Somnium

Somnium a divine fossil, long forgotten.

Summary

Rumours of a fanastic precious stone had long circulated among Patrain miners. Supposedly it shimmered like a rainbow glowing strangely in the darknesss, and those who gazed upon it even once would lose their minds. The stone itself would speak to the miners, some said, calling for them to dig it.

Weather or not those details are true, the ore dubbed "Somnium" was discovered around the same time Patria gained independence, coal minners in Whitechurch reportedly happend upon it in a natural underground cave. The ore shone green and blue, and was translucent with a faint metallic luster, but too many impuruties were present for it to be considered a precious stone, and its extreme fragility made it difficult to process. The vien also had a low yeild, and for a long while the ore was thought to be uesless. However, when it was revealed to be an excellent fuel source, research into its application took off at once. When activited with heat and pressure in a special furnace, Somnium releases enormous amounts of thermal energy. With thermal efficeny several hundred times greater than an equal amount of coal, high hopes were pinned on Somnium as the energy source for the new age.

But it has dangerous quailities as well. A labratory devoloping Somnium powered steam engine was completely destroyed and its workers killed in a castastrophic explosion that even caused casualties in the surrounding neighbourhood. At the time, there was only a small amount of Somnium kept in lab, and so the cause for the explosion is entirely unclear. With no clue for finding a stable practical application of the ore, the research was stopped, and Somnium nicknamed "demon ore," all but disappeared from history.