Aether

*(Pronounced "Ayy-thur" rather than "ee-thur" in the manner of the classical Greek element)*.

This light blue, glowing, and weightless substance is a physical manifestation of pure Magickal energy. It's discovery launched the Magitek Revolution and the beginnings of all modern technology. Its most popular use presently is the role it plays in the use of A.R.M.s.

## History

### The Dark Ages

Prior to the discovery of Aether, Magick was the exclusive privilege of those who studied for years to master their use of Mana. This process of mastery often took so long, by the time a practitioner had advanced enough to begin making meaningful progress contributing to the body of established knowledge, they had only a few years left in which to conduct research. Where progress was able to be made, the results were often hoarded by powerful organizations of practitioners or kept secret to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Often, a discovery would become lost to the ravages of war or plague and go undiscovered for generations before either being rediscovered or a manuscript retrieved and translated. Many were even considered forbidden techniques and outlawed due to their ability to upset the social order.

### The Magitek Revolution

The Magitek Revolution began with the discovery of Aether. Using a process that remains a top level classified secret to this day, Aether was first derived in a religious monastery in the northern regions of the planet Terra. After its discovery, its use spread throughout the norther continents and shaped modern civilization as we know it.

#### I. Early Revolutionary Period

As difficult as it may sound to believe, Aether first found use as a non-flammable long lasting light source. Compared to wax candles, which produced dim light with an open flame, Aether was far brighter and carried no risk of burning one's house down. An Aether Jar weighed little, produced bright pale light, and if accidentally shattered, dispersed harmlessly into the atmosphere. This alone revolutionized the technology of the time by making coal mining a significantly more feasible operation. The discovery and manufacture of Steel, Mithril, Adamantine, Orikal and strengthening of the labor class can all be credited to this early primitive period of Magitek.

#### II. Middle Revolutionary Period

The Magitek Revolution is often said not to have truly begun until the Middle Revolutionary Period. While Aether did see use in multiple industries, it wasn't until this point that Magick was truly brought to the masses. As Aether use and production both grew, labs began experimenting with new applications for the substance after the successes of the Alchymickal metals. The AIDA research division was the first to create the first true Magitek device.

After testing the responses various materials had to Aether exposure, it was discovered that Aether could be stored without dispersing inside of a large spherical gemstone. The first Crystal Core. Additionally, they discovered that different crystalline structures affected how much Aether could be stored, how it moved, and even change its visible wavelength.

The first Spell Core was created when the AIDA lab team channeled Aether through a crystal, then through an etched gemstone lens that focused and shifted the Aether until it took on the form of a bolt of lightning. Immediately, the technology was classified as top secret and the team's budget and size quintupled. The AIDA lab, through trial and error, created early versions of many spells still in use to this day.

Although spell cores didn't see widespread usage at this time and were very much crude by modern standards, the proved to be instrumental in many military conflicts during this period. Particularly among territorial disputes and colonization over other resources high in demand due to the new explosion of technology. A variety of other Aether infused materials were introduced during this period, as well as a rampant explosion in technological advancement as new products appeared almost daily.

#### III. High Revolutionary Period

The height of the Revolutionary Era came about due to the introduction of Magitek weaponry. The sheer effectiveness of the first Magickal weapons on the battlefield was such that every single other weapons lab across the planet began delving into reverse engineering the spellcasting process. Prior to the revolutionary period, battles had been dominated by a nation's few powerful spellcasters accompanied by legions of cannon fodder and cavalry.

With the introduction of Mekanized casting and artillery emplacements, the face of war changed forever. Death tolls grew from the hundreds to the thousands as a worldwide arms race began to develop more and more powerful Magitek. Fledgling colonial nations developed their own Magitek weaponry in secret before launchion outright rebellion. For the first time, Terran civilization itself seemed at risk of total annihilation.

During this period at the height of the Noontime Empire's reign was when the most critical of spells and Magitek equipment came into use. The first primitive Golems dug trenches while armored vehicles shuttled troops and supplies across the worldwide battlefield. New armor, weapons, and experimental prototypes were deployed immediately to the front lines. The total death toll rose from the thousands to the millions, and then the billions.

#### IV. Post Revolutionary Period

It's not known what remains of Terra. Our ancestors, the Scions of the Rose, gathered their greatest minds together and created the first of the AetherGates to escape. From there until the beginnings of The Second Empire much of our recorded history is lost. Even this knowledge is passed down in fragments from the survivors of our ruined world as the Terran people fragmented again and again, fearful of a Second Revolution eradicating the species. It's from this time that it's believed Terran life was seeded across the galaxy. Many worlds claim themselves to be the survivors of Terra, but none has yet to be substantiated.

#### V. The Second Empire, Revolution, and the Modern Era

The Second Empire was founded when Emperor Alister Arkannis I sought to reunify the scattered Terran peoples once more. While effective in preventing Terran extinction, the Aethergate network proved unfit for earlier attempts at unification. Their operational speed is incredibly slow, only accumulating Mana from the surrounding environment, and their capacity limited to a few dozen people at most per crossing. This meant any would be liberating force was at an extreme disadvantage in any potential conflict.

It was Emperor Arkannis I whose noble engineers constructed the first Orbital Gate. While any ground-based gates could only be so large before they collapsed under their own weight and devastated local ecosystems with repeat operation, Orbital Gates could be produced at any size needed for an invasion force. While the energy necessary for opening grew exponentially based on the size of the gate, the rediscovery of the Aether production process has meant that so long as sufficient Aether could be made a gate could be opened at any time.

This revolutionary approach and use of star-travel has allowed for the formation of our Second Empire in all its glory, reigning for over two thousand years. While the traitorous rebels seek to undermine our authority with their illegitimate claim to the throne, our mighty Alchymists ensure that we shall crush the usurpers beneath the benevolent boot of royal authority. Victory will be ours!1

1Data provided by the Royal Ministry of Historical Records