Starrite

As The Rupture destroyed cities and removed any hope of stability in the Ashen lands forevermore, it had one unexpected boon - Starrite. Made from the dust of the meteors that fell from the heavens, they grant the user an enhanced connection to the Flow-Weave . A user can turn a firebolt into a fireball, or a chromatic orb into an orb of annihilation, with onyl a spoonful of starrite.
Its extraordinary - and dangerous - implications necessitated the creation of The Magisterium Magicum near the beginning of the Grand Age, and a bag of starrite is worth more than all the gold one may muster in The Barren Age. It is highly coveted and sought after, and many would kill for the power it may grant.
Its ability to create havoc and legends has not come without a cost to magic users. The deadly use of it quickly led to a stigmatization of magic users among common folk, fearful any moment their entire life may be destroyed by a rogue novice. Yet in the halls of the noble, rich, and aristocracy, magic quickly became a status symbol owing to the luxury that starrite implicated