14
$\begingroup$

In a world similar set in renaissance times, there are natural occurring stones with the ability to produce flames. The more precious the stone, the higher and stronger quality of the flame/fire. Each stone, whether it's low quality or not, can be chiseled by skilled craftsmen to produce more efficient fires. These fire stones can also be re-charged in special fire pits till they disintegrate from over use. These stones are mined and excavated for in remote mountains.

Practical use of these stones: If you're in the arctic and need to start a fire, all you need is a few stones and you'll have a blazing fire that lasts longer than firewood. If the stones are of low quality, they can burn for 2-3 hours. If they are superior, they can burn for 2-3 days if left unmolested.

The trouble I'm having is how does one activate such a power? If it's through spoken word (like a spell), what's stopping someone from lighting a wayfarer's stones on fire with the slip of a word? Would it make sense to inscribe runes into the stone that special individuals can activate? What's a more practical way of summoning and putting out the flames? I'm aiming at having these stones being an every-day-use household item used for cooking, warming hearths, etc. — so the simpler the solution, the better.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
5
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ There are a thousand ways one may choose to activate a magic stone, each with its pros and cons. Hit it, rub it, scratch it, lick it, bleed on it, etc. Since no one way is empirically "best", I'm voting to close this as opinion based. $\endgroup$
    – Nosajimiki
    Sep 28, 2020 at 17:04
  • $\begingroup$ @Nosajimiki thanks party pooper $\endgroup$
    – Ebi
    Sep 28, 2020 at 20:44
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, I don't close vote questions often, but when I do I always try to say why so that people have the opportunity to argue why not, or at least so they have some direction to refine the question for a reopen. If you can think of how to reframe this question to be less subjective, I'd be glad to vote to reopen. $\endgroup$
    – Nosajimiki
    Sep 28, 2020 at 21:51
  • $\begingroup$ @Nosajimiki This is a question asking for ideas on how to solve a problem the OP has run into in their worldbuilding process. That there are a thousand possible answers, each with their own pros and cons, is exactly why it makes sense to pose this as a question to a dedicated worldbuilding community. The OP is asking based off the expertise that can be found here. It's a sad day when people can't do some idea crowdsourcing for a specific issue on Worldbuilding stack. $\endgroup$
    – TheNewGuy
    Sep 28, 2020 at 22:34
  • $\begingroup$ I've seen hundreds of post where people ask for ideas. Which one is the best is obviously opinion based but there's no reason to close this question specifically. I hope OP got enough answers to help him. $\endgroup$
    – Jemox
    Sep 29, 2020 at 8:17

8 Answers 8

Reset to default
21
$\begingroup$

You are basically describing magic coal. It is magic because it can maybe burn longer and stronger, but mostly because it is rechargeable. Other than that it is just coal.

You light it up just as non-magical coal, by applying a lot of heat on a small point. You can spin a stick on top of it, or rub two sticks together, or you can bang small rocks to make sparks. On a pinch, you can also use magic to summon fire. The problem with fireballs is that without any fuel their flames run out quickly, but the magic coal solves that problem for the fellow pyro looking for a lasting fix.

You can then deactivate it by throwing water, ice, sand, a cloth or someone else on top of it, in order to deprive the flames from oxygen. I don't see why you would want to do that, though.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
8
$\begingroup$

Blow on it

A steady, uniform, 5 second blow will make the stone hotter and hotter until it eventually catches. Just like a coal from an old campfire reigniting when blown on.

To deactivate - cool down or cut off oxygen. So cover with sand, water, cloth, etc.

This gives them a defined value too - they can't be picked up off the surface by anyone (as they'll ignite in the right winds if a naturally occurring vein is exposed), they must be mined. Which means someone needs to be paid for labour, which means they have a minimum value.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I like the idea that if thrown it would suddenly ignite mid-air. $\endgroup$
    – DBS
    Sep 28, 2020 at 10:48
4
$\begingroup$

Love.

