Redstone

Redstone is a common element in the worlds of Rathnir and Eldham, having common and well known uses in potions, brews, and even roads. This page serves to act as a database for lore and information related to this subject, including its chemistry, technologies, and cultural groups centered around the substance.

Redstone Overview
Redstone crystals are commonly found deep underground, often mined out by workers for various purposes. The crystals are often broken up into a fine powder in an effort to separate the redstone from impurities within the substance, then sold in this form. This dust is used in potion brewing, special drinks, road construction, and as a fuel source for certain inventions. Sanctuary is at the forefront of these technologies, utilizing these crystals for their high density energy, magical properties, and other useful traits.

Structure
Redstone crystals most often take a geometric form, with sharp angles and points due to the way its lattices form. This makes it easy to refine, as outer layers containing impurities are stripped away through chiseling or other means. However, this does not mean that the center of the crystal is pure, simply that it contains the least impurities. Most crystals are deemed acceptable if they are of a sparkling red color and are able to float stably when placed in a power conduit, a common method in Haven devised by Sanctuary's artificers.

Redstone crystals can also be combined to form larger crystals through a mage or artificer adjusting the magical frequencies of the crystals to be the same, along with an addition of energy, often performed by exposing the crystals to large amounts of heat, and some redstone dust to seal the two together. Once an artificer or artificer in training (a common test for Sanctuary trainees) adjusts the frequencies of the crystals to be the same, they are given to the scientists in charge of production. These individuals will take the smaller shards of redstone crystals and place them within a large heat resistant mold, then add redstone to fill in the leftover space in the cast in order to create a uniform solid. The mold is then suspended in a furnace, with larger crystals being held within the heat for longer than their smaller counterparts.

Large-scale cases of redstone crystal synthesis do exist, such as Sanctuary’s mega-crystals used to float the city's islands. These crystals were created by combining smaller, though still very large, redstone crystals into one. redstone and heat were applied locally (much like welding) to fuse the parts together as they were suspended by artificers, chains, and scaffolding. The final two sections of the crystal were molded together through a painstaking process of suspension technology, magic, and the usage of nether materials like blaze rods to burn hot and fast. Through this process, Sanctuary’s Ziggurat crystal was formed, and it is considered to be a national treasure.

Redstone Properties
Redstone is known to have unique properties when it comes to energy. It acts as both a power source and a method of energy transfer, though size plays a significant factor in this. In small quantities, such as dust or small crystals like the ones found naturally in caves, redstone requires an external force to activate. Once energy is received, it transfers and transports it to other available sources. Redstone also emits a small amount of heat and light when activated, meaning that energy transference is not 100%, especially in impure and small forms. While the redstone will resonate the energy around itself and other sources, eventually it will burn out and resort to its inactive form again.

In large, refined quantities, redstone is known to enact a positive feedback loop as it powers itself. This effectively makes redstone an auto-energizing source once activated, allowing crystals to bounce energy around between themselves and activate one another. This gives these types of redstone an extremely high energy transference rate, though it is still imperfect. While these forms produce less ambient heat and light, energy is still lost in the open systems they are exposed to and/or part of. Some scientists theorize that the purest form of redstone has the ability to act as a perfect enclosed system, losing no energy to its surroundings. This theory also speculates that pure redstone may be able to power constructs for thousands of years with a sufficient charge and a near perfectly closed system.

Redstone also has a unique interaction with the void and void-touched materials. However, these secrets are closely guarded by the Red Fellowship. You may be able to find literature on these interactions and mysteries in game at Sanctuary or through one of the Red Fellowship's members.

