Some lore of every tool: Magnetite Brooch and Dice
Did you know? Magnetite is an actual real life mineral; as you may guess from the name, it's a natural magnet, or rather, it's naturally responsive to magnets and can be magnetized, with naturally magnetized pieces being known as lodestones (which were used in the first compasses ever made)
It is an iron ore, an oxide, although the real life ones are either black or grey or brown, rather than the rich blue seen ingame
Black or grey or brown is obviously not that distinct, so I understand the choosing of blue to make it stand out
Plenty of fantasy metals (or even fantasy versions of real life minerals such as fulgurite in monster hunter wilds or blue eyed samurai's katana) are depicted as blue; there's also blue slag, a certain type of glassy slag byproduct of iron smelting, and both blueing and tempering of steel, as well as Prussian blue, produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts
Abstract. —Since ferrous iron usually colors minerals green, and ferric iron yellow or brown, it may seem rather remarkable that the presenc
"Found in the fringes of Pharloom" unless Sea of Sorrow proves otherwise, this only encompasses the lowlands, towards the western edge of the kingdom, mainly where there's bone and magma, and Mount Fay, where the largest deposit can also be found
Large magnetite crystals can form in igneous rock resulting from slow magma flow, explaining its presence in the Marrow and neighboring areas (as well as implying that Mount Fay may be a vocano or part of one)(I've described the rocks of the mountain as eroded by water before, but they could also be cooled off magma instead, or maybe both at the same time)
They can also form during contact metamorphism (when heat from magma causes the surrounding rocks to recrystallize and form new minerals) of impure iron-rich limestone, and in high temperature hydrothermal sulfide vein deposits.
(Limestone forms when calcite and aragonite precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium, which often happens because of accumulation of corals and shells in the sea: it often contains fossils) (fossilstone in hollow knight often seems to be of marine origin: plenty of could-be amonites and trilobites can be seen around, specially in Hallownest's King's Pass and Crossroads)
Honestly, it's a miracle that there aren't any natural hotsprings, but i guess thats what magical region-wide freezing and a citadel stealing all the good water will do for you
Also full transparency: while all the stuff I include in this post is stuff I've searched for in my own, magnetite being of igneous origin and the possibility of Mount Fay being a volcano is one I first heard of from this very cool video
(Check also the sequel)
Magnetite can also be found as black sand in beaches, eroded from rocks and carried to the beach by rivers and concentrated by wave action and currents, which we could be seeing happening in Karak, where blue particles are carried by the wind even as the river has dried out, possibly being fine magnetite particles still descending from Mount Fay
While it could be argued that no magnetite platforms form in Karak or the Steps, and that these particles could just be representing the lingering memory of the river, I'd say it could simply be that these particles are too small to attract each other with enough force to counter the wind, which may drag them down all the way to the lowlands or even the unseen outskirts of the kingdom; most of it might also be absorbed by the coral crust, whose red color, like our blood, could come from iron (this is of course assuming ingame magnetite is truly made out of iron)
Talking about the river, its rich blue color is also curious, bodies of water don't normally do that on their own, could it be the influence of magnetite? It reminds me of what the Wanderer's Journal has to say about Blue Lake in Hallownest
A calm, placid lake that reflects the blue hued minerals around it, giving the entire cave a gentle blue glow
(there are some things in the journal that are kind of being contradicted by new silksong info, but until stated or proven otherwise, I'll continue to take the book as still canon)
Ingame, magnetite is described as magnetic and levitating, but its magnetism is rather odd, acting more like a mnemonic agent keeping the shape of a platform unlike a normal magnet, which also don't normally levitate that easily, although it could be argued the polarity of these platform chunks conveniently keeps them in the same shape, but that doesn't explain why it doesn't just drag other debris nearby, in which case it could maybe just be game abstraction or simply that it is how magnetism works in universe
The fragments of the platforms have their own magnetite fragments, suggesting magnetite is only ever attracting itself, maybe explaining why the specific chunks are the ones attracted back to the core
While most platforms are implied to be connected to the foreground or background, there are some places here and there where they seem to be diegetically floating, and there are some platforms in Pharloom that are exactly like static versions of the magnetite ones
Could it be that "magnetite platforms" are simply newly formed, brittle ones, and the rest also have a magnetite core but have already compacted / settled down enough to be completely solid?
Of course, there's no real evidence of magnetite existing in Hallownest, and the only potential proof of volcanic activity is the odd presence of hotsprings, while Hornet's comments in the hunter's journal indicate that Hallownest had nothing like the Marrow, so no visible magma flow
When discussing coldshard, I wondered if its mnemonic properties could be originated from it absorbing soul or even having dissolved pale ore particles, but what if this property comes from magnetite? or what if magnetite is an oxidized form of pale ore?
