Metallurgy in the land

[[Syl]]

in the first chrons, there was white gold. in the second chrons, we saw some yellow gold. will we perhaps see some red gold in the third? some other sort of gold? black hills gold? heh.

ok, now it says Berek knew the songs for making white gold, and some unspecified legend (as far as i could find) said Berek would return with white gold, but did it ever say that Berek actually had white gold?

obviously, mining is bigger in other parts of the world than the Land. it's not exactly an earthfriendly type of occupation (though perhaps a master rhad. could convince the earth to yield ore?), but where did Kasreyn get his gold (were the flecks in hurtloam gold or golden)? why didn't he just melt the gold down (seemed he had more than enough of those rings), smelt it with some other ore, and have his own imperfect ring?

would silver or platinum have any power in the land? gemstones? and what would the people of the land make of petrified wood?

[Fist and Faith]

I don't remember reading anywhere that Berek knew songs for making white gold. Atiaran said:

There is no white gold in the Land. Gold has never been found in the Earth, though it is said that Berek knew of it, and made the songs.

The song the Lords sing in LFB says that gold is "not born of the Land." (It sometimes says "white gold" and sometimes just "gold." Should we assume Atiaran also meant white gold when she said "gold"? Probably, since gold <I>had</I> been found in the Earth. At least by the time of the 2ndCTC.) Amok said it is "named in awe by the <I>Elohim</I>, though they have never seen it." It would seem that the Earthpower knew what wild magic was, and must have intuitively known what would be required to "unleash or control" it, and told Berek about it. I figure it knew what regular gold was capable of, and realized a small alteration would make it, like, totally gnarly.

[[Syl]]

That's the passage I was thinking about. When combined with this...

Finally the High Lord mastered himself. "Now at list we know how to honor you," he breathed. "Ur-Lord Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever and white gold Wider, be welcome and true. Forgive us, for we did not know. Yours is the wild magic that destroys peace. And power is at all times a dreadful thing." The Lords saluted Covenant as if they wished to both invoke and ward against him, then together began to sing:
There is wild magic graven in every rock, contained for white gold to unleash or control gold, rare metal, not born of the Land, nor ruled, limited, subdued by the Law with which the Land was created (for the Land is beautiful, as if it were a strong soul's dream of peace and harmony, and Beauty is not possible without discipline and the Law which gave birth to Time is the Land's Creator's self-control) but keystone rather, pivot, crux for the anarchy out of which Time was made, and with Time Earth, and with Earth those who people it: wild magic restrained in every particle of life, and unleashed or controlled by gold (not born of the Land) because that power is the anchor of the arch of life that spans and masters Time: and white -- white gold, not ebon, ichor, incarnadine, viridian because white is the hue of bone: structure of flesh, discipline of life.
This power is a paradox, because Power does not exist without Law, and wild magic has no Law; and white gold is a paradox, because it speaks for the bone of life, but has no part of the Land. And he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox for he is everything and nothing, hero and fool, potent, helpless and with the one word of truth or treachery he will save or damn the Earth because he is mad and sane, cold and passionate, lost and found.
It was an involuted song, curiously harmonized, with no resolving cadences to set the hearers at rest. And in it Covenant could hear the vulture wings of Foul's voice saying, You have might, but you will never know what it is. You will not be able to fight me at the last. As the song ended, he wondered if his struggling served or defied the Despiser's manipulations. He could not tell. But he hated and feared the truth in Foul's words. He cut into the silence which followed the Lords' hymning. "I don't know how to use it. I don't want to know. That's not why I wear it. If you think I'm some kind of personified redemption -- it's a lie. I'm a leper."
"Ah, ur-Lord Covenant," Prothall sighed as the Lords and Foamfollower reseated themselves, "let me say again, please forgive us. We understand much now -- why you were summoned -- why the Hirebrand Baradakas treated you as he did -- why Drool Rockworm attempted to ensnare you at the Celebration of Spring. Please understand in turn that knowledge of the ring is necessary to us. Your semblance to Berek Halfhand is not gratuitous. But, sadly, we cannot tell you how to use the white gold. Alas, we know little enough of the Lore we already possess. And I fear that if we held and comprehended all Seven Wards and Words, the wild magic would still be beyond us. Knowledge of white gold has come down to us through the ancient prophecies -- foretellings, as Saltheart Foamfollower has observed, which say much bet clarify little -- but we comprehend nothing of the wild magic. Still, the prophecies are clear about your importance. So I name you 'ur-Lord,' a sharer of all the matters of the Council until you depart from us. We must trust you."

