Black Stone

A dense and luxurious material, black stone is a highly resistant stone found throughout the world of Aldebaran most notably deep underground. Seemingly have existed as long as anyone can remember, black stone is resistant to change. Wind and water erode it at a far slower rate than normal stone, and normal magic can't affect it in any meaningful way. Black stone's curious properties makes it a resource many have sought to make art items out of.

Properties

Material Characteristics

It is a very smooth stone. It almost seems to suck in the light around it, the blackness the stone exudes is extraordinary.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Incredibly dense, it is incredibly resistant to the effects of the weave. Hardly any magic can be inscribed into black stone. It seems to have a sort of resonance with primordial magic. Wind does not seem to erode it.

Geology & Geography

Black stone is notably found underground within the Realms down Under. The deeper into the planet you go, the more you will find. There exists mountain ranges, ruins, and even cities made out of it. The origins of the stone remain a mystery.

History & Usage

History

Being magically resistant and extremely heavy, black stone is rarely used for anything more than decoration. The origins of the stone remain a mystery even today, some suspect the planet Aldebaran was entirely black stone at one point,  The Primordial Wyrm and other original Theotians using it as a base to create the world. It might also explain its resonance with primordial magic.

Everyday use

Black stone is a luxury resource that is used in jewelry and extravagant properties. It can be used as an ink oddly enough, if you manage to melt it. Though this is incredibly difficult, it is only the dwarves that have managed to make this fabled black stone ink mass producible, the secret of its creation closely guarded. It is also a subject of research that scientists and scholars across the world engage with regularly, trying to pry free its mysteries.
Black stone surface cities exist on the surface world, remade and reconfigured to suit the Aldebaran today. Notably, the famous capital city of Vulkar is one such example. Surrounded by thick, impenetrable walls of the stone, the city has served as a defensive foundation against all forms of attacks throughout the years.

Cultural Significance and Usage

Black stone is considered by many to be a religiously significant material. Many consider the mining and harvesting of thr material sacriledge. Others enjoy decorating themselves in it. Jewelry of black stone is considered a great sign of wealth. Religious symbols, statues, and other forms of art are often made of black stone due to its highly resistant properties.

Refinement

Black stone is found in its most useful state naturally. Mining the material is an expensive and difficult process, doing anything more with it such as the inking process the dwarves use is usually unprofitable.

Hazards

Black stone, when collected in large amounts in high altitude realms, creates a sort of anti-weave effect. The eastern mountain ranges of Sacriel for instance are insanely dangerous, the weave weakens heavily the higher up you go in them.

Environmental Impact

Ruins of black stone exist all over the world, some in more density than others. Many have turned the ruins of the surface into mining operations, but due to religious outrage have left them half mined. This was typically before the Year of Destruction, nowadays they are mostly left alone.

Distribution

Trade & Market

High end jewelry stores, dense material for housing, rare ink that never fades, black stone is a very luxurious commodity. You have to go through heavy regulations if you attempt to sell it however, and the common man is typically disallowed from doing so unless the item they're selling had already been in the market.

Law & Regulation

Religious doctrines of the main pantheon demand that black stone is a sacred material. It is not to be altered or mined in any way. Using it in its natural state is considered fine. There are several governments which ban the mining of black stone. People enjoy their pretty baubles though, and the underground realms of Aldebaran often go unnoticed when it comes to harvesting the material.

Type

Rock

Value

Highly Valuable

Rarity

Rare

Color

Black

Density

Extremely Dense

Common State

Solid