[WoIaF Spoilers] Oily Stone: Yeen, Asshai, The Wall, 5 Forts, Hinges of the World

[butterbumps!]

Sweet, simple ideas are the best. :) I tend to link Winter-fell to "there must be a Start at Winterfell". Perhaps the impeding winter with aided by the dire situation regarding the ruling family in the North but this is off-topic, of course. :)

of course, I'm one of the crackpots who thinks the Starks probably had a large hand in bringing the extremity of winter in the first place, lol. A "fell" is also a "big hill," so I kind of think that maybe Winterfell (and/ or the Starks) is the alpha and omega of the Westerosi winter problem.

This is totally off topic, but how absolutely hilarious would it be if one of those times the terrible, evil Boltons burned Winterfell was what enabled winter to fall, lol.

[Moondancer]

This is totally off topic, but how absolutely hilarious would it be if one of those times the terrible, evil Boltons burned Winterfell was what enabled winter to fall, lol.

As hilarious as the Brackens, the actual petty kings of yore and not the Blackwoods. :D

[H0X0]

I have checked and yes, there are black igneous minerals/stones with an "oily" luster, like some dravites. That is very intersting. Could that be the inpiraton for GRRM's "oily" stone buildings?

I always figured "oily" and "greasy" applied to touch, not sight. "Luster" would seem to be the opposite of "drink the light".

There seems to be two types, fused(no mention of oil/grease) and oily/greasy(no mention of fusing, blocks in Yeen & Asshai, crudely carved toad). Fused seems to be ancient not-especially-evil magic. Oily seems to be associated with corruption, evil, Old Ones, etc.

[Snightlo]

Hey Guys, im kinda new to your Forums so you dont have to give me any respect at all... (especialy as I am not a native english speaker and there will be a lot of typos and grammar erros beyond)

but.. i kinda feel the discussion is moving to much into details. But I feel like the thing was to figure out what the meaning of these constructions is and not so much which real world material it could be.

I think it could be helpfull to list some facts about these oily black stone

• Every Construction is close to Water
  
  • except Yeen all are at the Sea, but Yeen is not far from See and connected to it by a river (I discount 5 forts, as they are described as Dragonstone)
    
  
  
• Every culture related to the Stone (that we know about)is "waterish"
  
  • Ironborn worship drowned God, and they think their origins are from Mermaids
    
  • On the Isle of Toads people look "fishy"
    
  
  

*No Fact but a logical conclusion*For me its save to say that those people cant be fire related, they should be water reladed and so are related to Ice. as it is the Song of Ice and Fire, and I think every Major Power is Ice or Fire*No fact*

• The Stone seems to drink life
  
  • Except Adult Human (Sorceres) everything else that stays in Ashai dies
    
    • I think because they are able to protect them selfy
      
    
    
  • We dont no what happens to foreigner on the Isle of Toads
    
  • Every attemp of resetteling Yeen failed, because most get sick, or even disappered spontaneously. Plants dont go near the City
    
  • It is said that no non believer of the Drowned God can sit the Iron Throne
    
  • Oldtown/Hightower (I havent read that yet) kinda speak against it.... thats sad.. but good for life. But on the other hand it is a place of great knowledge where may be a way of protection was found for it.
    
  
  
• The stones seem to be single Rocks carved in shape (not sure about that for Asshai)
  
• No Quarry for these kind of stone is known
  
• Maybe one of these stone has fallen from the sky (YiTi)
  
• The stones are greasy or oily, or descriped as similar to one of them(As the Master use different Sources one could think of greasy to describe it and someone oily, i guess it means the same)
  
• At least one of the construction (Asshai) gives Mages more Power
  

These are the facts I could recall at this poin, I feel free to add more when I remember or stumble upon them. Everyone is free use this list and add the facts he figured out, copy and paste it and add the new facts. And feel free to correct typos ;)

*corrected some errors*

[Snightlo]

Now I would like to add my thoughts and theories. But please dont disagree with the facts (if I made errors there I correct them) just because you dont like my theory

I dont think there is a scietyfic solution for these stones as this is FANTASY

It is clear (for me) that the builders are water related so the black oily stone could just be black ice. Imagin a block of ice, it looks kinda wet on the outside. Imagine it would be black, oil is black (People in Westeros shouldnt even know what oil looks like but....) and for sure there is some magic too it. This fits for me.

