Aether

Though normally invisible, it appears as glowing lights when activated as magical phenomena, and when it exists in large quantities in the atmosphere, it will appear as a thick blue fog. Aether crystalizes into crystals and the Mothercrystals are enormous deposits of it; some believe that the crystals are sapping the land of aether, setting in the Blight, an erosion of the land where the ecosystem loses its aether, resulting in an ever-advancing environmental disaster.

Bearers, Dominants, and some monsters mutated by proximity to aether can manipulate the ambient substance in the environment to perform magic. Those unable to manipulate aether directly need to use crystals for magic instead, but as crystal shards (mined from the Mothercrystals) are becoming increasingly scarce, the populace resorts to enslaving Bearers and even Dominants to use as tools of everyday life from agriculture to industry to household chores to waging wars and healing.

Both Bearers and Dominants are susceptible to using too much of their own aether when using magic, resulting in a phenomenon similar to the Blight of the land: their bodies will slowly petrify. This is known as the "crystals' curse".

Concentrated aether pooled on the lands surface due to an imbalance of diffusion results in aetherfloods, where the very air glows blue and those who breathe it are severely affected, their bodies crystallizing and their sanity eroding, transforming into ferocious beasts known as the Akashic. Bearers and Dominants have natural aetheric tolerance to aetherfloods, but monsters and regular humans are quickly transformed, and the effects are irreversible. Aetherfloods are highly dangerous, especially in confined spaces where the aether cannot dissipate into the atmosphere.