Material

There are many materials that are unique to Hökaland. Some are minerals, which either has physical differences or magical differences to Earth minerals and others are organic, comign fom flora or fauna.

Minerals

Listing minerals.

Pitch quartz

Pitch quartz is a oddly occuring mineral similar to quarts affected by carbon atoms and the magical lattice. The mineral got its name from its "pitch black" colour (though it is somewhat opaque from 5-10% of angles) and likeness to quartz. It crystalises very similarly to quartz and becomes shiny if polished, however the colour is solid black somewhat reflective surface with no opacity even at a millimetre. An unusual pleochroismic effect makes one side of the mineral to have partial opacity, which itself diminishes at lower or higher angles from 90 degrees, down to >135/<45 degrees where opacity is zero and these angles have opacity similar to.

Pitch quartz is rarely occuring on the planet, but are often found in large quantities if found. Its hardness and brittle structure makes it almost impossible to work with, and its pleochroism is unclear to figure out in a useful manner. The material is also often confused with obsidian, because of its colour and fracture. It is nevertheless a most prized find if found and used for coloured glasses and sculptures. A piece of art made with pitch quartz is valued higher if its pleochroism and/or impurities are used in a clever manner. Because of how the material fractures, tools are usually very fine for minor adjustments or very large and rough to make blocks out of a lode or very rough, general, alterations.

Very rare and expensive items made with pitch quartz include windows and weapons. Pure pitch quartz also conduct magic well and both responds well to it as well as affects it reliably. Magic can also be used to modify the pleochroism of the material in different ways.

An existing piece of pitch quartz crystals can be synthetically grown in extremely high temperatures (above 1500 °C) and in the presence of ground down quartz and a very small amount of graphite though the pleochroism is usually created so randomly that the material is simply black.

Facts:

• Fracture: Conchoidal
• Tenacity: Brittle
• Mohs scale: 8 - Lower in impure varieties
• Lustre: Vitreous
• Diaphaneity: Near nil
• Specific gravity: 1.80 (+/- 0.01 to 0.08 in impure varieties)
• Pleochroism: One-sided has partial opacity (varies with angle)
• Melting point: 1850 °C