Magic
It is of note that redstone is not an inherently magical element. While other materials like gold or silver are able to absorb magical “wavelengths” effectively, redstone does not possess a high degree of magic absorbance. Most redstone contains little magic, if any at all. However, even with its low affinity for magic, redstone still has its uses in the field. Sanctuary and its Redstoneborn have studied the material for generations, discovering that it possesses the ability to act as a power source and catalyst for energy, even in magical rituals. Mages often carry around small to medium sized crystals, utilizing them in their spells to ease the strain and energy requirements upon their bodies. Oftentimes, this drains redstone of the energy stored within its structure, and can even consume the material itself during the spell. To combat this, some mages carry around redstone crystals that are nearly "supercharged" to ensure they have plenty of energy available to them. However, this is not common due to the dangers of high energy redstone, especially in smaller formers. When mages use redstone in their magic, their casting is often given a red hue reminiscent of the material. Furthermore, redstone has been discovered to be especially useful in the fields of healing, fire, and levitation magic. Healing magic often incorporates the substance into the spell and the healing, utilizing the natural properties of redstone to enhance the magic and speed the body’s repairs. Redstoneborn are the perfect natural and biological examples of this. In fire and heat related magic, redstone acts as a useful energy source to release, and sometimes absorb, energy due to its high energy density and storage ability. In levitation spells redstone possesses a useful resonance that works in harmony with the spell as it is able to “resound” with the cast. Redstone’s ability to act as a longer lasting and auto-energizing power source makes it the perfect material to host these spells, ensuring the levitation lasts for years, needing only minor renewals to the spell.

Redstone in the Body
In the body, redstone is known to have minor enhancement and healing properties, slowing or even stopping one’s aging. However, this does come with side effects. Trace amounts of redstone are left in the body as they fail to be flushed out, often being transported to the body’s extremities (the hands and feet) and are collected there over time. This eventually leads to the effect of crystallization as the material accumulates, a process typically taking years to occur. Crystal lattice structures begin to form out of the residual redstone molecules, growing over time with one’s usage or exposure to redstone. Oftentimes, these formations are first spotted on the skin (especially on miners), with red spots and crystals beginning to dot one’s hands. This problem can worsen as more redstone joins the build up, and the crystal lattice begins to travel up the arms and penetrates deeper into the skin. While not a painful process at the beginning, once the growth becomes large enough, any movement of the nearby tissue is known to be painful. If the arms and feet are enclosed by the crystals, movement of the extremities becomes exceptionally difficult, especially for fine motor skills, and the limbs often exhibit chronic pain.

Should the crystals spread to the upper arms, a loss of function in the limbs will occur. If the redstone lattice reaches the neck, redstone scientists believe that blood flow will be greatly reduced or cut off, leading to a slow and painful death as the brain is asphyxiated. While redstone molecules cannot pass through the blood brain barrier, it is capable of clogging and slowing blood flow, ultimately leading to the death of the tissue in the affected area. There is no known cure for this disease, and only preventative measures may be taken. The inhalation of redstone is the quickest and most dangerous way to lead to this disease, and many are exposed to trace amounts of the element in the air. Older miners are at risk, depending upon their years and exposure to redstone in the mines, but those who intentionally inhale redstone for its effect are especially at risk to redstone crystallization.

Effects
When taken in dust form, redstone causes a tingly but warm feeling to quickly spread throughout the body. Redstone is known to have slight regenerative and healing properties, as it energizes the body and assists in the repair of tissues. With extended use, the user is known to age slower than others of the same species, but this comes at the cost of reliance and eventual crystallization. Naturally, the quantity of the substance taken matters, as does the size and frequency of usage.

Redstone may also be taken in liquid form, the most common of which is Purified Redstone Dust, aka Purified redstone. This form is actually a synthesis of redstone with gold, blaze powder, and trace amounts of ghast tears. Those who use this compound experience greater healing, chronic pain suppression, slow aging, and other positives. It should be taken as a weekly supplement, as its effects are lasting, and slowly weaned off if one decides to stop its use. This is as one can become reliant upon Purified redstone, like most other drugs and that of redstone dust itself. The withdrawal symptoms if one suddenly stops Purified redstone usage are exceptionally painful, with full body pain and seizures able to occur. While not fatal, it is not a pleasant experience. One should be careful not to overdose on the substance, as it can be fatal due to the potency of purified redstone.

