Serpentine already exists in DF. It includes chrysotile.
Shame that's not on the wiki yet, then. Either way, it seems a relatively simple matter to add the proper reactions to extract the strands, spin them into thread, etc., using Tomsod's raws or something close to them. Creating an accurate "lung cancer" syndrome, however, would probably be trickier, perhaps more so because it should probably ignore a dwarf's Disease Resistance.
Marco Polo recounts having been shown, in a place he calls Ghinghin talas, "a good vein from which the cloth which we call of salamander, which cannot be burnt if it is thrown into the fire, is made ..."[22]
Just FYI, it's worth pointing out here that it's extremely doubtful that Marco Polo did even half of what is claimed, because his
Travels has both curious omissions (neither chopsticks nor the Great Wall are ever mentioned) and ridiculous inclusions (
e.g., races of people born with a single leg, or with their heads embedded in their chests). There was indeed a Venetian merchant of the right name living at the right time, but many researchers believe his tales were really just a compilation of stories from many other sources (some of which were obviously fabricated, though they may have seemed plausible at the time), and that Polo himself was probably not even the editor of the finished book.
Although I do find it interesting that the ultimate source of this "cloth of salamander" is described as a "vein". Unless the early translators already
knew that asbestos comes from underground, it seems clear that the original text had connotations of mining.
Gemstones are . . . more intuitive to process.
To notice that a raw gemstone has a pretty color, half the time you don't even have to wash it, yes. But to
facet a gem, first you have to think that breaking it would be a good idea, and then comes developing the whole science of cleavage lines, internal optics, etc.
To start the asbestos process, however, all you have to do is scratch the stone with any metal tool, or even a fingernail, and go, "Whoa, dude, this rock has HAIR!"
And if it's only for outer layers (which I agree is appropriate)
Yeah, if I were making it in my fort, it'd just be for cloaks, mittens, and boots. Maybe pants. Things that can usually be thrown on in a hurry, no matter what else you're wearing. It would be best if they could be fastened closed quickly, too, so maybe a period version of Velcro might not be amiss, either. (Velcro is quite modern, yes, but inspired by extremely simple tech: Burrs stuck to a sock. There's no reason at all why that inspiration couldn't have occurred 500 or even 1000 years earlier.)
Everybody in those stories is "amazed" by it, etc. Because it's generally the only example they've heard of it in their lives... it's not the technological skills required that make it anachronistic, it's just any actual routine use that is.
Agreed, but then again, we're also agreed that dwarves are just a
little bit more into mining and geology than humans, and would very likely pursue this "rock cloth" idea sooner, with more enthusiasm, and in greater volume than humans. Given its drawbacks, and probable scarcity, I don't think there's much chance of "mass production" of asbestos, at most it would probably just be a stash of emergency firefighting equipment, and some leather-lined oven mitts for the Furnace Operators.
. . . it still does nothing, because asbestos melts at a mere 5% of the temperature of dragonbreath.
Yup. Useless against a direct hit, and just being caught in the wash could cause severe burns. Asbestos would be more logically used fighting things like brushfires, industrial accidents, and creatures with fire attacks that are much, much cooler than dragonbreath. That said, however, I see no reason for a dragon's fire to be anywhere
near that hot: Why on earth would a dragon need to melt
stone? Some fantasy series (Game of Thrones, for example) state that dragons breathe fire to cook their food, and will refuse to eat raw meat . . . but when your breath is hot enough to turn even
bone directly to ash, good luck getting any nutrition out of that.
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Topic: Request for a new type (or types) of stone (Read 13560 times)