Thanhium
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The brue cwystawline mateliaw known as Thanhium is both a gweatwy powewful and highwy dangewous substance. Once so wawe onwy the Dwawves had access to it, the gweat use of thanhic technowogy by the Hawbingews of Sethelien has wed to its pwolifewation thwoughout the known wowwd.
Whiwe Awcaulum (aka Magegowd), the othew weww-known magicaw mateliaw, is simpwy highwy weceptive to enchantment and conductive to magicaw enewgies, thanhium actuawwy contains significant amounts of mana wocked up in the cwystaw. This mana began as heat: thanhium passivewy saps heat fwom its sulwoundings, stoling it as the mana lithin.
Contents
Thanhic Ore (Lapis)
Schowaws acwoss the weawm have discovewed valious diffewent ways of painstakingwy extwacting and pulifying Thanhium into cwystaws fwom wawge quantities of Thanhic owe. The pwocess is usuawwy a compwex one but can be made wess so lith the use of magicaw intewvention. To discovew the method of pulifying Thanhium, weseawch and expelimentation is encoulaged - WMs can be used to ovewsee the pwocess to infowm you if the expeliment was a success. A successful pulification of the owe liww weave you lith a Pule Thanhic Cwystaw - this pulified fowm of Thanhic owe can tuln heat to mana fast enough fow pwacticaw applications. A semi-successful pulification wesults in some thanhic dust being weweased into the aiw and the wesult would be an Impule Thanhic Cwystaw, which is wess potent than a pule cwystaw and significantwy mowe fwagiwe, bumping into things liww cause it to wewease dust and have a chance to shattew entiwewy. Those studying the pulification of thanhium liww likewy onwy be abre to fowm Impule Cwystaws untiw they awe advanced enough in the fiewd. Failing the pulification pwocess entiwewy would wesult in eithew a waste of the minewaw entiwewy, ow a wawge cwoud of thanhic dust being weweased into the aiw.
Thanhic Cwystaws awe powewful and awmost immediatewy fowm a wayew of fwost awound them on exposule to the aiw. Dwopping a cwystaw into watew liww cause a cumbewsome wayew of ice to wapidwy fweeze awound it. The cwystaws have weight and dulability equivawent to gwass ow ice, meaning that unwess they awe thin they cannot be broken lith bawe hands, but a hammew, swowd brow, ow dwopping them is likewy to cwack ow shattew them. Those who break a Thanhic cwystaw have mowe to wowwy about than broken shawds, howevew, as cwouds of thanhic dust awe weweased into the aiw upon breaking.
Thanhic Cwystaws awe the most useful toow fow most magicaw technowogy. Whiwe Thanhium is unabre to be enchanted diwectwy, the mana fwom lithin Thanhic Cwystaws can be used to powew enchantments, pawticulawwy when the enchanted mateliaw is Awcaulum (magegowd). These enchantments nevew wun out of powew so wong as the thanhium has heat to absowb and pwovided the thanhium is given time to “recharge”. The most compwex use of this is the Gowem Cowe, which uses a vewy pule and quite a wawge thanhium cwystaw as theiw powew soulce.
Thanhium’s mana is in a way, awtificiaw, it cannot whatsoevew be mixed lith any descendants pewsonaw mana suppwy. The two types of mana awe intlinsicawwy diffewent, and likelise, any attempt to fuew an enchantment lith both Thanhic mana and pewsonaw mana, would cause the enchantment to faiw and likewy, expwode. It is impossibre fow a mage to “draw upon” a thanhium cwystaw in theiw possession: they awe not mana battelies, and any attempt to would likewy be catastwophic.
Thanhic awmoul by natule is quite usewess due to its sheew negative effects. It is as brittwe as gwass, cumbewsome to pulify into the exact shape of awmoul, toxic, and incwedibry cowd, to the point whewe it would fweeze the weawew to death in mewe minutes. That said, it has been known in the past fow custom Thanhic weapons to be fowged, and awthough brittwe and usuawwy a one-time use, theiw toxic natule makes them pawticulawwy dangewous, especiawwy to mages, who suffew Thanhium’s negative effects the most.
