7th of Frost, 120 AS
Next, the gem needed to be infused. This would give it the aether it needed to become a proper Core. This is what Lyra thought of as she walked up the steps to her workshop above. Unlike with Dragonshards, Gems would not produce or sustain their own aether. Instead, they would slowly lose aether over time, and Lyra suspected the type, size, and cut of the gem would all have an effect on how the aether behaved. It was an intriguing notion to her that such things could affect magic so, as in her time, such things were of no concern given the abundance of raw aether in the air. Why, then, would one choose to use a gem instead of a dragonshard?
"Perhaps for temporary, or single-use constructs." Lyra mused allowed as she stepped into the workshop.
If the power stored in a core would slowly drain unless it was constantly supplied aether, then eventually it would run dry and its effects would come to a stop. Where would that be useful? Prototypes of course, and on things that were built to have a timer of some sort. Perhaps simple devices that would capture something and then release it? What's more, the amount of aether the vessel could store would have a great effect on the complexity of the tasks that core could be given to complete. Dragonshards, then, would always supply the greatest flexibility as they would always recoup the costs of upkeep, so long as that cost did not surpass the rate at which they gathered aether. That said, Dragonshards would be the most expensive option, and depending on the device even a Lesser shard would be several times more powerful than you actually needed. So what was the solution?
The more complex the problem or process, the more aether was required at base. Things such as true sentience or intelligence would at a minimum require a dragonshard. But what about simple automation such as opening and closing doors, or turning lights on and off? Those were very basic, and the processing required to power and unpower was significantly less than what would be required to tell a construct to move a limb.
"Ahh, that was why the Cores in Phoma's lab's utilized large gems instead of dragonshards." Lyra realized with a smile, "From the surface the construct her husband made was complex, and one would think that a dragonshard would be required. In fact, it was for the Primary Core, but the others? Large Gems that simply received commands and acted on them in simple ways."
That was why there were large aether collectors located near the Primary Core. It wasn't to the power that core itself, it was to supply the other cores that could not supply their own power. The Primary Core then would supply only what was needed, to the parts of the schema that required that power at that time.
Her husband must have been a genius. Lyra thought with a shake of her head, His talents were surely wasted.
Lyra now stood in front of the long table in her workshop, atop which was a series of greater dragonshards set into tall metal stands. Lyra looked over them for a moment, her mind still passing over thoughts of cores and the values of dragonshards vs gems. What she intended today was nothing more than a simple test, to see if what she imagined was possible. A core, as she had considered earlier, had to be something which could contain aether, such as a cut gem. Because of this Lyra knew she now needed to infuse aether into the gem.
"It should be similar to scrolls." Lyra thought as she approached the greater aetherite shard.
She carefully placed the gem beneath the dragonshard, in the center of a pictograph which was linked to the dragonshard above it. She then set her hand on a small glyph at the front, activating a series of lines so a steady line of aether began to flow between the dragonshard and the glyph below it. The concept of infusion was a simple one. Aether could be made to travel from one place to another through the use of connecting glyphs. The glyph on the table below the aethertie shard matched an output glyph on the bottom of the dragonshard. It would pull aether from the dragonshard into itself, sending the aether in a loop to another connected glyph that would return excess aether back to the shard in a loop. There would be some loss, but it was efficient enough for the level of scrolls Lyra generally made. The pictograph on the gem itself is what allowed it to take in the aether as it passed over. So as the aether passed through the open space between shard and glyph, the gem at the center would pull in aether as it passed through a vortex pictograph placed on it. Scrolls worked much the same way, though typically Lyra worked the glyphs in such a way that aether could be suffused through the entire scroll, and not simply drawn in through a single space.
Lyra watched for a time in silence, before remembering to put on the aura glasses. Through the lenses, she was able to see the flow of aether as it passed from shard to table. In the center of the stream sat the gem, and as she watched she could see... a glow of sorts, growing inside of it. It was at this point Lyra realized that she did not actually know the capacity a cut gem could hold as far as aether was concerned. Was it possible to overwhelm a gem?
