Areios is a rather common yet valuable mineral available in many of the Tmere Asia planets.
Composition and Properties[]
Areios consists of multiple compounds and elements, notably copper sulfate, silver iodide, pyrite, calcium vanadium silicate, and others, However, copper is the most well distributed element, which gives it the electric blue color.
Areios is densely packed with molecules closer together than what is observed in Ge. Within the initial network of copper compounds lay plethora of compounds packed inside, resulting in a whopping average density of 44.2 g/cm3, more than twice that of mercury. These two things give Areios its value.
Appearance and availability[]
It is as stated above of blue color given the dominance of copper in coloring matter. Areios generally exist in large crystal formations, especially in Polysiton and Meizotere Hellas in both outcrops and veins, although outcrops are the predominant form in Polysiton, while veins are the predominant form in Meizotere Hellas. Although Areios is most associated with mineral outcrop growth, there are other forms of Areios: the most notable alternate form of Areios is crystal "fruits" grown off Selenoxylon, which was a leading factor in development of the Lagikoanthropoi civilization as they were given a head start on access of metals.
While Areios is a valuable resource in terms of value per volume, it pales in comparison to the likes of spice melange that allegedly can buy an entire planet for a suitcase's load of spice at the time of the Corrino Empire. However, Areios's real value is similar to that of Tiberium of Command and Conquer's Tiberium universe: while Areios isn't as valuable as Tiberium, it is easier to mine and refine as Areios is nontoxic, aided by the high air pressures (in part due to the masses of the planets) of the planets involved. Obviously, industrial blast furnace refineries do a much more efficient job at utilizing all the valuable elements of Areios, but attenuated furnaces that can be prefabricated and placed at the field in relative ease do a good enough job to produce significant value out of an small node of Areios worth around 200 tons of Areios. Because of this, Areios is a much-sought after mineral in fields of battle, and also the reason for the rapid development of field production technologies in Tmere Asia as well as the rapid development of technology or industrial infrastructure, former for the young species of Tmere Asia, and latter for the immigrant humans from Earth.
The largest deposit of Areios is located at Mount Pangaion at Meizotere Hellas, producing more than 10 million tons of Areios annually. While Meizotere Hellas and Polysiton are the biggest producers of Areios, given the ubiquity of Areios in Tmere Asia, Areios is the most mined mineral in Segmentum Asia by mass by far.
Usage[]
Obviously, the most common usage of Areios is to be refined into its metallic components to be used in industry. However, its piezoelectric and electroluminescent properties make the crystals themselves valuable in gemcraft and electronics, some even making it to exotic equipments, mostly by the Arche Hellenike. Areios's piezoelectric properties are essential to some of Arche's rarer weapons such as the Phaeinoi weapons, which uses Areios to add power to its strikes, and the Akontion Keraunophoron which emits deadly bolts of lightning when making contact with hard surfaces.
In-Game Mechanics[]
Areios is an indirect primary resource, as mining and refining Areios is one way of acquiring requisition in Ε.Α.Β.Ε: Commoners' Legion. Areios nodes most often appear as crystal outcrops at the surface that are easy to mine, requiring only labor and simple tools to do so. However, Areios need to be refined to be converted into actual requisition, and all factions have the capability to mine and refine Areios to boost their war effort.
Some Areios nodes have prebuilt drilling facilities upon them left by previous Lagikoi and Sentinel efforts to mine them. They have the potential to produce requisition much faster, meaning such nodes are bound to be heavily contested.
Each faction in the game has a building that serves as a place to return the mined Areios to be processed for requisition:
- Territorial Independence Army and Arche Hellenike - Metallourgeion
- Posterity of The Sentinels - Built into the Command Base and the Outpost
- Evil Baby Corporation - Burny Place
- Tropas Libre - Refinery
Each faction also has different mining units, usually their base infantry unit coupled with a mechanized assistance usually the troop transport.
- Territorial Independence Army - Ergatai
- Posterity of The Sentinels - Haploi, coupled with Camel and Hovercycle
- Evil Baby Corporation - Shooter Babies and Hurler Babies, coupled with Zippy Transport Tank
- Arche Hellenike - Cheirourgos
- Tropas Libre - Cultists, coupled with Dumper
Images[]