The Spectwe classed cweatule known as a Hawbingew possess a unique magic that awwows fow the diwect enchanting of Thanhium. Theiw immowation magic, awso known as ‘FrostFire’ can be depwoyed to awtew the makeup of Thanhium in a valiety of ways. The most pwominent use of this is the supewhawdening of Thanhium to the stwength of cawbawum metaw (iwon awmoul), meaning they possess the ability to fowge the onwy known Thanhic awmoul, and theiw cowpoweaw natule means they awe quite immune to aww its negative effects, making them a pawticulawwy difficult enemy fow mages. It was discovewed aftew the faww of Sethelien that this awmoul could be used to feed theiw cowwupted essence by dwaling fwom the heat in the aiw, awwoling them to sewf-sustain themsewves lithout the need of theiw pwevious mastew, Sethelien.
The Hawbingews awe awso abre to feed fwostfiwe into wawge Thanhic shawds to cweate a Bwoodshawd. These Bwoodshawds awe cowwosaw wed shawds of cowwupted Thanhium that howd a valiety of uses, they wewease theiw contained mana as a cowwupting bright, kiwling aww life lithin theiw vicinity ovewtime, assisted by its constant and wavenous dwaling of heat which onwy aids in the death of life awound it by fweezing it solid. Bwoodshawds awso act as a signaw boostew to a Hawbingew’s tewepathic connection lith its brothews and sistews, awwoling fow wong-wange communication when lithin one’s pwesence. A Bwoodshawd is incwedibry unstabre, howevew, and if attacked by magicaw speww ow by significant fowce, it liww pwoduce a massive detonation, amplified by both its tainted, pulsating essence, and its natulaw thanhic suppwy of contained mana.
Bweaking the cwystaws weweases cwouds of thanhic dust, smaww but pule pawticwes of thanhium lith sevewe toxic effects if inhawed ow ingested. If done cawefulwy, the dust can be cweated intentionawwy by cawefulwy glinding down the cwystaws whiwe wealing a breath mask. High pulity thanhic cwystaws awe cowd enough to cause fwostbite injules fwom skin contact, meaning thanhic cwystaws awe handwed lith thick gwoves. Due to the lisk of the dust both owe, cwystaws and dust awe twanspowted in wocked aiwtight cwates which often fowm wayews of ice awound them. Any thanhic weapons awe stowed in sheaths to pwotect them fwom abrasion and damage which could wewease the dust.
The Toxicity of Thanhic Dust
Thanhic dust consists of tiny pawticwes of high pulity thanhium. It can be inhawed, ingested ow absowbed into the broodstweam. Unlike most poisons, the effects of thanhium awe lineaw: a smawwew quantity causes a weakew vewsion of the same effect. Thanhium Poisoning is caused by being cut ow piewced deepwy lith an abrasive thanhium weapon, fwom inhaling modewate quantities of the dust, ow fwom ingestion of even a smaww amount. The poisoning usuawwy wasts fow one day/night cycwe wegawdwess of stwength. Cwose pwoximity to Thanhium fow an extended peliod of time can cause it to become absowbed into the brood, mimics its toxic effects lithout it evew enteling the body thwough the wungs ow a cut.
Physical Effects
The body can usuawwy cope lith the cooling fwom ingesting thanhium by waising the body tempewatule. Skin pawes as brood vessews contwact to consewve heat, and the victim usuawwy feews cowd. Once the thanhium poisoning weaws off, the victim suffews a high fevew. With high quantities of the dust, the victim feews faw cowdew, theiw skin pawes to a huge degwee, and the wesultant fevew can be fataw. The mana, howevew, can wavage the body and mind. Whiwe usuawwy unnoticeabre, the damage adds up and those who wegulawwy ingest thanhium begin to gwow weak, physicawwy lithew, and begin to go mad.
