Aetherine di Colinas
エテリーン・ディ・コリナス
エテリーン・ディ・コリナス
Aetherine di Colinas (309 AC-346 AC) was an Almorian scholar and clergywoman in the Domenican Empire. A researcher in many disciplines, she is most famous today for her pioneering work on Aether, for which many Aetherwrights revere her as a founding figure and inspiration.
Born in Las Colinas to a clerical family, Aetherine received an extensive theological education which introduced her to the concept of aether as theorized by ancient Domenican philosophers. Aetherine spent her early years in tutelage at the Royal University of Las Colinas, eventually being made a full resident in 329 AC.
Aetherine was described by many of her contemporaries as difficult to work with. She developed a reputation as an irascible and flighty scholar who often abandoned her academic and religious duties in favor of personal research projects. Chief among her interests was aether; she lobbied unsuccessfully for aether studies to be added to the Royal University curriculum, and is largely responsible for popularizing the ancient Domenican term “aether” in modern discourse.
Despite claims that she had “flown with the birds” and “traveled beyond Titan’s Wall,” among other feats, Aetherine was unable to reproduce many of her experiments. In 342 AC, she was banished from the Royal University on charges of religious impropriety and spent the rest of her life as a junior curator in the Bishopric of Las Colinas. She died in an experimental accident in 346 AC and was survived by her two children.
Aetherine’s most infamous claim was that she had invented an “armadura angelical,” a winged suit of armor which allowed its wearer to fly. For this she is sometimes poetically called “the steel angel” in Aetherwrights literature. Despite her claims, Aetherine’s published schematics were nonsensical and she was soundly mocked in the scientific community.
As aetherworking developed, it became clear that Aetherine’s armor relied on principles which were poorly understood, but could potentially be replicated. In 516 AC, researchers from the Fraternity of the Aether built a functioning wingsuit based on Aetherine’s schematics, suggesting that at least some of her claimed inventions were genuine.
Although Aetherine was unsuccessful at promoting aether studies in her lifetime, she elevated aether, which had previously been an abstract philosophical concept, to the level of scientific inquiry. The Fraternity of the Aether explicitly cites her as an inspiration, as do many individual Aetherwrights. Many terms in the field of aetherworking are derived or directly taken from Aetherine’s writings.
Inspired by Aetherine’s claims of traveling beyond Titan’s Wall, the poem Glory the Trailblazers cast her, among other historical figures, as a legendary explorer. This has made her an inspiration for many Pathfinders affiliated with the Aetherwrights.
