> I like that the French article has a section on Mythological mentions of
> Cinnabar, which the English page does not have.
> > Cinnebar is a mineral. Here is an excellent article in French:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinabre)
/// Thanks for the tip, it was fascinating reading. So cinnabar is a red cristal which was ground to dust to make a vermillion dye. When heated, it separated in gaseous sulphur and liquid mercury.
It was used a a dye in ancient China over 5000 years ago, and the egyptians painted the bones of their (presumably important) dead with it. The chinese actually ate some to get immortality or, in the case of taoists, to, basically, get high. They also made "red gold" by mixing it with gold.
All of these infos offer plenty good gaming opportunities. Now I'm gonna look up "aluminium" to see how it's made !
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