Blue Crystal Through the Ages
The history of the Asgardian continent is also the story of blue crystal and its uses.
1. Dark Ages:
Ancient tribes were vaguely aware of blue crystal, and of the fact that it held enormous power. However, they lacked the technology to refine it. Their ill-considered attempts to heat it over a fire resulted in the release of blue mist, sending poisonous gas all over the continent and leading to the deaths of untold numbers of humans and animals. Furthermore, the gas gathered into a blue mist that seemed to have a life of its own, spreading across the land. Travelers disappeared in the blue mist. Some believed that it was more than mere poisonous mist—it was a veil dividing this world from the home of the Ancient God.
2. The Common Era:
Drave the Snake-Eyed, chief of the Vecks, lost his way in the blue mist but managed to survive—and tumbled into a deep chasm, where he discovered Arche ruins. Desperately thirsty, he drank of the blue crystallis running through an underground channel, upon which it was revealed to him how to interpret the runes of the Arche Age. With the knowledge gained from runic diagrams embedded in blue crystal, it finally became possible to extract and refine blue crystal for use. The immense energy provided by blue crystal allowed the peoples of Asgard to make a massive technological leap. They realized that the Arche ruins dotted across the landscape were more than evidence of the creation of the world by the Ancient God and the civil war of the Ymirus; they were also a treasure trove of technological secrets. Thus began a mad rush to recover lost technology and exploit blue crystal energy, a process that ultimately saw the birth of the Eight Kingdoms.
But each people had its own beliefs, and thus proceeded in a different direction. The Vecks and others like them worshipped the Ymirus and therefore followed in the Ymirus' footsteps, using blue crystal as a source of power and making systematic use of runic tattoos created with ink infused with blue crystal, forging an innovative civilization. Meanwhile, the people of Omar among others worshipped the blue moon Caeruluna, leading them to develop a civilization that emphasized the spiritual. They consumed all sorts of blue crystal perfumes and transformed the runes of Arche civilization into all sorts of tribal symbols with unique functions. Still others worshipped the Xenobeats, leaving them afraid to make active use of blue crystal. As a result, they closed themselves off from the rest of the world and slowly fell into decline amid intense competition between great powers.
3. The Modern Era:
As the secrets of ancient technology were revealed, crystallogy became an increasingly important field of study, not only excavating and reproducing ancient technology but also inventing new ways to apply it. Blue crystal in its fourth state was used for more than powering weapons—it was also put to industrial uses. For instance, the blue crystal steam engine ushered the Asgardian continent into the Age of Steam, allowing blue crystal energy to be widely used for purposes beyond fueling technology excavated from ancient ruins.
But even as blue crystal was turned to an ever-increasing number of uses, people came to the sudden realization that they had only the shallowest understanding of it. In addition to its unique ability to move between states, it possessed an even more potent property: the power of chimerism. With blue crystal, it was possible to meld one mechanical part with another, or even with a living being—a power with unimaginably vast potential. But the kingdoms of Asgard had only the most rudimentary understanding of chimerism, and thus they set about probing the underlying rules and principles governing it. Then the Elmo Polis dug up a unusual underground archaeological site with apparent relevance to this question, inducing the other kingdoms to cast covetous eyes their way.