Possessing a gem and training with it for a decade lets you use intense elemental magic of a certain attunement. BUT…those gems are so rare and take such vast resources of an empire to formulate, that their use is controlled to just three people. Anyone else who steals one won’t even be able to use it until they’ve practiced for an extraordinary amount of time. So, they’re like nukes; and no one can just nip in and steal them.
The story is about using non-magical means to solve societal problems.
Might be a time to plug my own writing.
Possessing a gem and training with it for a decade lets you use intense elemental magic of a certain attunement. BUT…those gems are so rare and take such vast resources of an empire to formulate, that their use is controlled to just three people. Anyone else who steals one won’t even be able to use it until they’ve practiced for an extraordinary amount of time. So, they’re like nukes; and no one can just nip in and steal them.
The story is about using non-magical means to solve societal problems.
EDIT: Actually, since this has 7 upvotes, maybe it’s time to plug it more directly.