A pause had settled after Count Casten's words until one of the older nobles leaned forward, tapping his fingers lightly against his goblet and spoke. "And what of the vein?"
"What about the vein found in the Greystone stretch?" he asked. "The one deep in the woods."
That changed the air in the room.
Alaric raised a brow looking at the old man who spoke then at the Count.
Count Casten gave a brief nod, eyes flicking toward Selene, then to the rest.
"Yes… the miners stumbled on something during that last beast chase. If the scouts are to be believed... It might be Varnacite."
A pause.
Varnacite was no common metal. Mages prized it for its essence-binding properties.
It could store, channel, or suppress raw Essence better than most enchanted crystals.
When forged properly, it made weapons that cut through spell wards and armor that bent magic around the wearer instead of against them.
But mining it was hell.
