rare, it is only used for special items and buildings. These are usually components of temples or the buildings of mage orders. Ritual objects are also often made from crystal wood and used for generations. It is rarely used for other buildings or objects, as the wood is extremely expensive.
Another difficulty is the time it takes to process the wood, as it has to be worked very carefully. The crystal threads that run through the wood must not simply be interrupted, otherwise they lose their effect, and if several pieces of wood are used, a connection must be made between the crystal threads of all the pieces of wood.
Only with a functioning network of crystal threads can the hardness, robustness and long service life be maintained over the long term.

Reusability & Recycling

If a building in which crystal wood has been used is demolished, care is taken to ensure that the wood remains intact. If possible, the wood is reused in another building. If this is not possible, an attempt is made to use as much crystal wood as possible for other items. It is frowned upon to throw away or destroy undamaged wood.

Crystal wood by Midjourney

Rarity

rare

Color

various shades of brown, with crystal inclusions