So I think these constructions are the evil and for me Ice side of the story.

For me ot seems very suspicious that the Valyrians rise to power at the time the Long Night ended. As they would as Fire when they defeat Ice in the War. But Valyrians for me are only one realm of the Fire side, or the only ones actualy allive.

So the Fire "Alliance" build the 5 Forts to protect them self from Ice, who they could fight back and the Ice "Alliance" build the Wall to save their last remaining forces from Fire.

The Wall did not look like the oily black stone because the Nightswatch put Iceblocks on top and the ever lasting Winter gets ice on it even on the side, which would be plausible, when the black stone is in fact black ice. Would go hand in hand with the fact, that Melisandres Powers are even greater at the Wall, then at Asshai, the fkn most magicly place on whole Planetos, cause the concentration there is very high AND (nearly) no one else is using these Power, she has it all for herself.

Why the Wall is manned by Man and not by "Others"? Good question, I dont have a answer to that, that I for myself can total agree with. But you could say that it doesnt matter who is on the Wall. The fact that it is there, and most people in the World respect it and they dare not ever wanna be North of it, speaks for it self. Sure the Nightswatch is going North, but maybe they are (even in older times) not enough to be of any danger. And the Wildlings there, oke could speak against it, but then think of that: The White Walkers need, or like, human babys to turn them to White Walkers, so it would be foolish to cut them off from that source completly.

Ok im starting to getting more and more tinfoily....

But my Point is. Blackstone Constructions are related to Water, could be that they are black Ice. Maybe the Wall is from the same stuff underneath.

Valyrians(Fire) become strong after Long Night, cause they won or Ice lost and got weak

[Hrafntýr]

I always figured "oily" and "greasy" applied to touch, not sight. "Luster" would seem to be the opposite of "drink the light".

There seems to be two types, fused(no mention of oil/grease) and oily/greasy(no mention of fusing, blocks in Yeen & Asshai, crudely carved toad). Fused seems to be ancient not-especially-evil magic. Oily seems to be associated with corruption, evil, Old Ones, etc.

Lustre is the term used to describe the way that light plays off a stone or mineral. The terminology is fairly standardized, and includes descriptors like: dull, greasy, metallic, pearly, resinous, silky, vitreous, waxy. I figured that our oily stones are probably stone that would be categorized as having greasy or resinous lustre (whereas obsidian has vitreous lustre).

[Snightlo]

And as all good things are three, I would like to give you my thoughts about Asshai

For me the only reason to live in Asshai (if you are not a slave), is because you are a Sorcerer of any Kind.

Because Magic is strong there, as we learned from Mel, it is not forbidden and you have a big bunch of People to talk about those things to evalute them in general or become stronger personal.

Gems and Gold are Common because they make these things their with their magic, or glamouring things to look like valuables.

It is clearly said that Traders only go there because of the high prices they get for common wares.

The most powerfull of all Mages are the Shadowbinders, cause only them can go to Stygai and come back to talk about it.

Asshai people cant reproduce them self in the city, but it isnt neccesary, cause it attracts new people just for what it is.

[Kushluk of Skagos]

So I just finished a re-read of this.

Chiefly, I think the Valyrians had nothing to do with the stones, oily or not. For a number of reasons.

1. The author himself dismisses most of the "Valyrian thesis" for several reasons. A) dates do not line up. All of this predates Valyria. B) Stylistically, the Valyrians do not make the "block architecture" characteristic of Yeen or the Battle Island fortress.

2. In actual scholarship, these objections would be likewise fatal. In such a thing as simple as pottery, any number of civilisations might possess the same technique, but their style is what sets them apart. If two peoples have radically different styles, they are probably not the same thing.

