Schism Glass

Schism glass is a black glass found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily on the silent continent. The silent continent is called such because of its abundance in schism glass that disrupts the powers of the other crystals. This makes all crystal-based technology unreliable at best, but mostly it doesn’t work, leaving the nations there reliable on other fuel sources. 

While there are several methods for manipulating the effects of different crystals, schism glass is the most reliable way to influence a crystal’s behavior or disrupt it completely. New technologies are usually developed in experimental chambers that have some kind of schism glass lining in the base. 

They are also important in removing cumulus quartz from stone clouds. They help stabilize the crystal and disrupt its power and allow it to be transported elsewhere. 

A special thank you to everyone who has been following Antibyss in 2024! We’re going to be taking a break to spend time with friends and family as well as play some tabletop games! We’ll be back in the new year and plan to shift from some of the lore to focus on the gameplay of Project Aleutian. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 

Cumulus Quartz

Cumulus quartz is a white crystal found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily on the fractured continent, the origin of the stone clouds. It has a unique relationship with the planet where it pushes away from the planet instead of being pulled toward it by gravity. The crystal can give objects the appearance of floating or hovering in the air. 

Once the crystals form large enough under the ground, they can tear land masses free from the planet forming stone clouds. These large formations of cumulus quartz that cause the stone clouds to float are called their core crystals. 

Cumulus quartz is one of the most sought-after resources of the stone clouds because it forms the heart of every nation’s airship fleet. These air ships have varying designs based on the traditions of the different nations. Some appear like traditional naval vessels with sails and masts while others host more metallic designs powered only by engine driven propellers. 

While large crystals are generally reserved for airship use, smaller crystals have found their uses in the hands of the people on construction sites, for lifting materials, and in the arts, for very intricate art installations. 

Raze Ruby

Raze ruby is a red crystal found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily within the borders of Pohuan. When stable, raze ruby can project an energy barrier around itself. However, its namesake is from the destructive energy blasts that it can create when unstable or handled improperly.

The energy barrier can be used as a security barrier to protect precious pieces of art or other precious commodities. The shape of the barrier of a natural raze ruby is spherical. The barrier shape can be altered using other materials such as schism glass to make rectangular shapes or flat barriers. 

The energy blasts have obvious destructive possibilities that have been weaponized by the nations, and it has also found uses in propulsion or energy generation. However, when it generates the energy blast it has a high probability of destroying the crystal in the process. This has led it to be one of the rarer crystals on Bryche. 

Fused Amethyst

Fused amethyst is a purple crystal found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily within the borders of Henshina. When a fused amethyst forms there is always a pair or connection with another fused amethyst. Unlike most of the crystals on Bryche whose abilities happen in their natural state, fused amethyst requires a stimulant to exercise the pairing in different ways.

One of the more traditional uses of the fused amethyst in Henshina is in what they call wanderer’s water. The large desert has very few water sources, but wanderer’s water solves that problem. When one fused amethyst is paired with your water bottle and one sunk in a trusted source, it can allow water to be instantly moved from the water source to wherever the user is on their journey.

Fused amethyst has several other uses such as allowing for linear motion in machines, lifting mechanisms, cargo transport, and sometimes long-distance written communication.

Scorching Heliodor

Scorching heliodor is a yellow crystal found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily within the borders of Scivatan. It gets its name from the large amount of heat that it gives off, and it is a sought-after heat source for steam powered machines.  Other combustible fuel sources, such as wood and coal, are also used as a fuel source for steam engines on Bryche, but they can’t match the compactness and reliability of scorching heliodor.  

Scorching heliodor has lots of common day-to-day uses such as providing heat and light in both homes and factories as well as clocks for keeping time. It is also used to power larger steam engines on seafaring ships, airships, and locomotives.

Burnt Pyrite

Burnt pyrite is an orange crystal found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily within the borders of Waviscia. Burnt pyrite functions as a radio transmitter and receiver.

Burnt pyrite brought about an early boom in telecommunication technologies such as wireless telegraph and radio. Wireless telegraphs were important for sending text communications between land masses and mobile sea or air ships. The cut of the crystal influenced the range of signals that could be used by the system. Signal strength is often determined by the crystal size, but performance can be improved in a variety of ways including the use of an antenna.

Living Emerald

Living Emerald is a green crystal found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily within the borders of Seulana. Living Emerald has the unique ability of restoring broken inorganic items to a repaired or complete state.

One of the common uses of Living Emerald is in the reconstitution of pieces of artwork, manuscripts, or relics weathered by time. Typically, Exemplars use restoration wands that contain a Living Emerald crystal to accomplish this task. The true art of the Exemplar’s work is achieving a specific outcome from a reconstitution. The Exemplars describe it as melding their intent with the object’s intent, so they both achieve their final goals.

Lodelazuli

Lodelazuli is a blue crystal found on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian. It is found primarily within the borders of Navaire. It has the unique ability of attraction and repulsion to other lodelazuli crystals.  This effect is commonly called crystal magnetism after traditional magnetism with lodestones and iron.

They have also found ways of pairing lodelazuli with fragments of other crystals to attract and repel that kind of crystal, depending on the orientation of the crystal poles. One of the more ambitious uses of this technologies has been the introduction of crystalev trains. The tracks use embedded lodelazuli to set the levatation height and ensure the train is centered on the tracks. The steam engine within the locomotive moves another set of lodelazuli to provide forward momentum.

The Map of Bryche

Over the last several weeks we’ve introduced you to the six nations on the planet Bryche that will be represented in the game Project Aleutian. The flags of those six nations will represent the card backs for their respective decks in the game.

This map gives some insight into both the geography and borders of these different nations and marks a transition point to a new series of posts.

Our next series of posts is going to focus on the different crystals used by these nations and the different technologies they are used in. The positive impacts of these crystals on the nations with access to them is just one representation of prosperity for these nations. The images of this next series will include portions of artwork planned for card fronts.

Pohuan

Pohuan is a nation on the planet Bryche, the setting of Project Aleutian, that hosts a volcanic arc along its coastline. For its known history, there have always been a few active volcanoes along the arc mixed in with their dormant cousins. While many other nations look upon the volcanoes as a source of destruction, the Pohuanans recognize the bountiful amount of life and growth that is only possible in nutrient rich volcanic soil.  The red crystals that form in Pohuan also have a mixed history associated with them. The red crystals, when stable, project energy barriers typically spherical in shape unless modified artificially. They have found uses for them in medical applications, the energy barrier being modified into a cauterizing scalpel, and scientific research, using the barrier to contain dangerous substances. However, the crystal is considered unstable when not handled properly and can cause large releases of energy that typically destroy the crystal in the process. They have found uses for this instability, such as vehicle thrusters or weaponizing the effects. Due to the inherently dangerous nature of their land and the crystals formed there, the Pohuan government has channeled a lot of resources into geology and the crystal sciences.