...I made the assumption (you know what happens when you assume), that Berek was the source. damn prophecies.

all i can think is that Berek, as seer and prophet, knew that TC would come bearing white gold. luckily he made a song about it, or nobody else would have remembered it (amazing the oral tradition kept it straight over 2k+ years and a major cataclysm... okokok, suspension of disbelief... or is it unbelief, heh)

[Damelon]

White gold seemed to be pretty much common knowledge around the world. Amok said that the Brathair speak softly about the white gold.

Berek obviously saw TC coming to the Land, I assumed (again that word ) that the knowledge that the Lords had of white gold came through Kevin's First Ward.

[Fist and Faith]

White gold seemed to be pretty much common knowledge around the world. Amok said that the Brathair speak softly about the white gold.

Odd how few people on <I>my</I> Earth know about materials that are not found here. Heh.

Berek obviously saw TC coming to the Land, I assumed (again that word ) that the knowledge that the Lords had of white gold came through Kevin's First Ward.

I can't think of a better explanation. Atiaran said she's the only person in Mithil Stonedown who knows what white gold is. She's also the only one to have studied any of Kevin's Lore. Coincidence? But why would Kevin put <I>that</I> in his 1st Ward? Kinda like putting the Power of Command there. At least the EarthBlood <I>was</I> on their Earth - even in the Land.

[Damelon]

Berek obviously saw TC coming to the Land, I assumed (again that word ) that the knowledge that the Lords had of white gold came through Kevin's First Ward.

I can't think of a better explanation. Atiaran said she's the only person in Mithil Stonedown who knows what white gold is. She's also the only one to have studied any of Kevin's Lore. Coincidence? But why would Kevin put <I>that</I> in his 1st Ward? Kinda like putting the Power of Command there. At least the EarthBlood <I>was</I> on their Earth - even in the Land.

The First Ward would have to have had alot of information on the basics. Stories of the earlier High Lords (Kevin assembled the Wards early in his High Lordship), basic uses of the Lord's lore, etc.

Some stories of Kevin's time would have had to have survived through oral sources initally. Foul's passing the Lomlallor and Orcrest tests of truth, for example. Also questioning of the Bloodguard (carefully), and the Giants.

[Ryzel]

The actual knowledge of white gold is probably quite harmless for a people that are incapable of making it so why hide it? The only person who could possibly have any advantage of the knowledge (LF) probably knows more about it than just about everybody anyway.

[Fist and Faith]

The actual knowledge of white gold is probably quite harmless for a people that are incapable of making it so why hide it?

I'm not thinking Kevin should have <I>hid</I> the information. I'm thinking that the space in the First Ward that was taken up with information about white gold could have been used for something that the people would have had any hope of using/finding.

[ceallaighq]

hey... I know about Kryptonite and Dilithium Crystals and they aren't found on Earth.

[Ryzel]

I'm not thinking Kevin should have <I>hid</I> the information. I'm thinking that the space in the First Ward that was taken up with information about white gold could have been used for something that the people would have had any hope of using/finding.

I see. Well this might be because the prophecies says more about the white gold than we know or because Kevin wanted (needed) to include the prophecies verbatim because nobody fully understood them.

Anyway I feel that your argument really depends on the assumption that there was a limited space for lore in the first ward. This may not be true at all, the first ward could contain everything which Kevin had not decided to move to the other wards.

[Fist and Faith]

Anyway I feel that your argument really depends on the assumption that there was a limited space for lore in the first ward. This may not be true at all, the first ward could contain everything which Kevin had not decided to move to the other wards.

You make a rather fantastic point. Fantastic for me, anyway, since it made me think about it in a different way. Maybe everybody else was already thinking that way in the first place. Now I'm thinking that maybe the 1st Ward told the beginning knowledge in every topic of power. (And, of course, mastering all of this first level power reveals the location of the next Ward.) And maybe what it said about white gold was the beginning of that field of knowledge. (Possibly the end too. Obviously, later wards would not teach them how to summon it. Probably not much on how to use it either.) Maybe the concept of paradox is big in all of Kevin's Lore, and the First Ward uses white gold to help introduce the concept. Kevin was hugely powerful, yet helpless; the Power of Command was even more powerful, but unusable (if you're smart ); etc.

[[Syl]]

or Kevin's thought process could've run like this..

Ok, and here's all the spare prophecies and junk that we could never really figure much use for. Maybe you guys will end up having some use for them or know what they mean.

the grab-bag approach to lore.