Stormglass
Obsidian-like material highly connected to the Plane of Storms that seemingly softens when exposed to magical energy. Has a ludicrously high specific heat. Instead of melting, increased temperatures simply improves all of its mechanical properties (rigidity, toughness, hardness).
Deposits most commonly occur in Whirlpool Country interspersed throughout the stone, and commonly seen in the form of sand (not easily remelted) along beaches and seafloors. Its citizens traditionally used it for weapons and tools due to a lack of metal ores in the region, although the eventual connection with Hauntfall greatly diminished this use, seeing as the latter was built into the side of a mountain filled with ore.
Also occasionally occurs beneath the Shattered Jungles' magma flows: this stormglass is so heated that it is impractical to harvest (sustaining a solid shadow construct through magma is not feasible), not to mention the difficulty in finding it below the magma in the first place. However, occasional specimens were found by Abyss Dwellers within cooled magma flows, resulting in their first exposure to the material. Until contact with Whirlpool Country, it was prohibitively expensive to experiment with and make use of (especially since its 'natural state' involved being submerged in extremely hot liquid, resulting in a ludicrously durable chunk of material radiating temperatures hot enough to melt stone around it).
Abyss Dwellers used the material in conjunction with Umbrite to create blades of glowing crystal. With the expansion of trade routes, stormglass became a highly valued commodity by various other cultures:
The old Midland obsession with glass resulted in stormglass jewelry being in high demand, especially due to the material's positive reaction to fire.
Epacs specifically tried to import the material in order to duplicate the Abyss Dweller's blades, having become something of an enchanting holy grail of the time. After being met with failure, the remaining stormglass was eventually developed into enchanter's forges- tools using stormglass magically charged to the point of becoming liquid in order to impart magical charge on contact.
Fusing small stormglass pieces, such as sands or powders, is actually done by running magical charge through them. While stormglass does not melt with heat, it effectively does when highly magically charged.
Background Physics & Edge Cases
Stormglass is a high-imbuement state of obsidian. Its rigidity change comes from naturally existing in a state of superimposition between two components which behave differently under magical charge. Stormglass ground to powder below the Magical Coherency Limit does not lose rigidity. This is a bit of a moot point in most cases considering how tiny the particles are, but it does mean that they remain hard and abrasive. The material also acts a bit like negative temperature (adding energy reducing the system's entropy, making it stronger). Hell, it's probably a blue quanta interaction woven into the material somehow; something which breaks down when outside magical forces are added to the system (consider how much higher ambient temperatures are than absolute zero).Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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