Heartwood amber is the empire's most coveted resource — a golden resin that hardens harder than steel, glows faintly in moonlight, and is said to hold fragments of lost memories trapped within its depths.
Mined from ancient, sap-weeping trees deep in the Heartwood, amber is the foundation of the empire's wealth. The Aurean Crown mints it into "Shard-crowns" — irregular golden coins whose value is measured by weight and luminescence. The Guild Concord controls most extraction, employing brave (or desperate) amber-divers who rappel into hollow titan-trees to chip crystallised sap from inner walls. Raw amber is also prized by enchanters, who claim it amplifies memory magic and divination. Rumour holds that the largest piece ever found — the "Sun-Tear" — sits beneath the throne of Empress Sylvara III, and that it whispers to her at night.