Alaztaşı

Alaztaşı is a dark stone of Canarque that begins to give off heat as soon as air reaches it. It appears in the campaign Yeni Dünya ("New World"), where the native peoples call it Ateş Taşı, the Fire Stone, and count finding one as a sign of good luck.¹²

Nature

Miro, a researcher of the Coalition of Enlightenment in Aquila, kept a sample in an insulated metal box; when he opened it, the stone began to burn and warmed the room. According to Miro it wears away only very slowly and gives off neither soot nor smoke. It does not burn hot enough to work iron, but it could heat a house. The stone shrinks as it gives off its heat, and water lessens the heat without putting it out.¹³⁴⁵⁶

The guide Fauna had seen the stone before, in the house of a relative among a community called Argol.⁷

As far as is known, Alaztaşı is not found in the old continent or anywhere in the Empire's lands. It was first supplied from a single mine outside Aquila, but a researcher later said that it can also be found near other iron deposits.⁸⁹

Supply and value

The miners themselves regard the stone as a nuisance that overheats their workings, while the Coalition prizes it for science and for cheap warmth. In Miro's account, the Coalition paid for transport and guards, and the mine only had to bring the stones to its gate. Miro said that he would not take a patent on the stone for himself and meant to put any income towards the Coalition's research.¹⁰¹¹¹²

When the samples stopped arriving for a week and the only official answer was that the mine was not in use, Miro asked a group of adventurers to go and see what had happened. They returned with the report that the mine had stopped because of a darkness made by a beast in its tunnels, the Darkness panther.^13141516

Hopes of making it

Miro explained that some precious stones can already be reproduced, with the same properties, through science and magic, and the Coalition's work turned towards making Alaztaşı in the same way. The professor who led the work in Aquila later said that they hoped to begin production in a year to a year and a half, for those in need and for the mainland.¹⁷¹⁸

The effort was compared to Bloodstone, which the Empire is able to reproduce by magic only in a weaker form: bloodstones made by a sorcerer are neither as stable nor as strong as natural ones.¹⁹²⁰