Legend
“The translucent cyan Amber coming from Lake Mirror is said to be shell fragments of Vornir tears. Making it the most sought-out Amber in the world.”
Skjald Ulrich
History
Amber is tree resin fossilised and appreciated since the Dark Ages. It’s made into a variety of Item and Object decorations. Especially as jewellery, it has also been used as a healing agent.
Some amber is mined through dangerous bell pitting in unsafe tunnels, and most often, amber-rich areas become conflict zones. Some are illegally mined by organised crime groups, deforesting areas and causing severe environmental deterioration.
Cloudy amber may be clarified in an oil bath as the oil fills the pores to which the turbidity is due. Small fragments, formerly thrown away or used only for varnish, are now used on a large scale in the formation of pressed amber. The pieces are carefully heated with the exclusion of air and then compressed into a uniform mass by intense hydraulic pressure, the softened amber being forced through holes in a metal plate. The product is extensively used for the production of cheap jewellery and articles for smoking. Pressed amber yields brilliant interference colours in polarised light.
Amber occurs in a range of colours. As well as the usual yellow-orange-brown, it can range from whitish through a pale lemon yellow to brown and almost black. Other uncommon colours include red, green, and even blue.
Yellow amber is a hard fossil resin from evergreen trees, and despite its name, it can be translucent, yellow, orange, or brown-colored. The resin’s most popular use is, however, for ornamentation—easily cut and polished, it could be transformed into beautiful jewelry. Much of the most highly prized amber is transparent, in contrast to the very common cloudy amber and opaque amber. Opaque amber contains numerous minute bubbles.
Skjald Sigurd
Cartography
Amber is globally distributed, mainly in rocks that are mined or washed ashore, as pieces of amber torn from the seafloor are cast up by the waves and collected by hand, dredging, or diving. Dirt and an opaque crust must be cleaned off, which can be done in revolving barrels with sand and water. Erosion removes this crust from sea-worn amber.
Skjald Vinotis
Organisation
Fundamentally, there are two sorts of amber, both coming from plant resin. The composition of these resins is highly variable, as each species produces a unique blend.
Skjald El Mary
Special
When gradually heated in an oil bath, it becomes soft. Heated pieces may be united by smearing the surfaces with linseed oil and then pressing them together.
Skjald Sejrik