For a time Lyra watched with interest, wondering if there would be a sign, or if the gem would simply crack or shatter. After several minutes though there were no signs of the gem doing either, and with a shrug Lyra cut off the flow. She was not sure what was too much, or too little, but in any case, she would proceed and see what happened. Lifting the gem Lyra examined it. Through the aura glasses, she could see a glow emanating from within the gem. It was slightly green-tinted, perhaps due to the emerald itself? Was it possible the type of gem had an effect on the aether it housed? She studied the glow for several minutes, the gem raised before her eyes as she tried to distinguish if it was growing dimmer. After some time she decided that, if it was weakening it was at a slow enough rate that she would not be able to detect it as it was.
She began making her way back down the stairs. Now that she had an infused gem, she would need a way to determine if the instructions she gave the core took or not. She was not an engineer, and she had no interest in becoming one. She did, however, need a way to determine if what she had done was a success. As she reached the bottom step Lyra was struck with an idea. She returned the aura glasses to her robe pocket before returning to her necromancy lab and the dragonshard station inside. She set the gem on the glyph, and this time the pictographs activated. With a start, Lyra realized what they were doing, and quickly she grabbed up her tools and began carving, trying to finish before the gem was drained dry.
She created a new, tiny pictograph on one side of the gem. It was shaped like a small flame with an eye set at its center. She added lines that crossed around the entire gem, connecting back to this pictograph. As she worked the aether in the gem itself suffused the pictograph, activating it even as Lyra finished the last tine. With that, she had given the gem the ability to use some of its aether to emit a soft glow. So long as aether was supplied to the glyph it would continue to glow and would cut off when no aether was given.
With that done Lyra took the gem from the dragonshard station, using her glasses to check the aether levels, and frowned as she realized the aether inside was only faintly glimmering now. With a sigh Lyra turned, making her way back up the stairs to recharge the gem in preparation for the next step.
Next, the gem needed to be infused. This would give it the aether it needed to become a proper Core. This is what Lyra thought of as she walked up the steps to her workshop above. Unlike with Dragonshards, Gems would not produce or sustain their own aether. Instead, they would slowly lose aether over time, and Lyra suspected the type, size, and cut of the gem would all have an effect on how the aether behaved. It was an intriguing notion to her that such things could affect magic so, as in her time, such things were of no concern given the abundance of raw aether in the air. Why, then, would one choose to use a gem instead of a dragonshard?
"Perhaps for temporary, or single-use constructs." Lyra mused allowed as she stepped into the workshop.
If the power stored in a core would slowly drain unless it was constantly supplied aether, then eventually it would run dry and its effects would come to a stop. Where would that be useful? Prototypes of course, and on things that were built to have a timer of some sort. Perhaps simple devices that would capture something and then release it? What's more, the amount of aether the vessel could store would have a great effect on the complexity of the tasks that core could be given to complete. Dragonshards, then, would always supply the greatest flexibility as they would always recoup the costs of upkeep, so long as that cost did not surpass the rate at which they gathered aether. That said, Dragonshards would be the most expensive option, and depending on the device even a Lesser shard would be several times more powerful than you actually needed. So what was the solution?
The more complex the problem or process, the more aether was required at base. Things such as true sentience or intelligence would at a minimum require a dragonshard. But what about simple automation such as opening and closing doors, or turning lights on and off? Those were very basic, and the processing required to power and unpower was significantly less than what would be required to tell a construct to move a limb.
"Ahh, that was why the Cores in Phoma's lab's utilized large gems instead of dragonshards." Lyra realized with a smile, "From the surface the construct her husband made was complex, and one would think that a dragonshard would be required. In fact, it was for the Primary Core, but the others? Large Gems that simply received commands and acted on them in simple ways."
