Blue Autessite (buh-loo aoo-tess-ite)
Blue autessite is chemically similar in many ways to tungsten. However, it is less brittle and less heavy, as well as able to change heat into cold. Because of this, the metal is highly desired for vehicles, especially race cars, which spend most of their time preparing and racing in the desert.
Properties
Material Characteristics
Raw blue autessite is a hard metal found in thick blue sheets.
Physical & Chemical Properties
No matter its location, blue autessite is always cool to the touch. It takes an extraordinary amount of heat, not found easily in nature, to melt it. Once melted though, it is easy to shape and cooling it back into form can create some of the strongest and lightest metals known to Geville.
Geology & Geography
Blue autessite has only been found in caves underneath the sands of Whithamian County.
History & Usage
Discovery
The specific discoverer of blue autessite is unknown, but it is thought to be one of the ancestors of the Whithamian Golds.
Cultural Significance and Usage
Because of its strength, weight, and durability (let alone its ability to take in heat), blue autessite is thought to be the reason the Whithamian Golds settled in the inhospitable and driest of the deserts. It also is considered the reason as for why vehicles went from a useful way to travel or carry larger cargo to entertainment in racing. Even unpainted the glittering blue of the metal is considered beautiful.
Refinement
In order to work blue autessite, one needs to melt it at a temperature of several volcanoes combined. It is often sent to a smelter before the raw ore is then sent to special manufacturers with the ability to melt it. The bulk of the shaping must be done by pouring it into molds, which have to be enchanted so as not to catch immediately on fire.
Manufacturing & Products
While this metal could be used for many other things made of iron or tungsten, the difficulty of mining it and the expense of melting it limits the manufacturers who want to risk working with it. Which leaves vehicle production and architecture from refined blue autessite with jewelry made of smaller pieces that do not need melting.
Hazards
Both mining and melting blue autessite can be extremely dangerous. While plentiful in the autessite mines, removing the sheets from their surroundings can cause attacks on the terrain to reflect back onto the miner, injuring them with their own tools.
When melting the pure metal into a liquid to pour into molds, the heat required is absolutely dangerous to all species. The only way to work with it requires magic. Most manufacturers have high safety standards to keep their strongest magic users from accidentally melting themselves, as not all mages can conjure or control heat to that extent.
Distribution
Law & Regulation
Most countries have a law against manufacturing blue autessite into a weapon, for fear of what that might do to Geville's stability.
74W
129
Type
Metal
Value
5000 gold per sheet
Rarity
rare
Color
lochmara blue
Boiling / Condensation Point
5,930 °C (10,710 °F; 6,200 K)
Melting / Freezing Point
3,422 °C (6,192 °F; 3,695 K)
Density
9.23 g/cm
Common State
solid
Related Locations
Related Species