Amaranthite - mineral

Standing atop the mountains looking south, you see the vast grasslands of Unar expanding before you. With its glittering little rivers and small hills, it is a joy to behold. From up here you can see what appear to be small, round, pink lakes. Steam is rising from it in the morning sun. But these aren't lakes, they're craters from the impact of meteors. These craters are filled with sharp, jagged pink rocks we call Amaranthite.

Properties

Amaranthite is a porous mineral with a bright pink colour and sponge-like qualities. When Amaranthite rocks absorb water, the mineral heats up to about 50°C.

Hazards

Broken pieces or powdered Amaranthite can have very sharp, jagged edges and must be handled with care to prevent small cuts to the skin. Amaranthite is however too brittle to be useful in tools or weapons.

Ingesting Amaranthite powder is very harmful to the body, as it will suck up all the moisture in the intestines, causing risks of dehydration and internal lacerations.

Usage

Absorbing fluids

Amaranthite has countless invisibly small holes making it surprisingly light and giving it extraordinary sponge-like properties. This quality makes it exceptionally good at sucking up vast volumes of water, making it useful for a couple of things:

• Protect against wisps of The Haze - As these harmful wisps are essentially just fog, or tiny water droplets, these rocks can make light, instant, portable defence tools. Or be strategically placed to stop the wisps from entering towns or homes.
• Catch bodily fluids - Such as menstruation blood, or for use in baby diapers or toilet areas. When used in underwear, it is important to cover the Amaranthite powder with a liner to prevent direct contact with the skin.
• Prevent flooding - By strategically placing large boulders around flood-prone areas, you can create small "wells" of these stones that suck up the water and prevent the levels from rising too much. The stones can even drain flooded areas by essentially using them as buckets or to speed up natural evaporation.
• Keep roads dry - When ground into small pebbles and mixed with dirt it makes great roads that stay dryer than just mud roads. Thus this is often used for the main roads to and from bigger cities.

Generating Heat

When Amaranthite rocks absorb water, a chemical reaction takes place which heats the mineral to about 50 °C. This naturally evaporates the water inside. This evaporation, in turn, makes the surface a bit cooler to the touch.

• Keeping roads snow-free - When snow falls on Amaranthite pebbles on the road, it will initially absorb some of the snow. This initial absorption heats the mineral slightly, causing the rest of the snow on top to melt as well. This will then absorb more water and continue heating up to about 50 °C. Due to the evaporation happening on the surface, the surface of the rock will cool down to about 35 °C, keeping the roads snow-free and passable. Even pleasant to walk on during cold months.*
  _{* This effect has its limits of course. When the rocks are completely saturated and more snow falls on top, it will create more and more water. This slightly warm water will then flow away, first clearing the area around the road of snow as well, but it can also create small rivers on the roads. It is thus important to have a ditch on the side of these roads to create a path for this warm water flow to spill.}
• Portable hand-warmers - When travelling in snowy areas, a small rock of Amaranthite is often carried to create a small, portable packet of heat. Just rub some snow on the mineral, and it will warm up in your hands.

Extracting the fluids from the rock

The fluids absorbed in the rocks are easily and rather quickly evaporated. Placing the rocks in sunlight is the fastest and easiest way to dry the mineral out again. This is helped by the fact that Amaranthite heats up when it comes in contact with water.

This evaporation process can be sped up by using heat from fire or lava. However, one must be careful as dry amaranthite smoulders quite easily and will release a rather unpleasant smell.

Geology & Origin

Amaranthite is not native to Ûnduleah. It is a rock formed by natural chemical processes on the twin planet that broke off in an impact around the year 200 in the Cold Age.

The largest amounts of it can be found in the pink impact crater in the Unem grasslands. Some chunks can also be found in the surrounding areas.

Ecology

Because amaranthite warms up and absorbs water, it is difficult for plants to take root on the mineral. The many pores however create places for climbing plants to latch on to. Not many plants take to this specific environment, but the air-rooted climbing plant called .. .. can grow particularly well across these rocks

Type

Rock, Metamorphic

Odor

Subtle oniony smell when dry. When burnt smells like burning hair.

Taste

Mostly taste-less, hints of salt and onion.

Color

Magenta-pink

Common State

Rocks or powder form

Related Locations

• Unem