Cinium is an element whose origin is more unclear than it appears at first glance. It is found in the ash deserts and particularly frequently in the muddy rivers that spring from sources there or whose riverbeds run through those lost lands. Scholars speculate that cinium may also be found in the Ember Deserts, those mysterious centres of the wastelands whose dazzling appearance is known only from a few eyewitness accounts and blurred photographs. One theory suggests that these places may consist of nothing else.
Another theory, now old and no longer accurate, is that Cinium came with the light. With the stars that raced across the globe in panic. On their way, they had left huge swathes in the landscape, as if a giant had dragged a stick through the earth and mountains alike, and the mountains had shattered like fragile icing under a firm handshake. But so far, no significant deposits have been found in the swathes far away from the ash deserts.
Another theory, which also cited the panicked stars – which, according to some scholars, may not have been stars at all – as the cause, is that of convergence points. Investigations of several swathes revealed that wherever several stars had crossed paths during the catastrophe, the approximate position of an ember desert could be found. And since the embers deserts were the cause of the ash desert, which in turn was responsible for the spread of cinium, whether by rivers, storms or simply humans themselves, a number of scholars speculated that cinium had come into the world with the emergence of the embers deserts.
However, this theory did not explain everything.
There were indications that Cinium had appeared earlier. One example was the wooden cross of Grantham, in the centre of which a piece of Cinium had been inserted. According to the archives of the Old City, it had been made during the Scorching Night, in the first year after the inferno, to give hope in the face of the apocalypse. It was highly unlikely that at that time a piece of Cinium could have travelled so far south from Scotland, where the only Ember Desert in the British Isles is located.
Of course, some scholars resort to the simple explanation that the records are simply wrong or even falsified, or that the piece of Cinium embedded in the cross is just a polished pebble that a geologist had miscategorised due to incompetence.
Even bolder examples were references to cinium before the year of our Lord 1704, according to the old calendar. The more one delves into the origin of cinium, the more young scholars in particular realise that a beautiful theory is far from being a fact.
In its pure form, cinium has a smooth texture and an unnaturally white colour, which – when heated – changes to a glow and then to a dazzling light. It has a hardness comparable to quartz and is extremely brittle, so that it quickly breaks into small, sharp-edged pieces when processed. Recent studies show that cinium is an electrical conductor, but due to its difficult processing properties, no use for it in this area has yet been found.
Its best-known property is that it generates heat on its own without any energy input. The amount of heat generated is related to the amount of cinium that comes into contact with each other – even minimal contact between two pieces is enough to produce the effect. Once a critical mass is reached, cinium ignites and burns in a bright light. No flame is visible, which is why it is also referred to as incandescent decay. The degree of heat depends on the amount of cinium. To date, there is no known method to stop the incineration process of cinium. During incandescent decay, cinium crumbles into fine ash.
The outer layer of cinium oxidises when in constant contact with air over several years. The pure white colour changes to a matt grey-white.
The effects on the human body and mind are highly controversial. Cultural and economic aspects of a society often play a role in downplaying the negative influence of cinium on the psyche and body. It can be said with certainty that both the intake of small amounts over long periods of time and larger amounts within a short period of time have a demonstrable effect on the brain and mind. Those affected and their relatives report states of trance in which sufferers do not react to their surroundings or only react slowly. In the worst case, these states can escalate to a catatonic state, which makes the sufferers dependent on care – often leading to premature death.
Violent outbursts – declared as possession, especially in religious societies – also occur. Severe personality changes or mental decline in those affected, who regress to an early childhood or newborn level, have also been documented.
Furthermore, newborns born in regions with high concentrations of cinium in the air exhibit postnatal malformations that can lead to disfigurement, disabilities, and even unexpected death. Even more frightening are reports from regions that have fallen victim to White Noise, prompting scholar Edward Ellingham, who visited an affected village near the Silean Desert with a group of Lohen, to say that death by fire now seemed like an act of extreme mercy after what he had witnessed.
For clarification, White Noise is an ash storm with a high concentration of cinium particles in the air. Survivors who were able to be interviewed reported seeing white dots flashing before their eyes and hearing a roaring noise that was deafening even in protected rooms.
