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#1 radnovius Jun 10, 2006 20:59:01

So Fire clerics carrying around obsidian holy symbols and weapons is nice and all, but I figure that there are some alternative materials that would be as good or better. Bronze/Brass - Though metal is rare, a little for a holy symbol might be doable and finding a bronze weapon in a tomb or something is possible. There is a city of brass on the plane of fire and bronze too seems to be found there. Igneous stones other than obsidian: Topaz - The imperial variety is a red-orange and made under the highest temperatures. Zircon - The hyacinth variety is yellow-red to red-brown. Beryl - Pretty much any color available, green ones are emeralds and blue ones are aquamarines. The others are less common though the yellow ones tend to be a little radioactive from the uranium they contain. Tourmaline - Pink to Red tourmaline is known as rubellite, and the color is probably from manganese. It is one of the most valuable of the tourmalines when the colors are dark and rich. Yellow and orange tourmaline maintains intermediate value as long as it does not move into the brown region. Clean yellow and bright orange stones are sought after by collectors and find their way into a small amount of commercial jewelry. Brown and orange-brown stones are quite common and are not highly valued. Quartz - Lots of varieties: Amethyst: lilac or purple quartz gets its color from an iron impurity (Fe+3), it is the most valuable of the quartz gem stones. The best quality is dark purple with a red-flash. At one time it was one of the most expensive stones on earth, but with the huge finds in the new world (especially Brazil) the price plummeted. Citrene: yellow to orange in color, citrene gets its color from an iron impurity too, and heating amethyst to 550 degrees centigrade converts it to citrene. Subjecting citrene to radiation can re-convert it to amethyst. Heat treated stones tend to have a red-tint. It is sometimes passed off as a form of topaz being called "bahia-topaz" , "golden topaz" or "Madeira topaz". All of these materials a quartz and NOT topaz. Citrene is typically not as expensive as amethyst, so is usually very inexpensive. Smoky Quartz: smoky quartz gets its color from irradiated impurities which have a smoky area around them. The term "cairngorm" is used to describe the variety found in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. It is very inexpensive in cut stones, less than $1 per carat. Rose Quartz: this is one of the more rare types of crystalline quartz, it is usually somewhat cloudy due to the inclusion of rutile crystals. Large cut stones are rare, and even small ones tend to be cloudy looking. It tends to have more value as a carving material. Agate: usually a banded material that is translucent and may contain any number of colors or combinations. It may also include members that are non-banded, but contain dendrites in the form of moss or other organic-like structures. Carnelian and Sard: are solid colored, but translucent chalcedony that are in the red to brown end of the spectrum Aventurine : A greenish quartz with fuchite mica or other metallic looking inclusions that make the material "sparkle". Bloodstone : Also known as heliotrope or plasma, is an opaque green chalcedony with red iron oxide inclusions that resemble blood. Chrysophrase: a green variety of chalcedony colored by the element nickel. The best material is now coming from Australia. Onyx: a variety of agate with parallel bands of color that are linear and not in the form of curves. (There is a variety of marble that is sometimes called onyx, but is much softer and easily damaged by acid.) Jasper: it is the granular counterpart of carnelian and sard, and is usually brown, red, yellow, and may have inclusions of metal oxides. The name derived from the Greek and means "spotted stone". Sometimes as parallel lines rather than spots. Several varieties can create what looks like miniature landscape scenes and are often referred to as "picture jaspers". Flint and Chert: non-gem varieties of cryptocrystalline-granular quartz. They chip very easily and thus can be made to hold and edge. Used mainly in the manufacture of arrow heads and stone knives