I read a little Elder Secrets recently and noticed the following:
There seem to be no Gloranthan equivalent to zink. However, there is
a metal/alloy in Glorantha close enough to be "translated" as "brass"
- - the metal of the Brass Dwarves. Earthly Brass is copper+some zink.
What about Gloranthan Brass, and what about its magical abilities?
Some suggestions:
1. Gloranthan Brass just like Gloranthan Bronze - it can be
produced by mixing the equivalents of copper and zink, but also mined
as it is. However, there are no zink mines within human reach -
perhaps some brass mines, but no zink. This is because zink is rare -
it is the bones of some god that either did not die very much, or was
swallowed by Chaos whole, or something like that.
2. Gloranthan Brass is the Hot Gold I theorized about earlier - the
metal of Fire as gold is the metal of Light. You get Brass by
separating the Hot and the Light Gold alchemically, thereby producing
the Enchanted, glowing gold as well.
Brass is clearly connected with heat, as it is the metal of the
dwarven class of alloyists, who also are those whoe keep fires and
forges burning as they should. I always assumed it was they who
produced metals from the ores mined by the Rock Dwarves as well.
Perhaps Brass always is a little warm to the touch, so that you can
wear brass armour on Valind's Glacier without trouble? And heat- and
warmth spells cast at it (or any fire contained within it) have their
effectiveness doubled?
Erik Sieurin