Crossing the river past the Baldesion Annex, Kiht Gamduhla is on her way to attend her classes at the Studium in West Old Sharlayan. A second year in biology, Gamduhla has always been passionate about studying aetheric symbiosis, which researches and evaluates the distribution of aether in new hybrid organisms.
“My mom and dad have always been supportive about higher education, you know,” Gamduhla said. “I’m from the Lower Decks of Lominsa and always had a fascination with how the calamity impacted the ocean fish. A lot of people don’t think about what goes into our bodies or aether pollutants, so I wanted to better understand aether and how it can be harnessed.”
However, Gamduhla is considering changing her major with the Studium’s latest college course being added to next semester’s classes. It’s called Biomechanical Aetherology and is the latest break in the aetherologic field.
Biomechanical Aetherology, or BMA, was first developed in the late astral era by Sharlayan House Duvilier under Jean-Luc Duvilier in Idyllshire. The practice involves a biomechanic chamber with gold, trillium and aetheric crystals that interacts with organisms inside the chamber. By placing the aether-conductive metal on cuts and wounds, the uncorrupted crystals drain into the conductive metal and through to the skin – both repairing the internal damage and sealing the wound with non corrosive metal.
The practice was brought back to light after two Leveworkers and a Gleaner emptied the old laboratory in Dravania and found a woman who had been dealt a fatal wound; she used the chamber to perform surgery saving her life.
The science behind the new practice is still under scrutiny, as some experts like Forum member Fourchenault Leveilleur believe aether-conductive metal mined after the calamity could corrupt the aether that enters the body.
According to the Studium’s Center for Aetherology, Manipulation of aether in a manner that deviates from its natural tendencies is what scholars call ‘magic’. While the various schools of magic such as thaumaturgy and conjury all employ different methods to achieve this goal, the basic concept is the same.
Still, through multiple diagnoses on the woman and testimony from the Gleaner, the Studium is opening a major course on BMA for selective scholars including Gamduhla.
“It’s really a big chance for me to take my scholarship and put it toward helping others,” Gamduhla said. “Every cycle we’re learning more about how aether interacts with the body in good and bad and I’m just … I’m looking forward to putting that good to work and be one of the first to tackle such a new field.”
It’s uncertain whether or not the Studium will be course-sharing the curriculum and lab testing for BMA with neighboring neo-Ishgardian university Saint Endalim’s Scholasticate in the Holy See. However, pushback has already been voiced by the Dean of Saint Endalim’s citing that when a living entity dies, the aether remaining will normally leave the body and return to the world’s aetherial currents and that use of crystals on people would be sacrilegious.
