Aetyton
| Aetyton | |
|---|---|
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| Materials | |
| Official Name | Aetyton |
| Common Nicknames | Isladora’s Eye, Dunke Stone |
| Origin | Aloria |
| Uses | Decorative, Alchemical |
| Rarity | Common |
| Accessibility | Lower Class, Middle Class |
With no definitive origins, Aetyton is a common Alorian gemstone discovered by most Races at different stages of their development. Aetyton is hollow in appearance, and always carries a murky brown color. While often used in decoration and coarse jewelry, it is also common knowledge that Old Gods belief of the stone possessing the power to heighten fertility is true.
History
Aetyton is a gemstone encountered by multiple Races across the whole of Aloria at various points of their history. The Allorn Empire discovered it sometime in 2000 BC, the Sariyd Empire uncovered deposits in 300 BC, the Allar mined the mineral in 200 BC, and the Ailor of Ceardia discovered the mineral well before the Cataclysm, with a rough date of 1000 BC. To all but one of these groups, the mineral enjoyed brief popularity before it was determined to be mundane, with no real abilities beyond cheap jewelry. To the Ceardian Ailor however, it somehow became heavily attached to the Old Gods Union of Fire and Lensa in particular. Supposedly, the Maarda of Beauty, Loyalty, and Fertility came and presented the stone to a beautiful but infertile queen who subsequently blossomed, producing a dozen children before her death. Archeology work shows a sudden burst of popularity in the gem; multiple pieces of crude jewelry and statuary from around that period have been discovered. The Ailor came to believe it helped heighten fertility and ease pregnancy.
However, when the Ailor started being taken by the Altalar, this belief floundered and was extinguished in many areas, but the Velheim people who came to emerge in the North Belt carried on this tradition through their belief in the Old Gods. Ultimately, alchemists working with the substance around 100 AC determined that it did, in fact, do as described by the Velheim and other pagan groups across Aloria. Still, the Regalian Empire disliked the substance, as it remained tied with the Skagger Horde and Velheim in general, then major enemies of the Empire. With the recent Burning of the North, this dislike descended into outright hatred in some areas as Aetyton idols, carvings, or jewelry were destroyed alongside other examples of Velheim art as “enemy propaganda”. Today, the gemstone may be common to find but many Old Gods users do not openly wear it, or even dislike it, for fear of losing a symbol of their beliefs to the odd angry passerby, while Unionists seeking both fertility and a lack of it get alchemists to use this substance in their potions.
Characteristics
Appearance
Aetyton has a murky brown color and appears in shallow deposits near the surface. It can be polished to a shine, is generally opaque and is not durable which is why it was so easy to destroy artwork made with it during the Burning of the North. Aetyton is also highly porous, to the point of being hollow due to large cavities inside the material.
General Uses
Aetyton serves two purposes. The first is material in jewelry or in art to the Velheim people. The gemstone often retains its hollow nature or at least clear curvature in this art. It also appears commonly in centers or altars to the Union of Fire and either of its goddesses. The other use in Alchemy regarding fertility, as unaltered, it can drastically increase such a thing, but it can also be inverted and made to limit one's fertility.
Abilities
Aetyton has no known natural abilities though if processed through alchemical means, it can increase or decrease one's natural fertility.
Trivia
- The hollow nature of the gemstone is thought to emulate the womb tied to the belief in their ability.
- With the sacking of the major Velheim settlement of Uëxhjert in Drixagh, Aetyton carvers are now rare to find.
- The story about the Maarda of Lensa and the queen is one of the most common scenes carved into “scene eggs”, a type of ornament created when the gemstone is cut in half and the interior is carved.
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