Keltaitheerdaal (kelt-tay-theer-dawl)

Keltaitheerdaal is a yellow-hued mineral related to aquatheerdaal. Research is ongoing, in hopes that it might replace the less common aquatheerdaal as a tech energy base.

Keltaitheerdaal, image from the Aavene Geology Museum in Chorde, Taangis

All artwork by Shanda Nelson unless otherwise stated

Keltaitheerdaal
• theerdaaleride family of minerals
• typically ranges from light yellow to dark gold in color, though deeper shades of orange is common. May contain iridescent red or green tarnish.
• tetragonal crystals
• metallic
• light blue streak
• 7-8 on Kendrell's Hardness Scale (KHS range is 1-20)
• found in places once underwater. The most productive mines are found throughout the Taangis coastline and northern Pelthine.

Description

Sunset pendant from the Gror Burial Site
Helith Temple Ruin in Helith, Taangis
~3890 TE

Keltaitheerdaal is a yellow-hued mineral that, like aquatheerdaal, is found in sedimentary layers of places once underwater. The most profitable mines are found on the western coast of Pelthine, though several are scattered in the interior of the continent, usually clustered around large lakes.
It comes in a wide range of yellow to gold colors, with medium yellow being the most common. Impurities can run throughout the rock, adding rose, orangish or greenish tints. The rarest form, sunset, is found in one mine in southern Taangis, though bits and pieces are scattered across the landscape as small chips. It has a consistent gradient of color from light yellow to dark red. The Breyn religion found throughout Pelthine shines it and places pieces in the crowns and jewelry of their high-ranking officials. Due to this, sunset is considered a liturgical stone, and Taangis arrests commoners in possession of it, though the other northern countries do not.
Keltaitheerdaal is denser than aquatheerdaal, though small pieces float on water. And, as with its cousins, weeld kleeth can smell it. The lizards say it smells like fried eggs overdone with pepper. Humans say that it smells like any other rock until it is used in tech, then it takes on a decided sulfur scent.

Sunset provides a special boost to weeld kleeth who consume it. Humans have prevented the lizards from accessing the sunset mine, so pendegon communities have special trackers that sniff for chips of the substance in backwoods terrain. Because of the enforced rarity, Sunset is only eaten by leadership combatants approximately an hour before the match. The scale hardening secretions last longer, and physical stamina is increased. A hard crash follows, so if the fight drags out, both opponents might collapse, and no winner declared.

Weeld kleeth used keltaitheerdaal for hundreds of years before humans on Pelthine took an interest in it. Scholars believe the first mines were purposefully maintained to keep the pendegon communities from accessing the mineral, though, as a people who lived in the more southern regions of the continent, they would not have had ready access to any of those northern, coastal excavations.

photo Mikhail Nilov from Pixabay
Mine Guard, Chyar Mine, Taangis

Alleurs, Dentherion and Meergeven researchers wonder why Taangis jealously guards their keltaitheerdaal mines, when the mineral does not work in modern tech devices, and therefore cannot adequately take the place of the depleting aquatheerdaal supply.
Rumors about Taangis waiting until their tech-saavy rivals have depleted their aquatheerdaal reserves, then attacking with new, keltaitheerdaal-based tech, have raced through both Theyndora and Siindernorth, making advanced countries nervous.

Uses

Keltaitheerdaal, as with aquatheerdaal, can be used as a whole rock, broken into bits or ground into a powder. Dentherion and Meergeven military research focuses on the powdered form, but no viable existing tech can effectively use the mineral. Researchers, frustrated with the failures, have decided the iron, which causes the red and orange hues in the stone, must interfere. Some research in Meergeven has attempted to extract the mineral from the iron, but the chemicals needed to do so are too expensive to make the method viable for mass production.
And then those researchers wonder, why Taangis maintains so many keltaitheerdaal mines.

• Circa 7800 TE, the weeld kleeth discover that keltaitheerdaal enhances fighting abilities. It becomes associated with soldiers and leaders. The accidental realization that sunset was more potent than typical keltaitheerdaal ensured it played a significant role in leadership battles for thousands of years.
• Starting around 4500 TE, sunset appeared in religious jewelry and graves, with the leaders of various Pelthine religions being buried with a small piece placed on their tongue. The exact purpose of this has been lost, but modern scholars believe that the mineral metaphorically made the person's speech smooth when they spoke with their death deity. The religions of northern Pelthine believed that the dead had to convince their death god to let them into the afterlife, otherwise they were doomed to roam the continent as a ghost. Sunset had the reputation of gifting the wearer with great speech, and the most charismatic leaders supposedly wore it for this legendary quality.
• From 4000 TE on, militaries have used it in combination with various mixtures to produce smoke bombs. The stench of these is more debilitating than the smoke produced. They are not often used, since the smoke is as like to take down friend as foe.
• Farmers believe it protects fields from insect encroachment. This has not proven effective when studied, except for spang beetles infecting orchards. The mineral kills the beetles and is more effective on them than modern sprays. Research into broadening the insects and vermin it can harm has produced no results.
• Many commoners keep a chunk of it in their homes for good luck. Some rural communities create wreaths of pine sprigs with bits of the mineral tied to the tips and hang them at their front gate. The wreaths bring the good into the community and bar the bad from entering.