Crystal-Caste

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More specifics about the empires, physical characteristics

## Crystal-Caste

### Subgroups

Adamant (diamond)
Sapphire
Ruby
Emerald
Topaz
Quartz
...

### Typical Characteristics

Vibrant hair and eyes depending on the gem

The **crystal-caste** are a race of crystal (stone)-influenced humans that live in the Crystal Empires, which spans the entire two northeastern continents of Aurora. They abide by a loose caste system based on one's gem affiliation and are only rarely born as mages.

## Lifestyle and Culture

### Crystal Empires

The Crystal Empires were originally part of the Glassfolk Empire, where the crystal-caste were used as slaves and were kept in line by the Glassfolk's unique fire magic. Crystal-caste are mages only very rarely, so they didn't have the means to fight back until one of the Adamant-caste discovered that he possessed a unique ability to redirect elemental magic through himself without being harmed. This Adamant-caste rallied a rebellion and took over the Glassfolk Empire, forming the Crystal Empires.

The Crystal Empires span two continents, divided up (unequally) into four regions, each ruled by a different crystal-caste subtype: Adamant, Sapphire, Ruby, and Emerald. The Adamant Empire encompasses the entirety of the northeasternmost region, but their influence is mostly concentrated in the eastern half. The Crystal Triad divided up the southern continent, with Sapphire along the northern coast, Ruby occupying the southern mountains, and Emerald taking up the area between them. All three border the Kiln, a desert which none of them occupy.

The Adamant Empire holds authority over the other three empires, but they don't tend to meddle much, as there is a lot of tension between the members of the Crystal Triad.

### Caste System

A loose caste system governs the Crystal Empires, roughly based on the Moh hardness scale.

* The highest caste are Adamant, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. These are members of the ruling families and the aristocracy, and any member of this caste can easily get a high-ranking occupation in the government.
* Below this are various higher-ranked types of crystal-caste including Topaz and Quartz, who are frequently warriors but can also be craftspeople or artisans.
* Farmers, herdspeople, and general laborers make up the third caste, mostly composed of "lower-grade" crystal-caste.
* The lowest caste is made up of all non-crystal-caste citizens: glassfolk, other humans, elves, and partial crystal-caste.

## Physical Characteristics

### Appearance

Crystal-caste appear as normal humanoids with vibrantly saturated hair and eyes that reflect the color of their gem caste. They are slightly tougher than normal humans. Adamant-caste appear with carbon-black skin and opalescent hair.

### Rare Magic

A crystal-caste mage is very rare. While adamant-caste can never be mages, members of the other castes occasionally produce a mage. These mages, however, are highly specialized, and often have only a single "trick" that they can do very well (for example, a crystal-caste water mage may have only the ability to turn water into ice).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 What is “the subjugation thing”? I couldn’t find anything about it in the extra lore (tumblr.com)
2. ↑ What continent would you say has the largest population? And which continents have the crystal Empires? (tumblr.com)
3. ↑ "*Okay there's seven continent-sized regions..."* to "*so most new people in the area move to an outlying Emerald city*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
4. ↑ "*Diamond-caste people have carbon-black..."* to "*my excuse for anime hair colors*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
5. ↑ "Okay, so basically..." to "though they cannot themselves be mages": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)