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[Amallar]

Except that there is friction.  If you're slicing straight down, perhaps not, but if you're slicing to the side, then you'll cut into an object, and the area above the cut will be pulled down by gravity, pressing against the blade's flat.

Ever tried to cut a tree branch with an oscillating blade?  If you got at it the wrong way, the branch to clamp down on the blade and you risk breaking it.

.     It's already been established, though, that adamantine does not react properly with regular matter because it is nonbaryonic; by all pretenses, it likely repulses regular matter because nonbaryonic matter cannot react with regular atomic structures. It can convect energy between the two, yes, but the lack of atomic interaction effectively renders adamantine, for all intents and purposes, as a wavelength (or something); a material would need to be extremely unreactive/dense to block the penetration of adamantine.

[wierd]

I would say it is baryonic, just not atomic.

Something like a high temperature bose-einstien condensate.

It would have friction, but much less of it.  It would still have something similar to chemical properties, but it would not belong on the periodic table.

Friction is caused by irregularities in the surface. A very very large quantum object would still exhibit localized field anomalies due to the large scale of the object, and the short effective range of quantum interractions.  These would manifest macroscopically as being similar to the field anomalies in a chunk of normal matter's electron clouds due to ununiform atomic distributions. (Atoms never touch except inside fusion reactors, and stars. Only interactions with electron clouds.)

Adamantine would be slicker than gooseshit, but not frictionless.  Not even hard vacuum is frictionless.

[xeivous]

I don't understand this obsession with adamantine medieval ballistics.

Wouldn't it be more practical to just design an adamantine cannon? Adamantine's lack of standard energetic interaction and unusual structure renders it capable of dispersing recoil at ludicrous proportions, and it is durable enough that it overcomes the problems faced by longbarrel cannons designed to improve kinetic force at the expense of structural integrity. Adamantine cannons are also light enough that they are feasibly portable; miniaturisation of such, in fact, could effectively render simple flintlocks.

It is not impractical on the dwarven perspective, either. Dwarves are already capable of manipulating this substance (*ahem* psionics) in whatever fashion they choose. Metal spheres are not a challenge for dwarves. Dwarves already have access to their highly combustive booze as a form of a basic explosive, and it is assumed that dwarves already possess enough access and knowledge on earthen substances to correctly identify what would be ideal for rendering more advanced combustive materiel. Advanced metallurgy and high understanding of ballistic physics is also not a problem, here. Dwarves understand metallurgy to an extent comparable to master metallurgers today (probably beyond), and a basic grapeshot fired in ridiculous quantities by massive adamantine cannons does not require an understanding of physics to be effective on a battlefield.

Portable adamantine cannons designed to fire grapeshot should be an option. Why isn't it an option?

Depending on how well candy deals with the recoil, the cannons could just be carried by dwarves as a personal weapon, although a more complex design would be needed for it to be less unwieldy. Since the cannon wouldn't weight much, and with recoil being minimal, you can have cannoner dorfs waltzing around the battlefield with a backpack full of stone/metal balls and another full of powder.

Poor goblins...

[Oliolli]

I'd like to read the combat reports for grape shot...

[Mitchewawa]

I'd like to read the combat reports for grape shot...

Everything hits everything everywhere, and everything sails off in an arc!

[xeivous]

I'd like to read the combat reports for grape shot...

Everything hits everything everywhere, and everything sails off in an arc!

Would grapeshot reflect off collosi? If so, that would suck.

[hjd_uk]

Cannon filled with Adamantine strands would probably do somthing like this (at least over short distances)
>Liquifying Metal Death<

[BoredVirulence]

After reading somewhat less than all of this, I have proposed a mediocrely scientific, and mathless hypothesis on Adamantine.

Adamantine has the same molar mass as Iron, which is to say each atom of Adamantine is the same mass as Iron
So the difference in weight would lie in density. So, the only way I could think of the density difference and the material strength differences is if the strong / weak nuclear forces and electromagnetic forces were drstically changed to convert iron into adamantine

So if Armok created adamantine, which seems to fit in with his assumed sadistic behavior, from Iron, and Toady extrapolated Adamantine from Iron, does that make Toady Armok? Toady creates a game where loosing is inevitable, just as sadistic as Armok.

Of course im probably made either an improper assumption quickly, or there is infact another way to explain the differences in density.
Im pretty sure about Toady, but it could be a coincidence, or a misjudgement of either's character.

[Girlinhat]

Armok is not an entity, but rather an idea.  Armok spans across all worlds, even those with no religion, and exists as an ever-present force of conflict and expansion.  Elf slaughter, dwarven axelords, human adventurers who strangle dragons, babies who punch HFS and win, the rising of necromancer towers and the plummet of goblin dark spires, even the megaprojects themselves and the mechanisms that we seek to create and elaborate.

This is Armok incarnate.  Not a singular entity, but a pervasive attitude that turns otherwise rational situations into something violent or constructive - usually both.  In essence, Armok is a Strange Mood.  All are constantly under a mild mood, it's only when purity of spirit strikes that a true mood arises and a dwarf has no choice but to create an artifact.  This is the true meaning of "Slaves to Armok".  Dwarves, the chosen race, are slaves to Armok's pervasive drive to construct artifacts.