That was why there were large aether collectors located near the Primary Core. It wasn't to the power that core itself, it was to supply the other cores that could not supply their own power. The Primary Core then would supply only what was needed, to the parts of the schema that required that power at that time.
Her husband must have been a genius. Lyra thought with a shake of her head, His talents were surely wasted.
Lyra now stood in front of the long table in her workshop, atop which was a series of greater dragonshards set into tall metal stands. Lyra looked over them for a moment, her mind still passing over thoughts of cores and the values of dragonshards vs gems. What she intended today was nothing more than a simple test, to see if what she imagined was possible. A core, as she had considered earlier, had to be something which could contain aether, such as a cut gem. Because of this Lyra knew she now needed to infuse aether into the gem.
"It should be similar to scrolls." Lyra thought as she approached the greater aetherite shard.
She carefully placed the gem beneath the dragonshard, in the center of a pictograph which was linked to the dragonshard above it. She then set her hand on a small glyph at the front, activating a series of lines so a steady line of aether began to flow between the dragonshard and the glyph below it. The concept of infusion was a simple one. Aether could be made to travel from one place to another through the use of connecting glyphs. The glyph on the table below the aethertie shard matched an output glyph on the bottom of the dragonshard. It would pull aether from the dragonshard into itself, sending the aether in a loop to another connected glyph that would return excess aether back to the shard in a loop. There would be some loss, but it was efficient enough for the level of scrolls Lyra generally made. The pictograph on the gem itself is what allowed it to take in the aether as it passed over. So as the aether passed through the open space between shard and glyph, the gem at the center would pull in aether as it passed through a vortex pictograph placed on it. Scrolls worked much the same way, though typically Lyra worked the glyphs in such a way that aether could be suffused through the entire scroll, and not simply drawn in through a single space.
Lyra watched for a time in silence, before remembering to put on the aura glasses. Through the lenses, she was able to see the flow of aether as it passed from shard to table. In the center of the stream sat the gem, and as she watched she could see... a glow of sorts, growing inside of it. It was at this point Lyra realized that she did not actually know the capacity a cut gem could hold as far as aether was concerned. Was it possible to overwhelm a gem?
For a time Lyra watched with interest, wondering if there would be a sign, or if the gem would simply crack or shatter. After several minutes though there were no signs of the gem doing either, and with a shrug Lyra cut off the flow. She was not sure what was too much, or too little, but in any case, she would proceed and see what happened. Lifting the gem Lyra examined it. Through the aura glasses, she could see a glow emanating from within the gem. It was slightly green-tinted, perhaps due to the emerald itself? Was it possible the type of gem had an effect on the aether it housed? She studied the glow for several minutes, the gem raised before her eyes as she tried to distinguish if it was growing dimmer. After some time she decided that, if it was weakening it was at a slow enough rate that she would not be able to detect it as it was.
She began making her way back down the stairs. Now that she had an infused gem, she would need a way to determine if the instructions she gave the core took or not. She was not an engineer, and she had no interest in becoming one. She did, however, need a way to determine if what she had done was a success. As she reached the bottom step Lyra was struck with an idea. She returned the aura glasses to her robe pocket before returning to her necromancy lab and the dragonshard station inside. She set the gem on the glyph, and this time the pictographs activated. With a start, Lyra realized what they were doing, and quickly she grabbed up her tools and began carving, trying to finish before the gem was drained dry.
She created a new, tiny pictograph on one side of the gem. It was shaped like a small flame with an eye set at its center. She added lines that crossed around the entire gem, connecting back to this pictograph. As she worked the aether in the gem itself suffused the pictograph, activating it even as Lyra finished the last tine. With that, she had given the gem the ability to use some of its aether to emit a soft glow. So long as aether was supplied to the glyph it would continue to glow and would cut off when no aether was given.
With that done Lyra took the gem from the dragonshard station, using her glasses to check the aether levels, and frowned as she realized the aether inside was only faintly glimmering now. With a sigh Lyra turned, making her way back up the stairs to recharge the gem in preparation for the next step.