Despite its side effects, cinium is widely used in medicine. It is referred to as the poor man’s doctor. It is sold as a tonic, the main ingredients of which are oils, juices, or other liquids containing minute amounts of finely ground cinium. According to the well-known physician Karl Gusten from Stralsund in Lohenreich, its effects cannot be denied. A tonic is extremely effective, especially for superficial injuries such as abrasions, but also for burns. It can even be used to treat broken bones – however, these must be set correctly in advance to prevent them from healing incorrectly. According to Karl Gusten, it becomes more difficult when the ailment is less tangible. Although a course of treatment with a cinium tonic always provides short-term relief, in some cases it seems to only temporarily circumvent the problem. Patients suddenly recover, until the effect of the tonic wears off and the ailment returns, sometimes with even greater severity. In particularly severe cases, death occurs shortly thereafter.
Examinations of the corpses of affected individuals reveal changes in the body that could only have occurred as a result of taking the tonic, as a person should not be able to survive in such a state. Among other things, fused heart valves were found in a man who took the tonic to cure his frequent suffering from palpitations.
According to rumors, and it should be pointed out, especially in scholarly circles, that these are only rumors and not facts, morally less stable physicians are already investigating the physical changes that can be caused by cinium in living test subjects.
The origin of the term cinium can be found in Latin and is derived from the Latin word cinis, meaning ash, and ium, a typical ending for a neuter noun. It is a neologism that can be found in various documents dating from the end of the Long Winter.
Cinium has its own terms in all languages and cultures to a greater or lesser extent. In the widespread Lohendeutsch dialect, it is commonly called Engelweiß, alluding to its light color. In general French, there is the equivalent term Blanc d’ange. In the Second Commonwealth, the commoner population mainly uses the term Dundee, a famous mining site for Cinium in the British Isles. In the Italian-speaking heartlands, probably spread by the Latin-speaking Novissima Ecclesia, the term cinium is actually used in everyday language.
Cinium is mainly mined using three methods.
The most common is mining along rivers that flow out of ash deserts. The advantage of this is that workers do not have to venture into the hostile ash desert, although the land near such deserts is often only slightly more hospitable. Various techniques, such as sieving, damming rivers, and using canals or machines, are used to fish the cinium out of the water. The collected cinium is barely larger than a pebble, but shows only minimal oxidation.
The second method also involves water, but is far more dangerous and also more productive. An expedition ventures into the ash desert and searches for lakes – this work is now done by pilots who fly over the desert on days with good visibility. Once a lake is discovered, a convoy of workers with machines and security guards moves in to drain the lake and expose the bottom. Over time, a lot of cinium accumulates in such lakes, making such expeditions extremely lucrative – however, ash storms or White Noise can destroy the expedition. In addition, there is the threat of attacks by robbers or renegades who wait for victims on the outskirts of the Dead Lands.
The third method, and one of the most traditional alongside sifting at rivers, is simply searching by eye and collecting by hand at the edge of the deserts themselves. Dressed in heavy coats and with their hands covered with rags at best, these poor souls search for cinium hidden between the earth and ash. However, it is of inferior quality, as the cinium is often already oxidized and must first be purified.
Collected cinium is either laboriously purified by hand and simple machines or refined on an industrial scale. Depending on its use, cleaning is not absolutely necessary, but it is recommended, especially for use as fuel in steam engines, in order to prevent unwanted fumes, residues, or chemical reactions from occurring during the combustion process.
Cinium is transported in containers that vary in size depending on the region. It is important to avoid critical collisions of cinium, which is why the containers are either specially protected or filled with only small quantities, so that the contents of at least three transport containers are required to cause ignition.
Cinium is primarily used to generate heat for steam boilers. The types and designs, especially with regard to the combustion chambers and the latest improvements such as oil injection systems, are the subject of other articles, as a digression on the wonders of technology would certainly go beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that none of the machines we take for granted today would be conceivable without it.
Cinium is also used in the production of light where it is cheaply available. There are various types of lamps for this purpose, such as pressure lamps, which ignite cinium below its critical mass, and gas lamps, which use a mixture of cinium and gas. Classic lighting is otherwise provided by larger lanterns that burn cinium in critical mass – the light is so bright that it is dimmed by semi-transparent screens.
Its use in medicine has already been explained in detail. But it is not only used as a tonic in the human body. Whether as snuff or in cigars, people consume it to make their hard everyday lives more bearable. It lightens the mood, cures many minor ailments such as migraines or painful joints, and makes you forget – until it actually makes you forget forever. It is not for nothing that in Lohenreich they say that the old people no longer know any advice, they do not remember.
The morning of 13 July The morning of 13 July in 1704 dawned a little differently all over the world and yet always in the signs of its time. Fresh breezes blew here and there as the Little Ice Age raged in Europe and[...]