I'm making this thread and tagging it as a Notice so everyone has access to this information. Gems are going to be a huge part of anyone's game regardless of where you're at or what you plan to do.

So give me a while to contemplate everything I want to tell you at this point and flesh out these ideas a little.

The economics and other factors involving these particular items are going to be somewhat complex and I don't want to step on my own toes relaying this information to you guys.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 11:46, Mon 28 Jan 2019.

Gems, more accurately geodes, are found in particular areas of the Frontier.

geodes - a round rock which contains a cavity that is lined with crystals. [source: https://www.desertusa.com/dese...ospecting/geode.html]

Why they are found only in these unexplored areas is a mystery. The territory is vast, riddled with dense jungle, harsh deserts, treacherous swamps, inhospitable mountain ranges and everything in between.

The very first reports of these crystalline anomalies dates back more than 100 years. However at the time, none of their peculiar properties were known. It was the brainchild of an odd old dwarf in a little town called Denzi, that ultimately led to a rush of explorers and entrepreneurs into this new world.

Somehow, through much experimentation and thinking outside-the-box, a special property of the gems was discovered. By means known to only a few to this day, these gems can be aligned with the energetic pathways of the world, known as leylines.

leyline - One of various supposed alignments of ancient monuments and prehistoric sites in straight lines, believed by some to indicate paths of positive energy inherent in the Earth [source: https://www.yourdictionary.com/ley-line]

In doing so, vast quantities of energy can be stored in the gems, and will remain, until the gem is discharged by outside means.

For many years, he kept this knowledge to himself, and continued his study into the how these gems could be used. He developed all manner of different gadgetry and machines that made use of these powerful items.

It was only inevitable that word of his strange hobby spread, and as it always does, individuals concerned with profit learned of him and the wondrous works he created. Being a craftsman, designer, thinker and tinkerer at his heart, he continued on with his work not caring for the almost daily courting of investors and the less-scrupulous. But he guarded his secrets well.

As time went by and his body aged past being able to perform the labor necessary for his continued experimentation, he took on an apprentice, his grandson. It started out harmlessly enough, but as the years went by, the temptation for easy money wore down the young dwarf's will.

He began by taking notes of seemingly innocuous information and selling it for large sums of cash. This led to making his own diagrams. Documenting each new thing he learned. Then stealing hardware. And finally to outright physical threat.

The old dwarf learning of the betrayal was heartbroken. He had entrusted his legacy to one person, and they had failed him. In anger, he drove a dagger into the younger dwarf's chest and set off an explosion of epic proportion, destroying himself and all the work of his genius. What is left now is second-rate information from a greedy apprentice.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:40, Sun 27 Jan 2019.

The gems are largely under the purview of the Explorer's Guild. They began the race early and have been smart in spending their profits on further personnel and equipment.

The organization itself is known as a solid one that is decent to work for. They are always looking for people with all types of skill sets to further their expansion into the Frontier.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:46, Mon 28 Jan 2019.

A long time ago a deal was made. A deal for more power.

The power was needed at the time. Without it meant the end of a people.

As with all deals of this nature, a price was promised.

The cost has almost been paid, but the result was only more time.

There is more to the story.

Cheran, an old half-elf living in the mountains located in the North-West area of Kijani. Multiple sources have reported him as a person who knows about gems.

Gems are coming into play a little more for some of our players, so I figured I'd lay some info on you guys and hopefully not contradict myself too badly.

If I have already told you something and it is different than what I'm writing here, I sincerely apologize...  my memory blows.

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So, filling a gem.

As of right now, there are two ways to fill a gem.

1. Steal a soul (a concentration of energy) and put said soul in a gem. Mechanically I'd like this to be in the necromancy school of magic having a few different FP costs depending on the soul being transferred. The larger, or more powerful a soul, the more energy required to transfer it into a gem. This is totally aside from morality. Obviously it is the easiest and fastest way to fill a gem, but I think we can all agree it's a dick move.

2. A cut gem can be aligned or attuned to the natural energy pathways in the world, the leylines. This requires you to be able to sense where these lines travel, and to set the gem into the ground such that it fills slowly over time.

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As always, I'm sure you guys have a more interesting or cooler way of doing things, so if you have ideas...  I'm all ears.

Oh, and only one of our characters has a vague idea about how this works for the moment, so easy on the meta-gaming please.

Thanks guys!

In reply to GM (msg # 6):

May I suggest a third way: A lightning collector! Put up high during a lightning storm, they recharge a lot when hit by lightning. Obviously does not work underwater, and is rather lethal for anyone actually holding it, and dangerous for anyone nearby...any fault results in the destruction of the gem though, so does not work for all!

Yoooooo...

I like that!!

Consider it the third way to fill a gem. High risk, high reward.