[Gizogin]

Off-topic, but I think I've been sigged more times as a result of my comments in this thread than I have in most of my other activity on these forums.  It might just be that I'm paying more attention to it now, though.

Anyway, for some reason I always seem to picture adamantine blades as standard longswords, as opposed to any other kind of weapon, like axes.  I don't know why that is, but it's largely shaped my thinking in this thread so far.

[Blizzlord]

Armok is not an entity, but rather an idea.  Armok spans across all worlds, even those with no religion, and exists as an ever-present force of conflict and expansion.  Elf slaughter, dwarven axelords, human adventurers who strangle dragons, babies who punch HFS and win, the rising of necromancer towers and the plummet of goblin dark spires, even the megaprojects themselves and the mechanisms that we seek to create and elaborate.

This is Armok incarnate.  Not a singular entity, but a pervasive attitude that turns otherwise rational situations into something violent or constructive - usually both.  In essence, Armok is a Strange Mood.  All are constantly under a mild mood, it's only when purity of spirit strikes that a true mood arises and a dwarf has no choice but to create an artifact.  This is the true meaning of "Slaves to Armok".  Dwarves, the chosen race, are slaves to Armok's pervasive drive to construct artifacts.

Even considering all posts you have posted on this forum, this has to be the greatest yet.

[Oliolli]

I think I've been sigged more times as a result of my comments in this thread than I have in most of my other activity on these forums.

I wonder if I could fit this into my sig...

You HAD to see it coming...

Armok is not an entity, but rather an idea.  Armok spans across all worlds, even those with no religion, and exists as an ever-present force of conflict and expansion.  Elf slaughter, dwarven axelords, human adventurers who strangle dragons, babies who punch HFS and win, the rising of necromancer towers and the plummet of goblin dark spires, even the megaprojects themselves and the mechanisms that we seek to create and elaborate.

This is Armok incarnate.  Not a singular entity, but a pervasive attitude that turns otherwise rational situations into something violent or constructive - usually both.  In essence, Armok is a Strange Mood.  All are constantly under a mild mood, it's only when purity of spirit strikes that a true mood arises and a dwarf has no choice but to create an artifact.  This is the true meaning of "Slaves to Armok".  Dwarves, the chosen race, are slaves to Armok's pervasive drive to construct artifacts.

Even considering all posts you have posted on this forum, this has to be the greatest yet.

Girlinhat once had a strange mood in which she made made an artifact post. Now she is a legendary post writer. That is but a masterwork post.

[Blizzlord]

Armok is not an entity, but rather an idea.  Armok spans across all worlds, even those with no religion, and exists as an ever-present force of conflict and expansion.  Elf slaughter, dwarven axelords, human adventurers who strangle dragons, babies who punch HFS and win, the rising of necromancer towers and the plummet of goblin dark spires, even the megaprojects themselves and the mechanisms that we seek to create and elaborate.

This is Armok incarnate.  Not a singular entity, but a pervasive attitude that turns otherwise rational situations into something violent or constructive - usually both.  In essence, Armok is a Strange Mood.  All are constantly under a mild mood, it's only when purity of spirit strikes that a true mood arises and a dwarf has no choice but to create an artifact.  This is the true meaning of "Slaves to Armok".  Dwarves, the chosen race, are slaves to Armok's pervasive drive to construct artifacts.

Even considering all posts you have posted on this forum, this has to be the greatest yet.

Girlinhat once had a strange mood in which she made made an artifact post. Now she is a legendary post writer. That is but a masterwork post.
[/quote]
And where is this so called artefact post located? I would love to read it.

[Oliolli]

Just let me check through all those >9000 posts of Girlinhat's, I'll see if I can find it.

Makes me feel puny... She registered 18 days before I did, yet she has ~7300 posts more than I do...
Damn it, it get's worse. Loud Whispers registered about half a year ago, and has 10000 posts.

[Muttonhawk]

'Quantumtroll The Mashing of Brains' was a legendary raw adamantine bound forum thread. The written portion consists of a 17 page forum discussion entitled 'Adamantine Science and physics quirks', authored collaboratively by the Dwarf Fortress Community. It concerns the nature and behaviour of Adamantine and its resultant efficacy as a weapon material. The writing is very complex.

In the late summer (or winter if you're up north) of 2012, Quantumtroll The mashing of brains was created in the Bay12 Forums by Blizzlord the bay watcher.

In the early autumn (or spring if your up north) of 2012, Quantumtroll The mashing of brains was made awesome in the Bay12 Forums by the Dwarf Fortress community of Practical Physicists.

In the early autumn (or spring if your up north) of 2012, Quantumtroll The mashing of brains was made awesome in the Bay12 Forums by the Dwarf Fortress community of Theoretical Physicists.

In the early autumn (or spring if your up north) of 2012, Quantumtroll The mashing of brains was slightly derailed but still made even more awesome in the Bay12 Forums by Cultists of Armok.