Hastaerium (has-TEAR-ium)

Hastaerium

This strange, almost other-worldly, metal is vital to the production of nexus cells in the Five Cities. Predominantly mined by the Ten Barronies, an enourmous sum of gold is spent yearly to import enough to keep the power running in the Five Cites, both physically and metaphorically.

[p ]Originally known as vasnexus cells, the amount of adamantium required to build one, let alone be able to house the monstrosity, was the purview of only the most affluent of people. This changed when a skriatok chemyst of the Artifex Guild stumbled upon a formula using hastaerium and a combination of other metals to produce a synthetic version of naturally occuring adamantine. Vasnexus cells could now be produced cheaply and effeciently. The power revolution had not only begun, but was now the sole intellectual property of the Artifex Guild.

As each generation of nexus cell becomes smaller than the previous and thus integrated into more and more products, the need for hastaerium has grown in kind. Market demand is at an all time high. Coupled with the danger presented by mining it from the northern slopes of the Bleeding Cliffs, the natural barrier between the Empire of Scythes and the rest of the world, the price of hastaerium is also at an all time high. The amount of military assistance the Five Cities provides to the Ten Barronies just in funds and equipment for their mining operations is simply staggering. Even so, the cost to import the metal barely moves a decimal point considering the amount being funneled to the metropolis.

Historically, the Five Cities have provided military assistance to the hastaerium mines since the end of the Third Incurion when a series of catastrophic earthquakes were triggered by the use of prototype artilery to collapse the cave systems along the eastern slopes of the Bleeding Cliffs used by the Empire of Scythes during the previous incursions. While there has not been what most would call a proper incursion since, there have been countless skirmishes with the Ten Barronies along the northern slopes, home to the hastaerium mines.

Properties

Compounds

Synthetic adamantine exclusively

History & Usage

Manufacturing & Products

Along with several other terrestrial metals, a synthetic alloy with the same properties as adamantium can be created.

Byproducts & Sideproducts

Vitryol

Hazards

Mining the metal from the northern slopes of the Bleeding Cliffs is made dangerous by random attacks from Scythian troops burrowing in from the tunnels below.

Type

Metal

Odor

Vague Zonkha aroma in ore form.

Taste

N/A

Color

Black with a pearlescent green sheen.

Common State

Large, pumice like veins.