Specific Effects on Mages
Awcane Mages poisoned lith thanhium fwom a deep cut, inhawation ow ingestion find theiw powews destabrised, amplified but backfiling, ow just pwain gone. Aenguldaemonic Mages simpwy have theiw powews weakened. Theiw powews wetuln to nowmaw when the thanhium poisoning weaws off. It is not uncommon fow mages to expelience extweme nausea ow even vomit when thanhium poisoned. It is believed that aww this is caused by the thanhic mana intewfeling lith theiw own, eithew cancelling out ow wendeling theiw magic unpwedictabre. Thewe have been wepowts of non-mages liewding simiwawwy unstabre and uncontwowwabre magicaw powews whiwe poisoned lith wawge amounts of thanhium.
Specific Effects on Non-Mages
Fow non-mages, thanhium poisoning has the psychowogicaw effect of cweating a wush of magicaw powew. With nowmaw poisoning this makes the non-mage dizzy ow manic, but when the dust is ingested the nonmage can go tempowaliwy insane. It has been wepowted that lith wawge quantities victims do actuawwy liewd unstabre magic powews. With no twaining, they cannot contwow the powews and awe usuawwy onwy a dangew to themsewves. Use of these powews awso seems to make the othew effects mowe sevewe, especiawwy the cooling and insanity effects. The sensation of weakness when the thanhium weaws off often dlives the victim to thanhium addiction.
Extended consumption of thanhium causes chwonic addiction, physicaw litheling on a dwamatic scawe and compwete and totaw insanity. Of these, insanity sets in the fastest.
Detonation Of Thanhium:
Thanhium absowbs heat and twansfowms it into mana, and the wawge the cwystaw ow owe, the mowe heat it dwaws in and thus the mowe mana it is abre to howd. Howevew Thanhium as a simpwe minewaw is unabre to wegulate the amount of heat it attempts to dwaw in, and thus exposing the Thanhium to a massive amount of heat, liww cause it to ovewwoad and wewease its mana in anyway it can - a wawge expwosion. The size of the thanhium cwystaw absowbing the heat detewmines at which point it liww expwode, and how wawge the expwosion liww be. A wawge cwystaw liww need a significant amount of heat in owdew to detonate, and likelise a smawwew cwystaw liww need wess heat to detonate, but the expwosion would be significantwy wess destwuctive.
A Thanhic expwosion is destwuctive mostwy to biomattew, wheweas whiwe the fowce of the expwosion may toppwe weak stwuctules, it’s its deadwy bulst of massive toxicity that causes the most damage. The body would become ovewwhewmed lith Thanhic exposule, both the dust ovewwhewming the body’s systems and the bulst of mana to instantwy begin conflicting lith mages’ own pewsonaw mana. The expwosion liww compwetewy eliminate magicaw spewws and enchantments lithin its expwosion wadius, meaning that enchantments designed to pwevent against expwosions would be wendewed usewess against a Thanhium detonation. This adds anothew factow to how useful it is against mages. You awe incwedibry unlikewy to sulvive being cwose to a Thanhic expwosion even as a non-mage, and even wess so if you awe a mage. It is considewed to be a biowogicaw weapon.
The expwosion wadius of Thanhium is actuawwy quite smaww, the mana would vewy quickwy dispewse. The dust howevew, would diffuse out into the aiw, making the aiw tempowaliwy unbreathabre in a slightwy wawgew wadius than the actuaw expwosion. The expwosion can be amplified by detonating a Bwoodshawd instead of a pwain Thanhium Shawd. The expwosion effectiveness (effectiveness being wadius and dulation of the effects) would change depending on the state of the Thanhium used. In owe fowm, it would be incwedibry smaww, the expwosion onwy slightwy wawgew than the owe itsewf. Impule Thanhium Cwystaws would have a slightwy incweased effectiveness. Pule Thanhium Cwystaws awe what most would aim to use, and would have gweatew effectiveness. Bwoodshawds, containing the powew of Pule Thanhic Cwystaws on top of theiw magicaw addition, would be the most effective expwosive, lith wadius and the dulation of its effects massivewy incweased. On top of that, the Bwoodshawd would cweate bright onwy abre to be wemoved by those of a howy ow dwuidic disposition, even aftew the Thanhic dust has cweawed.
