From the Writings of Lord Aeron Lysander,  Founder of Aurelia

During the early days of our land, the Blackspire Mountain stood as silent witnesses to our struggle. We were hardy people, constantly trying to scrape out a living from the harsh terrain in the North- cold and bitter winters, rough soil, with only our sweat and toil that we can commend ourselves on. Perseverance is a trait we have to have to be able to carve out a life for ourselves and those who come after us. Life relentlessly brought down hardships and misfortune our way, but we continued to be resilient. For a time, it seemed as if it was enough until it suddenly wasn't anymore. 

I can vividly recall the day our fortunes changed forever. During these times, I was under the tutelage of my father to learn leadership methods, with the hopes of someday taking the mantle from him. Times were hard; with the weather cold and unforgiving, food was scarce, and the veins of ore in the areas we typically ventured were now exhausted. We were desperate, which led to taking riskier actions by venturing deeper into the Blackspire mountains during one of the worst winters in recent memory. My father, rarely ever taking risks, especially at the cost of the safety of our people, sent one final expedition into the mountains with the hope of finding anything that could change the trajectory of our fortunes. Still, even he could not have foreseen what would be found. 

When the first Lumina stones were discovered, the miners were engulfed in a sense of awe and wonder. Korin Veldemar, the lead miner, later recounted how his pickaxe struck the stone almost by accident, making a sound, unlike anything he had ever heard. A strange resonance echoed across the caverns as if the mountain itself was responding, and as the dust settled, a faint glow was seeping through the cracks of the stone. Though cautious at first, thinking it could have been something dangerous, as they continued to break into the rock, the glow intensified as the crystal embedded was further revealed pulsing with light- soft, like the first light of dawn, yet it shifted and shimmered with hues of blue and violet. It was unlike anything any of them had ever seen.

The miners looked at the stone with reverence, with one of them, a superstitious older gentleman, dropping to his knees, convinced that they had unearthed a gift from the gods, with others whispering of legends mentioning ancient prophecies that foretold magical stones hidden in the earth that bestowed unimaginable power to those worthy. Ever the pragmatic leader Jorin was, he carefully wrapped the stone and ordered his men to return to their tasks, including their silence about the event they had just witnessed. I vividly remember that night, woken up by a loud commotion, and being the curious young man I was, I had to check its cause. As I left my room, I heard my father speaking to someone, and I realized it was Jorin. What would he be doing in our home this late in the night? I asked myself. That is when a bright and sudden light encompassed the whole room; I ran in thinking things were amiss; as I barged in, I saw my father, and to this day, I still remember the look on his face of wonder and fear. My father was a man of many things, war, strategy, and politics. Still, the significance of what he is witnessing did not pass him by. He ordered Jorin to gather his team into the mountains, urging them to dig deeper in hopes of finding more of these stones, and within weeks, more veins of Aetheris were uncovered, with each one more radiant and powerful than the last. 

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As the weeks passed, word spread throughout Aurelon; my father had summoned scholars, alchemists, and mages to study the crystals to uncover a property other than the wealth that could be gained by being sold in foreign markets. But eventually, we began to realize the true potential of these crystals. One of the mages, trying to harness the crystal's energy, managed to trigger a small burst of light from it, resulting in a power knocking him back to the wall. Rather than injury, he claimed to have felt a surge of energy within himself, feeling his senses being sharpened and his strength renewed. From then on, we knew these crystals were meant for something more, something that would change the course of our history.

Through trial and error, we learned that they could be used as a conduit for magical energy, being able to amplify or store it in ways we never could have imagined. When wielded by those with the talent for magic, Aetheris could magnify their abilities tenfold, allowing for feats that had never been considered anything but legends. But mages were not the only beneficiaries. The energy in the crystals could be channeled into weapons, machinery, and fortifications. It became a limitless resource that promised Aurelon to be out of reach of the other nations. However, experimenting with the crystals did come with its dangers. Early attempts to harness Aetheris often ended in disaster. One crystal, when mishandled, caused an explosion with the force of a lightning strike, which killed several miners and sealed a considerable part of the cavern where it had first been found. This incident was a stark reminder of the power and peril that these crystals held.

I remember holding one of those crystals in my hand, feeling the subtle thrum of energy flowing within, as though the very essence of life pulsing through it, a connection to something so ancient and primal. Even then, being as young as I was, I knew that these crystals would shape our future. I could sense their power, their potential, and I understood that their influence would be far-reaching, beyond what we could currently comprehend. 

As the years passed, the influx of Aetheris never seemed to run out, no matter how much we dug out or how deep we went. Our understanding of their powers and applications grew. My father, ever the strategist, began to build Aurelon's military strength around the stones, from crafting weapons that were Aetheris infused to fortifying our borders with defenses powered by their might. But all the improvements we made over the years never could have gone unnoticed. As we built ourselves up, other nations, having learned about the crystals, grew with envy and fear. Constantly sending diplomats to our city in hopes that trades could be made, accompanied by thinly veiled threats if any agreements could not be made. Of course, my father denied any trade agreements because he did not want to see Aetheris being used by other nations. For he knew just as much the other countries did that whoever controlled Aetheris controlled the future of Eryndor, and so seeds of conflict were sown, a slow-burning fuse that would one day ignite into a full-scale war. 

As I look back on those past events, I realize that the discovery of Aetheris was both a blessing and a curse. The prosperity it has brought to our land and those who live within has been nothing short of a miracle. Starting as a small struggling nation, elevated into as important a nation as any other, if not more, their discovery marked the beginning of a battle for dominance that has never truly ended, and I could foresee never-ending. The stones that once seemed so pure, so full of promise to a bright future, have become nothing but the cause of continuous bloodshed and strife. I never would have known the weight of the future those crystals carried when I first held one. Aetheris is a gift that has done wonders for the life of everyone in this nation, one that comes with a cost. And now, as I stand on the precipice of a new war, I question myself if the price will be more than we could bear.