Rock

Depending on who you ask, the invention of super-compaction technologies either made or broke the Old World. Just about any Old World tech you can find is run on Rock: the miracle hydrocarbon that used to be tons upon tons of organic biomass, but now sits in the palm of your hand. A single kilo of high-quality rock can keep your engine burning for months, if you're frugal. Electrical grids are powered by Rock-fire power plants, and you'd be hard pressed to find any providers that wouldn't use Rock to keep your lights on. There's always talk of something more efficient, but the Rock still stubbornly remains the fuel of choice across the Three Sisters.

Properties

Material Characteristics

A deep black mineral, often fashioned into a simple sleek cube for easy storage. Iridescent, hard as diamond, and dense as iron

Physical & Chemical Properties

Too dense to be flammable: Rock is ignited by a being put in a vacuum surrounded by a magnetic field. This vaporizes the outer-most layer of the hydrocarbon matrix, creating a highly flammable gas that reacts instantly to oxygen. Rock also has a strange effect on gravity: while impossibly dense, it is easy to carry. This is attributable to its unique magnetic properties, which work against the pull of gravity.

Geology & Geography

Rock is not naturally-occurring: it's closest relative is anthracite

Life & Expiration

Because Rock is formed under intense pressures, a certain pressure needs to be maintained on it to keep it from volatilizing. As such, Rock tends to lose its energy yield steadily if stored improperly or exposed to off-world atmosphere

History & Usage

History

Compression technology has existed since the Old World, but its rise to power is not well-documented. In fact, this lack of documentation led to the dilapidation of Compression plants, even when the means to return them to life existed. But once the method of operations were rediscovered, the renewed production of Rock is largely responsible for the coming age of exploration and the discovery of Cassiopeia and Aronova. Since, Those With Means have fiercely defended the Rock from competing energy sources, particularly batteries charged by mills, a rivalry as old as the New Calendar. Rock is at the center of a counter-intuitive race of innovation: new means of extracting energy from it are constantly being experimented with, despite being primeval and objectively inferior to other forms of fuel.

Discovery

The story goes that a small community of farmers had set up camp in the ruins of an Old World charging station when a comet from the stars fell to Earth Prime. Where it landed, a forest of exotic ferns and trees sprung up overnight. The little town never ate better. They then used their good luck to investigate re-opening the station, re-purposing generator turbines to be powered manually: they turned the turbines by hand, stopped when they were tired, ate the exotic fruit until they felt better again, and went back to work. They were able to bring the plant back to life with the re-charging of Old World cells. A jealous party caught wind of the operation, and snuck into the compound to steal a cell. The thief could have wasted it, but instead went to an Old World databank, one that used to be powered by the very same kind of technology. They brought the computers back to life, and recovered as much information as they could. Within those databanks were explicit and exhaustive details on how to create Rock; a material that had long since been lost to the modern people. The thief jealously guarded this information, along with schematics into higher forms of technology, and eventually founded the organization that would build the first exploratory rocket: Slingshot. But word got out, and it wasn't long before places like the Comet's Crater were mowed down and fed into compressor plants to produce more Rock, the ultimate fuel for space travel.

Everyday use

If you aren't flying a ship or working in a power plant, you are probably not going to see Rock day-to-day.

Cultural Significance and Usage

Energy is agency, and many have that agency taken out of their hands; this is evident in the trade and use of Rock being either in the hands of monopolies, or is taken by those who prefer to decide their own destiny.

Industrial Use

Rock has two principle uses: electricity generation in Rock-fire plants, and craft propulsion. When put under the right conditions, a hunk of Rock can keep a ship flying far better than a battery or cell ever could: batteries require all kinds of shifts in state, losing energy along the way. Igniting a rock gives direct, raw power to propel a craft off-world and on.

Environmental Impact

While exhaust from burning Rock can add up, the biggest environmental impact of Rock comes from the harvest of source material, which accounts for a massive drain of natural resources and habitat destruction everywhere imaginable.

Type

Ore/Mineral

Odor

Odorless, but smells like volcanic ash when volatilized

Taste

Please don't lick it

Color

Obsidian-black; iridescent when caught in the light