Hi, everybody! New player/storyguide here! I had one question about Terram magic: what do non-precious minerals (i.e. cinnabar, iron pyrite, etc.) count as in terms of spell magnitude? Do they count as "stone/glass?" "Gemstones?" Compromise, and go with "Base metals?" I'd appreciate any input. Also, is mercury under Terram, Aquam, or both? Thanks!
Mercury gives a Material Bonus for Muto and Terram, so I'd pretty much go with Terram.
Hello wellcome to Hell, Paradigm, ars magica
Under aristotelic/medieval vision of it, minerals were more noble/unnoble in sense of perception, so a perfect cristallized SiO4... Quarz internally flawles, no inclusions, maclae, hiatus, perfect bicone and the size on an appricot wold be less noble than the most opaque corindon ( ruby-saphyr)
( undoubfully a fistfull of this quarz will be a Rego reallia 1st class)
So its ( as in human nature) depending of its class (the most rich comercian must bow in front the poorest noble). Anyway depending (again of it status itself) is not the same an opaque corindon than a firely, cutted ruby.
Not sure about quicksilver regarding Arm5, myself i must asure that they knew it was not a simple liquid and got fasciated to the alchemist by its peculiar characteristics.
I would go for aquam and sligthly afected by terram.
Thats the much i know, by now
In answer to your first question, I can't think of any examples where the specific type of stone created by a spell matters enough to be mentioned in the description, but I think 'Stone' should be appropriate for most minerals.
As for the second question, Hermetic Projects "burning city" section features a entry on lava/magma that could make for a useful precedent: It uses Terram (Ignem) to create or destroy which makes sense as it's basically rock, but uses Aquam to control its motion using the Rego guidelines (again making sense since it's a fluid).
I would say stone. Gemstone refers to semi-precious and precious stones; the ancient Greek made a list. If it's not on the list, then it's just a stone, albeit maybe a pretty one. Although pyrite is probably a metal.
I would say mercury is Terram, unless you are specifically referencing it as a liquid. That is, it is created with Creo Terram, but if you want to manipulate its liquid shape (say turning it into a sphere hanging in midair) you would go with Rego Aquam.
Great! Thanks for the quick replies! This is about what I guessed.