In all forms, redstone seems to heighten the magical ability and potential of the user. This is typically attributed to the increased physicality and energy the redstone grants, as well as its innate ability to acts as a catalyst and energy source for magic. Those who take redstone also claim to be more "in tune" with redstone, being better able to control and influence the substance in their spells. Some dismiss this as the placebo effect, but no studies have proved conclusive on the matter.

Redstone can also turn one into the race known as Redstoneborn, a change typically signaled by a change in the subject's eye color to red. To discover more about Redstoneborn, please head to its appropriate page.

Redstone Crystals
Those who work with redstone crystals are known as Redstone Artificers. There are a few ways an artificer can use the crystals. Redstone crystals are essentially crystallized energy, due to their bond's high energy density and ability to store it. The most basic function of redstone crystals, and what is taught to students first, is their ability to float. With this property artificers can make wonders like the floating islands of Sanctuary, or hovering lamps and elevators. Redstone crystals can also be moved by artificers and mages, which can be done by tuning their magical output to match that of the crystal’s frequency and projecting a directional force of that frequency onto that crystal. By changing the frequency of some redstone crystals to be the same, along with the addition of heat, an artificer can link different crystals together. With this, the crystals can be combined into larger and larger structures, which is useful due to the energy resonance and nearly pure transference of energy larger crystals have. Larger crystals are better able to store energy and ensure it is not lost to the environment, allowing for spells and technologies to last for longer periods of time.

Overcharge
Crystals can also be overcharged, though this takes an increasingly greater and greater amount of energy for larger crystal forms. Once at critical energy density, any additional energy causes the overcharged crystal to release the input in a hyper focused point, akin to a beam weapon. Additionally, the crystal will often release some of its own energy as it attempts to move away from critical energy density and this excited state. This often means that once the overcharge process is started, it cannot easily be stopped, and certainly not safely. Overcharged crystals are known to be volatile and have the potential to release their energy in dangerous bursts if sufficiently disturbed and not directed safely. If a crystal were to be charged to the point that it reached critical energy density, and then disturbed or activated while its release mechanism was imperfect, it has the chance to explode and result in what is called "redstone fallout". This highly energized cloud of redstone dust will rapidly heat and crystalize on any matter around, including organic matter. Even more deadly than the slow internal crystallization as evidenced from redstone dust ingestion, a redstone fallout situation has the potential to freeze entire ecosystems in place. Plants would be unable to photosynthesize as their surfaces are coated with crystallized dust, organisms may be unable to move due to the coating freezing them in place like statues, and water sources could be contaminated. This is without considering the superheated state of the redstone dust, which can burn and melt most substances.

It is of note that this science is mostly applicable for very large crystals, as the beam and energy release from small crystals is only good for toasting bread.

Teleportation
Redstone Artificers can also use Redstone crystals to teleport things by moving them through spacetime. However, this is an extraordinarily risky procedure and requires powerful crystals and an expert Artificer to accomplish. Even then, the outcome may be unpredictable. The only successful large-scale teleportation with redstone crystals so far has been Tim Von Burgs teleportation of New Sanctuary from Eldham to Rathnir. However, the city did not land at its planned destination in the Heart of Haven. Rather, it landed too far inland and deep underground the city of Sanctuary itself. Artificers and mages speculate that this may be because the Sanctuary Ziggurat crystal acted as a stronger beacon than the one at its intended destination, causing the mages performing the ritual to bind the spell to the wrong target. Thankfully, they still put the city at sea level, landing it in a large cavern underneath Sanctuary.

Sky Ships
Redstone is also theorized to be applicable to sky ships. Using the levitation spell on redstone creates lift, which could be used to raise an object into the sky. While it would require constant attention, with a mage modifying the crystal’s lift output to control the ship’s height, it is entirely feasible and designers are currently working to make this a reality. The major problem they face is that of a propulsion method, one that is powerful enough to move the ships in mind and ride the winds of the sky.