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Firesalt is a small crystalline formation with explosive properties typically used as weaponry within the Backrooms.
Description
Firesalt is a volatile crystalline formation found within the Backrooms. They are most commonly found as irregular shaped shards between 1 and 5 cm in size, colored orange and slightly translucent. Large artificial firesalt ingots on the other hand are more transparent and colored a dark shade of red.
Molten firesalt, nicknamed pyroil, is a colorless flammable liquid with a smell reminiscent of incense.
Properties
Firesalt crystals are relatively hard, classifying in the Mohs Scale of mineral hardness as a 71 but are quite brittle making them vulnerable to impact damage. They are also soluble in water and almond water, generating heat when dissolving in both liquids.
In addition, they have a low fusion point of approximately 47 °C, whereupon reaching said threshold the crystals melt into clear pyroil, which is able to efficiently burn even on low oxygen atmospheres. Furthermore, pyroil can be cooled down to create large artificial firesalt ingots.
Firesalts most coveted property is its reactivity against impact damage. When thrown, firesalt crystals easily shatter, generating a moderate quantity of heat and a remarkable quantity of light in the shape of burning sparks, enough to cause first or second-degree burns on humans with a direct hit. Larger manufactured ingots or crystals of a mass greater than 50 grams are able to explode in a manner similar to TNT, equating to approximately half the energy of a dynamite stick for a firesalt ingot of 100 grams. It is to note that the aforementioned explosion does not seem to damage the overall integrity of the Backrooms themselves.
Uses
Small firesalt crystals are used by Backrooms explorers as self-defense weapons as they can be easily primed and its small explosive can be used to surprise, hurt, or scare away both hostile entities and humans. Its overall common nature makes firesalt the weapon of choice of many explorers; often being fashioned into simple-to-carry firecrackers. Large ingots however are used as a tool of war, as its destructive power can easily obliterate enemy platoons or hordes of entities. However, the infrastructure needed to create sizable quantities of such ingots ensures that only large or well-prepared organizations or factions are able to produce them.
Moreover, some use the heat released when dissolving firesalt in water and almond water to boil foodstuffs and liquids making a couple of firesalt crystals an easy alternative to making a potentially dangerous fire in order to disinfect any harvested almond water from the Disease or other maladies.
Pyroil on the other hand has been used as a substitute to gasoline to power any small vehicle within the Backrooms, as well as fuel to any generators if no electric outlets are available.
Obtaining
Small firesalt crystals can be obtained growing on corners within the first 5 Levels of the Backrooms, as well as in smaller, rarer quantities in levels similar to Level 0. However, larger explosive firesalt crystals cannot be found naturally, but rather have to be manufactured by melting together several crystals. Pyroil can only be obtained through the fusion of firesalt crystals as well.