I thought it was pretty clear: a super-valuable mineral gem the size of a small hens egg they extracted from some kind of womb-like living plant or animal with a scalpel and acid. It was a kind of barter currency, so it formed the basis of a gold-rush economy with bandits, mercenaries and all.
It was pretty neat that the location was very earth-like (and obviously live-action filmed on earth, with almost no discernible cgi), but the environment felt very alien thanks to some very inventive and subtle touches.“Designers prepare cardboard hospital beds that double as coffins” |