Aren't Consciousness Shards supposed to be fragments from Environ's shattered Reality? If they aren't, then maybe they can be, because I have an idea of how people could use the shards outside of being a currency.
All over the world, there could be cracks in reality. These cracks wouldn't show up on the world map, so players have to look around, giving you exploration incentive. These Cracks raise the enemies in the area by one tier (If there are tiers to raise) and cause a windstorm only in that chunk (I haven't decided on what the effects should be if the crack is in a building or cave, you decide. =D). And depending on how large the crack is, could effect surrounding chunks as well. The larger the crack, the more shards you would need to repair it.
If you have enough, you can spend the shards to close the crack, restoring balance to the area, and getting a rare enchant as a prize! But the Enchants aren't always the best, so players need to decide whether they want to gamble their shards for a potentially powerful enchant, or bank em to save for the store.
Does this sound good? =)