Gems

**Gems**|宝石|Hōseki are an immortal, humanoid species made of gemstones that inhabit one of the islands of the world. They are related to the canon Gems, however they exist on a separate island and have no contact nor knowledge of the other. There are 12 gems on the island at the start of the story.

They are lead by a figure known as Mother.

## Characteristics/Biology

Like canon Gems, the radioactive Gems take on a humanoid appearance with their bodies generally made entirely of a particular type of mineral. They are capable of movement, speech, and general thought processes.

Radioactive Gems differ in the fact that they live in a more hostile environment and are radioactive. Most of the Gems have radioactive elements within their base minerals (such as thorium or uranium, and one plutonium), while others have radiation due to contamination and inclusions. The environment around them is much more hostile but the micro-organisms that make up the Gems are capable of surviving in high radioactive level environments. The Gems therefor, are also giving off radiation and can damage organic life.

## History

The beginning history is blurry at best as the oldest one (Trinitite) has impurities that cause their memory to falter greatly. The second oldest (Chernobylite) was too dangerous to even be in the same room as and was in isolation for centuries in an unstable mess before finally cooling down.

From what can be gathered however,

* Mother found the Gems (Trinitite and Chernobylite) and created a residence for them out of the ruined structures that exist on the island. Only Trinitite was kept in there as Chernobylite was too dangerous at the time. Mother teaches Trinitite speech and discovers that Trinitite is radioactive.
* Monazite emerges. Sky Guardians have appeared but only in passing. Mother begins teaching the Gems more than speech.
* Thorianite emerges. Sky Guardians have appeared to become more aggressive at this point. Mother protects the Gems from them.
* Pitchblende emerges, quickly befriending Thorianite as the two display more playfulness and curiosity than previous Gems. Mother begins teaching chemistry.
* Sky Guardians are attacking the island. Most of the Gems are capable of taking up arms and attempt to assist Mother in fending them off. Thorianite and Pitchblende have started digging up artifacts which Mother mentions that it belonged to the creatures that used to reside on the land.
* Curite and Autunite emerge. Mother sees how fragile Autunite is and attempts to develop better weapons to protect them.
* During down times, Mother tells the Gems what jobs they could pick up to help each other and figure things out. She emphasizes helping.
* Ianthinite emerges. Another fragile Gem. Chernobylite is finally cooled down enough to be safe around others.
* Green Diamond emerges. Mother comments that they are made up of the hardest material and that Green will be able to protect the others.
* Monazite is abducted. Partially due to Green Diamond’s negligence.
* Mother doesn’t wake up and the Gems are left to figure things out on their own suddenly. There is chaos and panic in attempts to wake her up but all attempts up to the present for them have failed and Mother continues to rest in silence in a kneeling position in her room. Curite takes up the lead and begins to give orders to stop the chaos.
* Verrite emerges. The Gems are left to teach Verrite how to speak and other things.
* Thorianite and Pitchblende are able to focus heavily into science and history, theories begin developing on how things work. Texts are found.
* Autunite becomes greatly upset over Mother and towards others, mainly for not being able to do anything. Their consequent impulsivity leads to them being shattered and abducted. Verrite becomes engrossed in protecting other Gems from shattering.
* Thorianite’s focuses lean towards the Sky Guardians now while Pitchblende continues to figure out the creatures of the past. Thorianite theorizes that the Sky Guardians may have something to do with the ancient creatures. They figure out how their weapons work and design their own weapons for the Gems using similar methods. Thorianite recalls Mother saying the Sky Guardians are lost souls.
* Blue Topaz emerges. The second hardest Gem who is able to place the egotistical Green Diamond down.
* Thorianite decides that speaking with the Sky Guardians to figure out what they want and why they’re attacking might have better results than constantly attacking.
* Thorianite is abducted.
* Cygnusite emerges. The Gems have a hard time keeping track of them.
* Astrocyanite emerges. Shows a fascination with the sky, especially the nighttime. Others fear that Astro will become the next Thorianite and be abducted, but Astro’s interest is mainly in the science of the universe. Along with Pitchblende, they develop a telescope prototype that eventually improves over time with each new design.
* Ekanite emerges. Quickly learns speech but otherwise proves hard to control.
* Vicanite emerges. Is the youngest currently and has currently mastered speech. Curite is trying to find them a job and get them learning other things but Vicanite may be more difficult than Ekanite as the two bicker.

The history might change if other Gems are added (and could be added) it’s a rough estimate.

## Culture

Unlike the canon Gems, these Gems only have one outfit style. They don’t have shoes or gloves or any accessories except in their hair generally. The outfit is made of (beige) hemp cloth and is rather thick. The outfits are closed by crossing them over the chest and tying it on the right side. This is all due to the Gems not having a fashion centred Gem like Red Beryl so opt for simplicity.

The Radioactive Gems are a bit more advanced in technology than the canon Gems, as their science is. Their physics and chemistry are probably the most advanced. This is seen in their weaponry, with momentum and far range weapons are used like bow and arrows. They have discovered fire and are in the beginning stages of electricity. This is mainly due to artifacts that Pitchblende has discovered and pieced together.

Unlike the canon Gems, their biological knowledge is lacking mainly due to not being able to go near it. They are unaware that they contain microorganisms. They are partially aware of a life and death cycle, but biological functions such as eating is foreign to them.

They are currently attempting to decode the ancient creatures’ texts and why the symbols vary so much, and eventually learning to know what it means in hopes of answers to the meaning of their existence and where they came from.

## List of known Gems

### Gems on Earth at the start of the Story

At the beginning of the story, there is currently 12 Gems on the island

## Trivia

* While canon focuses on Buddhism beliefs, the Radioactive Gems will have more of Christian beliefs.
* Most of the Gems contain uranium and/or thorium. Green Diamond, Blue Topaz, and Monazite are the three Gems that wouldn’t be radioactive elsewhere and contain no radiation in their purest form, but have been irradiated either due to exposure or impurities. Trinitite is technically the non mineral one, as it is glass (irradiated by plutonium). Chernobylite is the one based on speculation and is based on the Elephant’s Foot in the Chernobyl plant.
* These Gems are much fewer in numbers than canon ones.