3. We have many Valyrian ruins and Valyrian descendants. The blood runs strong in some of the free cities, the Targaryens, the Velayrions, and perhaps in other isolated communities we may not have heard of (Valyrian nobles in Slaver's bay perhaps? Whatever remnants survive in Valyria? Mantarys? Perhaps Yi Ti?). The blood does not run strong in Oldtown, Sothoryos, the Iron Islands, Toad Island, or Asshai (we do not know about the 5 Forts). Therefore the Valyrians never settled the areas, nor did they every build anything there. Rather all of those places mentioned are notorious because no one knows who built them - pointing to an unknown predating civilisation to all of those, perhaps a race of non-humans.

4. Other Civilizations are older than Valyria, though less magically adept. Chief among these we have Old Ghis. In Dance we are reminded repeatedly that "Old Ghis was there when Valyria was still shepherding sheep" (i.e. before they discovered dragon riding). In other words, in these very early times, Valyrians were not riding all over the world to make weird buildings to puzzle Maesters thousands of years later. They are relatively young, moreso than the Ghiscari.

5. Valyria is too convenient. It seems an easy explanation to tell people, something more likely to come from "Singers and old wives tales" than fact. And in fact, every time the Maester dissects the Valyrian theory, it turns out to be only superficially viable, but in reality is too anachronistic to be true.

[butterbumps!]

So I just finished a re-read of this.

Chiefly, I think the Valyrians had nothing to do with the stones, oily or not. For a number of reasons.

1. The author himself dismisses most of the "Valyrian thesis" for several reasons. A) dates do not line up. All of this predates Valyria. B) Stylistically, the Valyrians do not make the "block architecture" characteristic of Yeen or the Battle Island fortress.

2. In actual scholarship, these objections would be likewise fatal. In such a thing as simple as pottery, any number of civilisations might possess the same technique, but their style is what sets them apart. If two peoples have radically different styles, they are probably not the same thing.

3. We have many Valyrian ruins and Valyrian descendants. The blood runs strong in some of the free cities, the Targaryens, the Velayrions, and perhaps in other isolated communities we may not have heard of (Valyrian nobles in Slaver's bay perhaps? Whatever remnants survive in Valyria? Mantarys? Perhaps Yi Ti?). The blood does not run strong in Oldtown, Sothoryos, the Iron Islands, Toad Island, or Asshai (we do not know about the 5 Forts). Therefore the Valyrians never settled the areas, nor did they every build anything there. Rather all of those places mentioned are notorious because no one knows who built them - pointing to an unknown predating civilisation to all of those, perhaps a race of non-humans.

4. Other Civilizations are older than Valyria, though less magically adept. Chief among these we have Old Ghis. In Dance we are reminded repeatedly that "Old Ghis was there when Valyria was still shepherding sheep" (i.e. before they discovered dragon riding). In other words, in these very early times, Valyrians were not riding all over the world to make weird buildings to puzzle Maesters thousands of years later. They are relatively young, moreso than the Ghiscari.

5. Valyria is too convenient. It seems an easy explanation to tell people, something more likely to come from "Singers and old wives tales" than fact. And in fact, every time the Maester dissects the Valyrian theory, it turns out to be only superficially viable, but in reality is too anachronistic to be true.

There's a difference between Valyrians and "proto-Valyrians." As in, a common ancestor, whose descendants split off into what became Valyrians, and some who became a few FM houses. Or even very early in Valyria's history, before it became an empire and threw off Old Ghis, a few families may have gone forth in protest, exile, or even some kind of appointed mission.

Post-Valyrian empire, yes, the Valyrian look proliferated. But we have a couple of Houses of First Men-- which you agree would have settled well before Valyria became an empire-- with what appears to be very suspiciously Valyrian-like looks, who happen to be responsible for some comparatively advanced engineering, technically similar, though different in style from high Valyria. Almost like they split off at an early period of technological advancement, prior to Valyria's developing its signature style, and developed stylistically independently.

