Worldbuilding Diary: Hunters and Crystals

-Worldbuilding Diary-

 

The Crystal Issue

The issue of aberrations and anomalies is a complex one, in the broader image of Ardum. Why? Because, not all Continents are equally equipped to deal with the threats posed by wild surges of magical energies. 

Pelaraam recruits their order of Hunters, men and women specially trained and tasked with stopping anomalies and aberrations - and retrieving Cracked Crystals that caused them. The retrieved Crystals are stored in special containers laced with a Crystallum inside that has Containment Command Words etched in its surface, thus - once a Cracked Crystal is placed within the Containment Unit (CCU), the radioactive, malicious magical energies stop radiating and affecting their surroundings. 

Afterwards, the CCU is delivered to a Hunter HQ, where the already full CCUs are stored in the Crystal Storage Boxes (CSB) - that are fairly large containers that have a second layer of Crystallum Containment protection inside of them, preventing any accidental leaks - which are then transported to an undisclosed location where the Hunters have built their storage facilities.

These maximum-security underground buildings are built with one thing in mind: CONTAIN. The Cracked Crystals are one of the most dangerous things to exist in the World (aside from a psychotic, rampaging mage), if not the most dangerous thing in the World - therefore, preventing any leaks and potential issues is always a top priority for the Hunters. Inside the Storage Facilities, which are mostly populated by Librarian Scientists and Researchers who do extensive experimentation with the Crystals, there are a couple of levels. The first few levels are administrative and military in nature, since the personnel that works in a Storage Facility rarely leaves the premises. 

Deep underground, Earth Mages have dug massive holes that were later insulated by Crystallum plates etched with special Command Words that do more than just Contain the radioactive energies. Some of them include INVADER, KILL and HOSTILE, DRAIN, MAGIC, which are security measures against intruders and other ill-thinking uninvited guests who wish to retrieve some of the Cracked Crystals for themselves. Breaking into the facility is a relatively easy task, but, the deeper one goes, the more dangerous it is. 

At the bottom of these insulated underground shafts, there are multiple chamber rooms dug out, with walls armored with concrete, crystallum and steel plates, creating an impenetrable fortress (in case someone got smart and tried to dig their way into the storage facility) where nothing can get in. Or out. 

Within these chambers, Cracked Crystals that are inside the CSBs are stored in water tanks specially made for this purpose. These water tanks, called the Aquatic Insulation Storage (AIS), are made out of a special titanium-crystallum Alloy, which makes the metal reactive to magic, as well as multiple layers of protection including two Crystallum plates designed to Contain any and all magic. It is said that if a mage was to fall inside of an AIS, they would die out of energy starvation. Inside the AIS, no magic can come in, nor can it get out. It’s a perfect anti-magic barrier. On the first layer, the Alloy Plates, Command Words FREEZE and DRAIN are etched into every corner of the metal. After the Librarians in charge of storing the CSBs in the AISs have completed the process of inserting the CSBs into special container slots that are submerged in the icy waters inside the AIS, then - the water tanks are sealed with a magical lock and a small amount of magical energy is directed from the Systems Room, inside which a Librarian Engineer allows the magical energy from Crystal Capacitors located in the Upper Tiers of the Facility to flow into the walls of the AIS - activating the two Command Words and turning the water into solid blocks of magical ice that drains the residue magic (in case there is any left) from the CSBs, inside which the CCUs with the Cracked Crystals are stored.

Pelaraam has around ten of these specialized Storage Facilities scattered on secret locations throughout. 

There were rumors of the Triumvirate breaking into one of these facilities and successfully stealing the CSBs. The good news about that is that the storage facility was newly built and there weren’t many CSBs stored within. The bad news is that the rumors are true, and one of the storage facilities was raided by a terrorist mage organization, where a loss of 120 CCUs was totaled. 


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