RUMBLETiGER
Adventurer
@Dandu , this specifically is a question for you, given your chemistry background, but anyone with knowledge can help me here.
I'm trying to develop an encounter for PC's where they can acquire a Psionic Sinew symbiont from the Fiend Folio. It's the creature on the arm in the following pic:
And so, I'm designing an encounter based moderately loosely off of real world chemistry, justifying that the Psionic Sinew feeds of the Potassium in a creature's body.
First, some questions:
1. Does pure Potassium occur naturally in the world? If so, how? It's ok if it doesn't, since D&D is not reality, it simply would be helpful to know what and how that would be like before I make it up.
2. Would a long, narrow deposit of pure Potassium, lets say, a few miles long, trapped within solid stone for eons, than exposed by a fissure created by natural erosion/tectonic shifting/magic/whatever, in the midst of a few days worth of rainstorm... Result in earthquake-style eruptions of the land leading to shifts of cliffs, large ground fissures, underground caverns, etc. as the Potassium exploded? The result being uneaven massive chunks of ground, cliff faces, new subterranian environments, etc?
3. If a Wizard did it, could the remaining deposits of Potassium be sealed safely away by surrounding the mineral by Argon, than sealing that safe air off by a water barrier? Would a barrier of Stone-> Potassium-> Argon -> Water-> atmosphere... prevent the chain reaction of oxidizing or exploding of the Potassium, keeping it safely sealed but potentially active(not oxidized)? Would the Argon air eventually be contaminated by oxygen or water moisture from the water barrier or will it remain pure as an air pocket? My understanding is that since Argon is heavier than Oxygen, Oxygen might rise up through the Argon and contaminate the solid Potassium, but I don't know if Oxygen would enter this Argon pocket at all.
With that said, I need a chemists' understanding of the plausability of the following scinario:
A (Goblin) wizard mitigated the great cataclysm by sealing off the Potostone (Goblin phrase for Potassium, based off of the sound of the explosion when contact with water, translated into common) from the air by surrounding it with a different, deadly air (Argon), than trapping that pocket by a water barrier. When Goblinoid explorers searched the resulting caverns, they discovered Muscle Worms (Psionic Sinews) that fed off the Potostone. These Muscle Worms, now becoming inert and dying, were able to bond with the explorers, feeding off their bodies instead and providing the host with great power.
Forward and Era. The cavern is now a holy site as a rite of passage for Bugbear Warriors seeking to become members of the Elite, powered by the Muscle Worms. The origin and understanding of the tunnels has faded into mythology and obscurity.
A young Bugbear warrior is accompanied by two Elite, muscle wormed warriors on his pilgrimage to the holy caves. He enters the tunnel and travels till it forks. Ignoring the downward passage he instead travels a long, straight tunnel, a fissure in the stone, braving monstrous spiders, deadly fungus and other subterranian dangers. The tunnel ends in a slope that goes benieth water. The warrior has trained for this, and his escorts are ready to kill him should he make a misstep. Holding his breath, the young warrior goes under the water, traveling a short passage, emerging into the deadly, unbreatable air on the other side. The young warrior and the Elites must continue to hold thier breath while the young warrior drys himself off, retrieves a container, drys that as well, breaks the seal, carefully and dryly chips off a small portion of Potostone, places it into the container, reseals it, than returns into the water to emerge, gasping for breath, back the way he came. The Elites must be willing to kill the young warrior should it seem he'd expose the Potostone to even the slightest drop of water or his own held breath, as tradition dictates, for fear of great calamity.
Returning to the fork, the warriors go down the other tunnel and arrive at a large, underground pool. The young warrior then retrieves his Potostone and drops it onto the surface of the water. Inert, hibernating Muscle Worms live on the bottom of the pool. The Potostone dances upon the water's surface and the brave young warrior thrusts his arm into the pool, trying to keep away from the dangerous Potostone, knowing should it land uon his fur he'd be destroyed. If he is fortunate, a Muscle Worm, drawn to the Potostone, will emerge and bond with him.
The warriors then pay tribute by dumping figs, apricots, bananas and other fruits into the pool, as tradition demands and the now awakened Muscie Worms feed, breed and live until then food is gone and they await the next pilgrimage in hibernation.
my PC's are going to somehow stumble upon this ritual, interact with the Bugbears and best case scinario, gain Psionic Sinews, worst case scinaro, cause an explosion that will alter the landscape for miles and likey crush them to death.
And so I ask you Chemists, would the following situation work by reasonable approximation to reality? If not, could slight modifications be made so that it would work by reasonable approximation to reality?
if not I'll handwave reality and do it like this anyway, but I'm really hoping this concept is solid.
