Resonin
Description
Resonin is a natural metal appearing all around Atocitera.This white-colored metal forms in layers which tend to break into very thin slices. Higher quantities of this metal form chunks of overlapping slices resulting in scale-like veins.
Processing
If processed by heating it beyond its melting point, it will lose its layering form and reactiveness to the Flow. It will then behave very close to ordinary iron with which it was often mixed to get more material out of a smaller quantity of much rarer iron.If Resonin would not be mixed with Iron, it would still be a very soft metal. It would no longer fracture easily, but still deform fast. When Resonin is processed by a Flowsmith, it keeps all of its properties and even gains a new one. The Resonin which underwent a Flowsmithing process will be capable of storing the Flow in itself rather than only reacting to it.
Usage and flaws
The main feature of Resonin is its reactiveness to the Flow, it was this feature that gave it its name. Whenever Resonin gets in contact with any quantity of the Flow, it starts to float as if ignoring gravity. Chunks of Resonin can also hold a certain amount of weight afloat. How much weight is determined both by the mass of the chunk as well as the concentration and quantity of the Flow affecting the metal.This phenomenon is essentially what keeps the Atocites afloat on the upper streams of the Flow. The upper streams go through the mountains containing high quantities of Resonin, which triggers the gravity-defying effect holding up the entire mountain. Cyclers traveling on the upper streams of Flow are created by tying together various chunks of raw Resonin with durable yet light platforms. By itself, Resonin is a soft and fragile metal and is not viable to be turned into weapons. After impact, it either quickly deforms or fractures along its layered structure.
A higher mass of Resonin also requires a higher quantity of Flow to start floating. This means that for the creation of Flow detector very small splinters of Resonin are used. The small splinters then react to an even a faint amount of Flow, providing the necessary warning.
Occurrence
The veins of Resonin could be found inside mountains of Atocitera, which were turned into Atocites during The Cataclysm .Some mines of Resonin were exposed where the mountains were cut from the ground. The Labyrinths of exposed mines are one of the richest places still containing vast quantities of Resonin. Other than in the mines, the tiny slices of Resonin can be found as part of Acotirera's sand and rocks. Albeit in quantities useless for anything else than creating Flow Detector
Notable facts
Mining of Resonin from the Atocites is considered a threatening act and punishable by exile or death. This has been decided by the Council of Planners right after the major exporter of Resonin fell down from the sky.History
In the past, before the Cataclysm, smaller slices of Resonin were used to detect the Flow to prevent unwanted exposure, while larger chunks were used as supplement in Iron processing.The resulting metal took over properties of both. Ending in higher quantity of metal, albeit with reduced quality.
During these times counterfeit metal equipment was present on the market, claiming to be made out of high quality Iron. This equpment was in fact made out of much higher quantity of Resonin rather than iron and quickly became useless. To combat this, kingdoms of the time started branding their metal and releasing official documents to trusted blacksmiths.
After the Cataclysm, but before the Grand migration, the counterfeit metal was one of catalysts of conflict between increasingly power hungry kingdoms. Iron ore then became one of the main focuses of fighting kingdoms to ensure high quality equipment for their troops. After the Grand Migration, the heat processing of Resonin was abandonned. Not only was its quality unsuitable for equipment, but when people moved to the Atocites, the unprocessed Resonin allowed for creation of Cyclers and open the possibility of traidng between Atocites.
I am curious as to whether having a metal that deformed so fast would be good to construct things like springs and other elements that would suffer a lot of elastic tension. Great article!