Spectrocryst

Affectionately called the "Eligni Diamond", Spectrocryst boasts a colour palette even more varied than the complexities of the Eligni tones. Spectrocryst, named so because of the immense spectrum of colours and patterns that can be found inside the crystal, can be used for all kinds of purposes depending on the type of crystal acquired. Each different colour or colour combination denotes a different form of the crystal, ranging from radiating intense heat or rapid cooling to spouting water and arcs of lightning to reinforcing plates of armour and sharpening the blades it's attached to. This crystal has assisted the Eligni cities in hundreds of different ways and has paved the way for greater and grander developments throughout the Belt. This miracle mineral does have a significant drawback, however. It is only found inside Blinkers.
Spectrocryst looks much like rough diamond, though with a soft shine of light that swirls and flows as if it were water trapped inside of the crystal. The colours within determine what kind of spectrocryst the specific gem is and what it will do when excited through either magic or electricity. However, even the slightest difference in shade or hue can lead to the spectrocryst doing wildly different things, meaning that those untrained in Crystallography can quickly run into serious problems when the orange jewel they wield combusts into roaring flames rather than conjuring the grease to lubricate a stuck joint.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Spectrocryst resembles, in its uncut form, a rough diamond with liquid light flowing around inside, with different colours signifying the different permutations of the crystal. After being cut, the spectrocryst's inner light will shine brighter, reflecting throughout the gem's clear exterior. The better cut the spectrocryst is, the easier it is to identify precisely what kind it is.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Due to the vast number of permutations that spectrocryst can have, it's hard to generalise many properties. Whilst all kinds are solid and crystalline and very resilient to damage, any other property is entirely dependent on the gem's inner light. Possible properties include the ability to conjure dirt, oil, magma or water, heating or cooling its surface, sharpen blades and more. Spectrocryst found with multiple colours within it can harbour more abilities, sometimes combining these effects into something new. Due to this, mining spectrocryst is considered rather dangerous, as accidentally exciting a covered crystal could result in any kind of damage or hardship.

Geology & Geography

Spectrocryst is not native to the Planet nor the Belt. The only known source of this material is from the meteors that come through the Blinker holes above Layman's Belt. Because of this, prospecting spectrocryst is an immensely dangerous job, as it involves breaking apart a Blinker and mining into the left-over fragments. As the Blinkers can come tearing through space at speeds exceeding eighty miles-per-hour, sometimes pointed dead at a city, just getting to them to break them apart is a challenge itself. Making sure the debris doesn't hit anything important and getting back to the ground with newly acquired bounty is then the goal, just as difficult as getting there.

Origin & Source

Currently, it is unknown where spectrocryst comes from. Whilst it's known that whatever place is beyond the Blinkers must be the origin of the crystals, no one knows what's out there, and so no one can say.

History & Usage

History

Spectrocryst has been used since its discovery, with more colour variations being discovered every year. The discovery of the "Eligni Diamond" has led to numerous technological advances, pushing forth the Eligni industry at accelerated speeds. At first, some of the more common forms of spectrocryst, those that could heat themselves or conjure water, were used to forge the first steam engines, whilst some of the less common types were being experimented on. Soon, more and more kinds were discovered, though few are commonplace enough to make large-scale developments with.

Discovery

It's difficult to pin down an exact date or person for the discovery of spectrocryst, as several kinds were discovered around the same time, and it took a year for scientists to figure out that they all belonged to the same family. However, it is known that all kinds of spectrocryst came from Blinkers and that none has yet been found in the asteroids of Layman's Belt nor from the ground of the Planet. The first spectrocryst crystals found were mainly used to show their powers and were rapidly depleted, though it took only a few years for Crystallographers to realise that the gems could be cut and refined to improve their ability.

Everyday use

Common use of spectrocryst is entirely dependent on the kind of crystal and its rarity. For example, many Eligni use the pale blue spectrocryst known to lower its surface temperature to cool food and allow it to last longer, whilst some guardsfolk and chefs use the gentle grey kind to keep their blades sharp. Thanks to the huge variety of spectrocryst, there are all sorts of use cases for the gems that many or few people use on a day to day basis.

Industrial Use

As previously detailed, one of the main uses of spectrocryst in industry is the basic steam engines that have been developed through the use of water conjuring and heating forms of spectrocryst. These engines are used to power simple machinery, most often to help the creation of metal alloys, ingots and plates, though they have also been used to create a number of different instruments.

Refinement

Spectrocryst can be used in its raw form after being pulled from the rock that makes up a Blinker, but in this state, it tends to be unpredictable. Whilst not a problem for a crystal designed to conjure water or heat an element, it proves to be a bigger issue for using a gem to keep a blade honed, for example. No one wants a sharp hilt to hold on to. Spectrocryst needs to go through a refinement process in much the same way an emerald must, but instead of doing so to make the gem more attractive, this process is designed to focus the spectrocryst's ability and amplify its power. 
The first step is to acquire the rough spectrocryst. This is more challenging than it first seems. Unlike a regular diamond, spectrocryst is only found in Blinkers, the rocks that tear their way through space on a destructive course with whatever it first collides with, so simply being in the area that a Blinker appears in is dangerous. After the Blinker has stopped, whether that be by being slowed down or simply hitting an asteroid, the next potential danger strikes. Spectrocryst is typically activated by exciting it via magical energies or electrical signals, though some gems also respond to being forcefully hit, by nearby movement or by exposure to light, as well as many other methods. This means that mining it can cause it to activate, potentially spewing forth all manner of esoteric effects. In the past, this has led to a number of accidents, and so many miners tend to lift a large chunk of stone that contains spectrocryst to avoid activating any unwanted abilities.
Next, the newly mined gem needs to be cleaned and appraised. Due to the terrifyingly large number of different kinds of spectrocryst, the magitecknical branch of crystallography rose up to efficiently catalogue the different types and ensure that gemologists were capable of clearly and carefully identifying the crystal they are working with without giving misinformation. Once the colours within the gem have been identified and several tests have been run to determine the crystal's activation triggers, the gemologist can begin cleaning the stone and grit from the spectrocryst, leaving behind an uncut gemstone. Whilst the newfound purity of this crystal does amplify its power output, it is still harder to control. Therefore, further refinement is needed.
The final step is to cut the gemstone. There are a number of shapes that a gem can be cut into that are dependent on where a user wants the power of the crystal to be focused, with different cuts allowing the stone to focus a beam, have a more generalised spread, or be socketed into a weapon or set of armour. Whatever the cut, this stage can dramatically alter the potency of the spectrocryst, as some gems need a lot removed, causing them to lose available power. This happens most with a cut designed to be socketed into something, and least with a cut focused on dispersing into a general area.

Type

Ore/Mineral

Color

Every colour available in the spectrum, with all kinds of colour combinations

Common State

Solid, Crystal