I'm trying to develop an encounter for PC's where they can acquire a Psionic Sinew symbiont from the Fiend Folio. It's the creature on the arm in the following pic:
And so, I'm designing an encounter based moderately loosely off of real world chemistry, justifying that the Psionic Sinew feeds of the Potassium in a creature's body.
First, some questions:
1. Does pure Potassium occur naturally in the world? If so, how? It's ok if it doesn't, since D&D is not reality, it simply would be helpful to know what and how that would be like before I make it up.
2. Would a long, narrow deposit of pure Potassium, lets say, a few miles long, trapped within solid stone for eons, than exposed by a fissure created by natural erosion/tectonic shifting/magic/whatever, in the midst of a few days worth of rainstorm... Result in earthquake-style eruptions of the land leading to shifts of cliffs, large ground fissures, underground caverns, etc. as the Potassium exploded? The result being uneaven massive chunks of ground, cliff faces, new subterranian environments, etc?
3. If a Wizard did it, could the remaining deposits of Potassium be sealed safely away by surrounding the mineral by Argon, than sealing that safe air off by a water barrier? Would a barrier of Stone-> Potassium-> Argon -> Water-> atmosphere... prevent the chain reaction of oxidizing or exploding of the Potassium, keeping it safely sealed but potentially active(not oxidized)? Would the Argon air eventually be contaminated by oxygen or water moisture from the water barrier or will it remain pure as an air pocket? My understanding is that since Argon is heavier than Oxygen, Oxygen might rise up through the Argon and contaminate the solid Potassium, but I don't know if Oxygen would enter this Argon pocket at all.
With that said, I need a chemists' understanding of the plausability of the following scinario:
A (Goblin) wizard mitigated the great cataclysm by sealing off the Potostone (Goblin phrase for Potassium, based off of the sound of the explosion when contact with water, translated into common) from the air by surrounding it with a different, deadly air (Argon), than trapping that pocket by a water barrier. When Goblinoid explorers searched the resulting caverns, they discovered Muscle Worms (Psionic Sinews) that fed off the Potostone. These Muscle Worms, now becoming inert and dying, were able to bond with the explorers, feeding off their bodies instead and providing the host with great power.
Forward and Era. The cavern is now a holy site as a rite of passage for Bugbear Warriors seeking to become members of the Elite, powered by the Muscle Worms. The origin and understanding of the tunnels has faded into mythology and obscurity.
A young Bugbear warrior is accompanied by two Elite, muscle wormed warriors on his pilgrimage to the holy caves. He enters the tunnel and travels till it forks. Ignoring the downward passage he instead travels a long, straight tunnel, a fissure in the stone, braving monstrous spiders, deadly fungus and other subterranian dangers. The tunnel ends in a slope that goes benieth water. The warrior has trained for this, and his escorts are ready to kill him should he make a misstep. Holding his breath, the young warrior goes under the water, traveling a short passage, emerging into the deadly, unbreatable air on the other side. The young warrior and the Elites must continue to hold thier breath while the young warrior drys himself off, retrieves a container, drys that as well, breaks the seal, carefully and dryly chips off a small portion of Potostone, places it into the container, reseals it, than returns into the water to emerge, gasping for breath, back the way he came. The Elites must be willing to kill the young warrior should it seem he'd expose the Potostone to even the slightest drop of water or his own held breath, as tradition dictates, for fear of great calamity.
Returning to the fork, the warriors go down the other tunnel and arrive at a large, underground pool. The young warrior then retrieves his Potostone and drops it onto the surface of the water. Inert, hibernating Muscle Worms live on the bottom of the pool. The Potostone dances upon the water's surface and the brave young warrior thrusts his arm into the pool, trying to keep away from the dangerous Potostone, knowing should it land uon his fur he'd be destroyed. If he is fortunate, a Muscle Worm, drawn to the Potostone, will emerge and bond with him.
The warriors then pay tribute by dumping figs, apricots, bananas and other fruits into the pool, as tradition demands and the now awakened Muscie Worms feed, breed and live until then food is gone and they await the next pilgrimage in hibernation.
my PC's are going to somehow stumble upon this ritual, interact with the Bugbears and best case scinario, gain Psionic Sinews, worst case scinaro, cause an explosion that will alter the landscape for miles and likey crush them to death.
And so I ask you Chemists, would the following situation work by reasonable approximation to reality? If not, could slight modifications be made so that it would work by reasonable approximation to reality?
if not I'll handwave reality and do it like this anyway, but I'm really hoping this concept is solid.
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