Re: A stab at the geology

From: pedrodevaca <pavis_gm_at_...>
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 17:33:37 -0000

I was thinking of this last night, and decided that it was likely that the rock was based upon Dolomite or some other Calcium Carbonate minerals lending the white color. The area was under water before Time, and during the wars between storm and sea, there were plenty of opportunity for sea creatures to be killed (mass extinctions?) and form a thick layer of calcium carbonate based rock. So it has been uplifted somehow, or the surrounding Dolomite eroded and we are left with a big oddly shaped rock. Thus Whitewall is also a tribute or monument to the storm tribe's victory over water.

While dolomite isn't the "unbreakable" crystalline texture of say a low grade marble or quartzite, it makes sense given the location and is actually quite hard.

The stuff could well be fractured and have a spring source being fed from a higher location, or be remnant water left over from before Time that is trapped in cracks in the rock, or of course trapped water tribe spirits that have somehow been coerced or forced into cooperating with Whitewall.

The other cool thing that makes me lean toward Dolomite is that calcium carbonate is a base (chemically speaking) and near the end of the Siege it rains acid. The acid would eat away the calcium carbonate and begin to crumble the magnificent structure of Whitewall. This provides another answer to the fall of such an impregnable fortress.