Can't really take this as evidence, but i found out about something rather curious: cold iron, said to be effective against fairies or spirits (you know, like Fay or Sylphs)
I already knew about their weakness to man's metal, but didn't know the trope had this specific name and possible meanings
Sometimes it works by sucking the magic out of The Fair Folk (similar to the way it sucks heat out of the body)(...) There's little agreement about what "cold" means in this context.(...) it may also be a reference to the fact that heating magnets to a certain point causes them to lose their magnetism, so "cold" iron is iron that still has its magnetic (magic) power. Alternatively, it might just be a poetic reference to any iron (much as "cold steel" was used in later times), just because metals at room temperature feel cold thanks to heat conductivity
Deeply ironic that the Fay mountain would contain cold iron within, either as magnetite or potentially pale ore too
Also much to think about the steel children's blue crystal that seems to be their heart potentially being magnetite, although it isn't as rich a blue
Anyways, I wondered if this mnemonic aspect got transferred to the coral crust below, explaining why it can retain / remember shape like that
Going back to the locations of the magnetite platforms, there's a couple unusual things to be noted
There's only two magnetite platforms within the mountain, both above a pond of water very close to where the magnetite deposit is, while the rest are outside in the stormward side; not sure what to make of the outside ones
The ones in Wormways are exclusively placed on the pilgrims way, as if placed or built on purpose for this role
Something similar happens in the Marrow, where they almost perfectly follow pilgrim-transited paths, even ones paved by the Citadel; particularly noteworthy their presence in the stone settlement where the learned pilgrim resided, where it looks like they could be part of the ruins
These platforms still occur naturally, so it's hard to tell to what extent they could've been built or simply taken advantage of (or having formed after these places became ruins), but it would be neat if the pilgrims did more with the stuff than just talismans and playthings
Talking of which
The collar of the magnetite brooch has a style similar to the shard pendant, which is pretty neat (why these dont synergize together is beyond me)
When I first saw it, it made me think of a magatama, although the shape isn't quite the same; it does however resemble other pendants such as pig dragons or ling-ling-o; it also resembles the profile of a bell, which is probably the intended shape in-universe
Actually, following the cold iron idea, what about horseshoes? they're said to bring good luck, and it is also the most popular/recognizable shape of magnets
This stone's a beauty, ain't it? They say it'll help you gather up rosaries on the road ahead. You'll come back and share some with me, won't you?
Holy stone inscribed with a prayer for rosaries.
Like with warding bell, it is clear the prayer is acting as a spell, either because of song, the letters acting as runes, or both
Only one out of the three kinds of rosary seems to be made out of iron, and is the only type to sink, alongside shell shards (seriously, why isn't there a synergy between shard pendant and magnetite brooch that allows shards to be attracted as well??); it is possible however that the basic type is made out of coral crust, and both these and the pearl rosaries could then come from Karak, at least their raw form, thus possibly having some trace amounts of magnetite or iron whose weight is being countered by the rest of the material being buoyant
(Video from here)
Still, this targeting is clearly magical in nature, raw natural magnetite doesn't attract rosaries after all
Worth noting that the effect around the rosaries is the same as around the dice when playing (although these gifs may not offer much clarity on this due to the compression)
Magnetite dice are rather interesting, it would seem like the numbers(?) inscribed into them may coincidentally serve as a spell written in runes under specific combinations (which may also be how the game is played, as the results seem to only come when the dice join together), allowing not just the occasional protection against damage (as if twisting the trajectory or shifting hornet's weight around) but also increasing the odds of flintslate and the Wanderer's crest striking critically
Each die has its own separate "protection" sprite, so they seem to combine slightly different at random as well
And talking about the Wanderer's crest, it's curious how the pilgrims and wanderers place emphasis on luck
Aye! Lost their lives to beasts, or to luck turned rotten.
It takes a lot of luck and a lot of faith to make it this far, though I'm sure I don't need to tell you that.
Luck is granted to the faithful, it is sung, so I must be very faithful indeed.
You win again! Never have I met a luckier pilgrim... Hornet: You mistake, sir. It was skill that won me this game. One must be careful not to rely merely on luck.
I pray my dice bring you luck on your final climb, sister. And I pray that by parting with them, my own ascent shall be made lighter.
Worn and winding ways... Luck and faith, intertwined... Faces of the fallen... Let holy chance decide!
Indeed. We're lucky to have made it here. Luckier than many others. Or perhaps the difference between the lucky and unlucky is merely faith?
Yes, that's better. Sharing your devotion with me will surely bring you luck.
Hmph. I'm no better than any of them. It's only luck that has gotten me this far, and it's on luck that I shall continue to rely.
Oh. Oho! A kindred spirit! It's good luck for wanderers to meet on an unfamiliar path.
The journey here was long, but we didn't lose a single flea! I'm told it's good luck to bring a guest along when travelling, so we must have you to thank!
Tis a blessed bit of luck to find this place, eh sister?
Wanderers do really rely on luck, one just has to look at Zote, and the Knight did have its fair bit of luck, but, mmm
The intersection between faith and luck, and the design of the wanderer's crest...could it be, song?
(The sounds when striking a critical hit with wanderer and carefree melody triggering are quite similar yet not the same; wether coincidental or on purpose doesn't really affect this idea of song, but felt worth noting)
Perhaps some pilgrims, and certain combinations of the dice, happen upon a song or two, a beat or two, that offer a small, occasional protection
