Jade

Jade
Materials
Official Name	Jade
Common Nicknames	Dex Stone, Green Topaz
Origin	Unknown
Uses	Decorative, Utility
Rarity	Rare
Accessibility	Upper Class, Sihai

Jade is an often-green gemstone with both a rough and glossy texture that retains only a mild shine when sanded down, carved, and treated. While rarely found in wider Aloria, its greatest deposits are instead unearthed in distant Zhong, making it a valuable component of jewelry to Ailor and other groups while to the Sihai, it is common, and, in fact, vital to their very survival. Jade is also used to create decorative items in homes for the Sihai, with ornate and beautiful carvings of Loong Dragons often etched into the material’s surface.

History

Jade was well known to the Altalar of Daen for millennia, but was extremely rare in their voyages across the world during the dominance of the Allorn Empire. However, one land which was abundant in Jade was Zhong and Sheng, the lands of The Far East which the Altalar eagerly sought out over the centuries of their thriving civilization. But unlike Alorian Jade, Sihai-based Jade had an innate connection with those who were native to its homeland, and the Sihai largely barred its sale to these outsiders. Yet, Altalar had their ways, and a slow stream of Sihai-based Jade would filter into the Allorn Empire. However, with the Cataclysm, many things across the world changed, chief among which was the nature of Jade. Jade appeared in Aloria more commonly, surfacing in deposits scattered over the western reaches of the world. However, in The Far East, Zhongan Jade became beyond powerful. The Jade Wall rose in opposition to the Akula, Void monsters pushed from wider Aloria to these distant lands, but were repelled. Huge pieces of Jade emerged from the waters as well, forming crystalline plates over the waves or lodging themselves deep into the water, while the island of Dexai itself was half-frozen in the material, locked as the only spot where the Wall did not exist. In the following decades, the Sihai came to use Jade ever more increasingly, such was its abundance and new importance as a symbol of their people’s strength and fortitude. Sihai Engineering in particular perfected ornate and beautiful uses for Jade into Jadetech, an entire school that now works to defend the Jade Wall, and protect the Sihai of the world. Today, Zhongan Jade, the source for all Sihai stocks, remains close to their Race while Jade in wider Aloria is rare, and often of more diverse colorations, leaving it to fall into the hands of the wealthy though many still quest after the splendor of Jadetech and more.

Characteristics

Appearance

Jade is an opaque gemstone with colors ranging from pale mint to a mossy green, while singular shades out of this spectrum include pale yellows, dull oranges, whites, and blacks. The verdant tones are exclusively seen in Sihai-born Jade, while Aloria’s Jade is known to have examples of all colors. In its natural state, it exists in large veins edged by pale green to white sections easily visible when once first cut through. Once the material has been refined, these pale white sections are largely carved away, leaving behind a waving pattern of lighter and darker shades of the primary color throughout. It also possesses a rough, oily texture that retains only a mild shine once it is treated. Zhongan Jade is also notable for being able to throb with unseen energy, which reacts to the presence of the Sihai.

General Uses

Jade has many uses for many different groups. The most common that Alorians will experience is its use in decoration, crafted into all sorts of jewelry and accessories for those who can gain access to them. Jade jewelry outside of Sihai circles largely finds itself partnered with Silver, and while art made using Jade is rare, some Allar and Altalar have been known to carve small decorative items or detailed pendant images. For the Sihai, their jewelry pieces often feature raw pieces of the substance, since they might use the material for a range of purposes due to their power over Zhong-originating Jade. However, other pieces are known to be carved into a final form in Sihai society, from statues to wall murals to simple clothing clasps, hair combs, or symbols of public office. They are also used in Sihai construction, often still serving to clad buildings, or to be incorporated into the floors of a magnificent structure. Finally, there is Jade’s use in Engineering, the entire sphere of Jadetech as developed by the nation of Dexai in Zhong, and then spread to other groups of Sihai. Embellished with Gold, and often carved with imagery of nature, this technology is impressive to watch being made, as much as it is to see the final product.

Trivia

• Some Sihai who travel to Aloria make it a mission to hunt down and reclaim Jade of their ancient homeland in the possession of the Altalar in Daen. Such an affair, while difficult, is made easier due to the abilities of the Sihai to call and summon native-born Jade to them.
• Jade among the Allar seen in wider Aloria is rare today, though it was more common back on Sendras and many believe it is still used to decorate the form of Sendrassian elites.
• The most notable Jade artifact is a Suvial-forged dagger known, somewhat confusingly, as The Emerald Blade. Lost during the Cataclysm, it is sought after by Suvial to this day, but also by some Sihai who believe the Jade used to adorn its hilt is of their homeland.

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Accreditation
Writers HydraLana Processors Acosmism, BillyTheScruffy	Last Editor HydraLana on 05/28/2022.

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