Or what passes as love for the stones. If they touch, they burn. You cannot make fire with just one. If you push them apart, they cool and go out. Or possibly, since they are magic, they go out immediately.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
6
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ How does one avoid accidental ignition? These are mined and refined, that whole process (and shipping) would have to be one-at-a-time to avoid ignition. $\endgroup$
    – Ash
    Sep 27, 2020 at 15:44
  • $\begingroup$ @Ash. If these stones are found in a clump, they have to go into the firepit for charge before first use because they are already exhausted. Usually a stay in the firepit is part of refining to make sure stones are topped up before sale. Refining by skilled craftsmen is one at a time, like with other gems - no good way to batch them. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Sep 27, 2020 at 19:11
  • $\begingroup$ If you split a stone in two, does it makes two stones ? $\endgroup$
    – Jemox
    Sep 27, 2020 at 20:18
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Willk i think the question is, why would they burn when split apart and put back together, but not when it was the whole the parts were split from $\endgroup$
    – somebody
    Sep 28, 2020 at 7:04
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @somebody They can come in two varieties, he-stones and she-stones? $\endgroup$
    – Arvo
    Sep 28, 2020 at 17:45
4
$\begingroup$

The fire stones are both spark and fuel but they still need a combustive.

They are mined underwater or in caves where every trace of oxygen has been burnt. They are stored in airtight containers and when you want to use them, you just take them out to open air.

If you want to store them away for reuse, smother the stone under a wet cloth and put it back in its container quickly.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
$\begingroup$

The way you describe it, they sound like some sort of fissile material, which emits more heat once the fission is activated, and have short lived byproducts.

How does one activate it? Well, just by using a neutron moderator like water, paraffin or graphite. With this you would have heat but no visible flames.

Another alternative would be some alkaline metal like sodium or potassium, which are well known for taking fire when in contact with water.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ sodium and potassium are also known for exploding when in contact with water $\endgroup$
    – Topcode
    Sep 27, 2020 at 19:53
3
$\begingroup$

Just like a nuclear reactor works (with a bigger safety margin).

Put a lot of them together and they start to make heat. Put them apart and they fade and stop.

You may as well handwave two supplemental materials - a reflector (one may put fewer stones inside a reflecting container and they will ignite) and a poison (as in neutron poison - separate them with the poison material and they don't work even when piled together, you have to remove the poison to make them work again).

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

If you don't need them to burn more than once between recharging, you could have the energy stored in some kind of phase change. Heating the stones in a special oven causes them to store the energy. Once they are at room temperature, they need some kind of catalyst to start releasing the energy again - which is as simple as touching them with an already "burnt" stone. Stones of different sizes will "burn" for different times, and flatter stones will burn hotter than round stones. Charged vs. burnt states could even be different colors, based on the phase change.

A parallel to this in our world are handwarmers based on sodium acetate, or "rechargeable" hand warmers.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

Sodium acetate used in heating packs is a good example of trigger-based chimical exothermic reaction. With a simple "physical" spark (through a little piece of metal), you will trigger the reaction. So you don't need any complicated way to trigger it (unless you want it fancy or really cool).

About your stones, whether they are harvested, mined or built, the reaction should not be triggered easilly, but should instead be "foundable" by human way (by serendipity, basic observation, active research). If collected, the trigger could be very simple but should not be found in the vicinity of the harvesting site. So I think they are a few questions that should be answered before you can focus on a acceptable and plausible trigger :

  • Are they harvested / mined / built / ....?
  • If not built, where do you collect them (environnment, temperature, etc.)
  • Who do build / collect them?

For example:

  • If the stones are found underwater, or collected in the void of space: you could basically used "open air" as the trigger. Then the stones would be stored in a jar, until you empty it and trigger the reaction.

  • If found in a azot-free environnment (totally fanciful, but it's for the exemple) : a sufficient amount of azot in its immediate vicinity would be the spark.

  • If built, it could be basically any kind of trigger that would not reproduce outdoors (a rare radiation, an specific radio frequency, a microwave, etc.)

Etc.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .