Holdurnose

I transcribed my interview with Sage Zimmira and sent it to my sister to ask if she had anything to add. This is the answer she gave me, translated and reorganized.

Scribe Elan

Elan!! You're asking me about rocks!! Of course I'll help! This is for your project, isn't it? In that case, I'll try not to get too technical.

Yes, my yellow rock is holdurnose. I'd love to have it in pure form, but that's rather rare. I'm impressed that Sage Zimmira has seen some.

Properties

Geology & Geography

Holdurnose gets its name and reputation from its unpleasant smell, but you wouldn't recognize it in many of the ores it comes in. The most common kinds of black jagstones are part holdurnose. Blockrock in particular is a good source for holdurnose compounds. It's in hardcast and palostone, piperock (metallic blue), honeystone (dark yellow), sunburn stone (red, but usually within a darker matrix). Remember those gorgeous red crystals Garas gave me? Also a holdurnose mineral.

Certainly, active tectonics are prime locations for collecting holdurnose off the ground. I'd be surprised if they didn't also have gas traps on their vent fields. Think about it--anytime you smell holdurnose, that's mineral going to waste. When we can trap the gas, we can reclaim the mineral from it!

History & Usage

Hazards

Those dangers are no exaggeration. That very smelly gas will irritate your eyes, nose, throat, lungs, and stomach. If you ignore the warning signs it can indeed kill you, so don't be that foolish. And before you tell me you're not planning to go wandering around a volcano, let me warn you it's also a byproduct of decay. Besides that, remember the minerals I listed? A lot of them contain toxic metals. Some are safe to handle, but enough aren't that I hope you understand now why I don't like you picking up the rocks in our collection without asking one of us about them first.

Biological Processes

After all that, you might be wondering how any living creature could survive by eating holdurnose! I don't study animals so I can't give you a solid answer, but I don't see any reason why it would be impossible. Maybe this living slime converts holdurnose into one of the other compounds. It's certainly chemically versatile stuff, and a very neat system these creatures have arranged.

Does that tell you what you wanted to know? If not, direct more questions my way. Either way, keep alert for other minerals you can ask me about!

Pakker

Type

Ore/Mineral

Color

Pure crystals are brilliant yellow. Its compounds come in a variety of colors. Its flame is blue and as a liquid it's blood-red.

Melting / Freezing Point

It melts more easily than most other rocks--an oven will liquefy holdurnose before it bakes bread. But it's still very hot, so if you see liquid holdurnose, don't get closer!

Related Locations

• Ralcondray

Related Species

• Tree Animals
• Living Slime