Ordinary Matter

**Ordinary matter** is a subset of the different states of Astral Energy.

Matter is made up of "atoms", which are small and indivisible. Each "atom" corresponds to a point in space, and to a specific arrangement of Astral Energy at that point in space.

## History:

Long long time ago, gods have created the planes of existence. They then used some of the astral energy to create the ordinary matter that exists in the material and abyssal planes.

## Ordinary matter as Astral Energy:

Ordinary matter is a type of Astral Energy.

All types of ordinary matter are unstable and will eventually "dissolve" back into free Astral Energy. The speed at which they dissolve (their half-life) depends on the concentration of free Astral Energy at the given point, and the permeability of the given point. I.e. elements in the Abyssal Plane dissolve away slower because of its lower permeability, and the elements in areas devoid of free Astral Energy dissolve faster, to increase the amount of free Astral Energy and bring the area to equilibrium with its surroundings.

## Elements:

The following matter elements are known:

* Water\* - *Hydrogen + Oxygen*
* Alum - used in tanning
* Aluminum - It exists, but it's too hard to extract.
* Antimony
* Arsenic
* Bronze - not-an-element, alloy of Copper and Tin
* Chlorine
* Lead
* Lime
* Mercury
* Potash - Potassium + Carbon + Oxygen
* Potassium
* Potassium Nitrate
* Silica - *glass and rocks, also present in soil.*
* Silicon - Part of Silica.
* Soda ash - Sodium + Carbon + Oxygen
* Sodium Chloride (salt)
* Sulphur - *A bright yellow solid.*
* Tin
* Zinc
* Carbon (Coal)
* Copper
* Iron
* Steel\* - *A not-an-element created by alloying Iron with Carbon.*
* Crowsteel - *An element created from Steel by transmuting it. Has increased toughness, but is hard to make and requires highly pure steel.*
* Obsidian\* - *A type of Silica of high toughness.*
* "metallic obsidian" - *A type of transmuted metal of incredibly high toughness, obtained from Obsidian alloyed with crowsteels.*
* Silver
* Gold
* Fire\* - *A group of elements briefly produced as a result of combustion. Smoke is technically a room-temperature fire.*
* Brimstone\* - *A group of semi-unstable elements that exist in the Abyssal Plane, as well in man-made structures. Some brimstones have a propensity to explode when disturbed.*
* Hydrogen
* Nitrogen
* Oxygen
* Amalgam\* *- The "sea" of random unstable elements surrounding the "islands" of more common elements. The vast majority of the states of Astral Energy belong in this group. Amalgams are unpredictible and their properties are inconsistent (partly because Amalgam elements can and do decay into one another randomly, so you never have a uniform sample of a single element). They are rare, as they typically don't exist naturally and must be created via Evocation.*
* and more...

\*Technically not a single element.

Soil\* = minerals + organic matter.

Wood\* = organic matter, mostly Carbon and Hydrogen.

There might be some lost elements, which arrangement was once known, but is lost to time, its creators having died or been killed.

## Transmutation:

Discovery of new elements is possible by transmuting two or more elements into their "sum" state. Oftentimes this results in amalgams, but with the right proportions, it can result in a viable (stable) element. The transmutation typically has to be done under very high heat and pressure, which is often achieved using magical powers.

Transmutation can also happen naturally, e.g. when burning something.

## Alloying:

Alloys are not elements themselves, but are large-scale structures in which the different elements are distributed uniformly.