Orbiton
Power of Attraction
A lack of otoliths makes it hard to get disoriented. Otherwise we’d dizzy all day trying to understand what’s up and down here!
Orbiton is a mineral exclusive to the Plane of Air, known for its gravity-bending properties. It allows the denizens of the realm to form their floating islands. As without it, there would be no up or down perceivable amongst the realm.
Properties
Appearance & Properties
In its raw form, Orbiton resembles iron ore, if not with a darker tint. It almost has all the same properties to it, making it easy to mistake the two for one another.
What sets it apart is its gravitational pull. The more mass a chunk of Orbiton has, the more it attracts smaller objects towards it. With enough heft to a chunk, it can cause an orbit to form around it. The denser the ore, the stronger the pull becomes.
Geology & Geography
Orbiton forms in the heart of floating islands. Over the centuries, it attracts debris and forms landmasses around itself, leading to the formation of such landmarks.
Usage & History
Mining & Refinement
Most Orbiton gets mined from islands that are too small to be habitable. Their cores get pulled out with the mineral extracted from the remains. Any impurities get removed through heating and refinement, leading to solid spherical ingots of the material.
The purer the material, the greater the gravitational effect.
Everyday Usage
Orbiton’s usage ends up in the designs of Airships and floating cities, acting as its form of artificial gravity. The Plane of Air doesn't have an up or down, so the mineral provides it instead.
Some ships even use it to propel themselves forward. By adjusting their direction of gravity, it allows them to increase or decrease the pull they experience.
Hazards
Orbiton is crucial for islands to stay together, as without them they will begin drifting apart. Hence why many mining sites end crumbling without added support.
The biggest danger that Orbiton presents is its ability to collapse in on itself. At a certain mass, the material produces so much gravitational pull it causes a temporary black hole. It only lasts a few seconds, but the effect is powerful enough to cause massive collateral damage.
It is why few ships or cities get built beyond a certain size. Some even use multiple Orbiton cores in the same structure, splitting the mass between them.
Really interesting concept for a material. I can see how the threat of singularity would keep the size of cities down.