[Snightlo]

There's a difference between Valyrians and "proto-Valyrians." As in, a common ancestor, whose descendants split off into what became Valyrians, and some who became a few FM houses. Or even very early in Valyria's history, before it became an empire and threw off Old Ghis, a few families may have gone forth in protest, exile, or even some kind of appointed mission.

Post-Valyrian empire, yes, the Valyrian look proliferated. But we have a couple of Houses of First Men-- which you agree would have settled well before Valyria became an empire-- with what appears to be very suspiciously Valyrian-like looks, who happen to be responsible for some comparatively advanced engineering, technically similar, though different in style from high Valyria. Almost like they split off at an early period of technological advancement, prior to Valyria's developing its signature style, and developed stylistically independently.

I like that idea.

Would u think, the Rhoynar are something Ice/water related and therefore maybe related with the Oldones who created black oily stone stuff? I was just thinking who could be the counterpart for the valyrians.

[Kushluk of Skagos]

Butterbumps has an interesting idea. But if it is so, how did the Valyrians get to be such primitives that were sneered at by the Ghiscari and others? It seems too unlikely to me, speaking in terms of geography.

As indicated by the wonderful map that someone just created (sorry, slow internet won't load previous comments for me at the moment), all these sites are scattered in weird corners of the world as far from Valyria as you can possibly get ... and close to water with the exception of the 5 Forts.

[A Thousand Eyes]

On a partial re-read only stones in Asshai, Yeen, the Toad Stone and the Seastone Chair are described as greasy or oily black stone. The base of the Hightower may also be composed of the same stone. Strangely the stone at the base of the Hightower is never identified as a known material either.

It's human nature to classify and organize the world by giving names to plants and animals through taxonomy, this is also applied in geology. It's safe to assume that almost all common rocks and minerals have been classified at least by a common name, the more rare a rock or mineral becomes the less likely it will be classified. There are of course exceptions to this rule if that particular rock or mineral is highly prized or sought after. Maester Yandel appears to demonstrate considerable knowledge of rocks or stones but fails to identify the black oily/greasy stone by a common name. Maestor Theron simply calls it Strange Stone. One can infer from this that the strange stone is rare on planetos.

Maestor Yandel refutes Maestor Theron's notion of the black stone forming the base of the Hightower and the Seastone chair being related, but strangely not on the premise of them being composed of different materials. This would be the most obvious argument to counter Maestor Theron's theory. The Seastone Chair is described as an oily black stone. Maestor Yandel would of attended the Citadel, lived in Oldtown, one would assume had access to the base of the Hightower and been able to oppose Maester Theron's claims by stating the base of the Hightower is not an oily black stone. He does not. Is it safe to assume then the black stone that forms the base of the Hightower is indeed oily black stone?

I did not conclude that the 5 forts are composed of this same oily black stone in my readings due to a lack of evidence in their description. However the 5 forts share the same unknown origins as the buildings in Asshai, the ruins in Yeen, the Toad Stone on the Isle of Toads, the Seastone Chair and the base of the Hightower. As noted by previous poster(s) in this thread these particular places are all considered ancient (predating the arrival of the first men in Westeros). They are all located near water with Yeen being the furthest inland, the rest being in very close proximity to the sea. This theme of using a rare material in construction near water, suggests that a common culture that valued the oily black stone is responsible. This begs the question Why did this culture use this oily black stone? I have several crackpot theories and I'll share one shortly.

Yeen appears to be the only area not currently inhabited where the oily black stone is found. The people of Toad Isle exhibit abnormalities such as webbed hands and feet and fishlike appearance, but the people of Asshai, Pyke and Oldtown are not described in this way. Suggesting that the cause for such abnormalities is likely genetic and not the result of living within proximity to the oily black stone.

Here is one of my crackpot theories on the oily black stone I have not come across yet. It's a conduit. I have no textual evidence to support this claim, and it needs more fleshing out but bear with me. We have textual evidence that supports using Weirwood trees to tap into the past. A Weirwood can see and record history, the vast majority of the planetos is ignorant of this even to those that regard them as sacred. A Weirwood is just a tree, albeit a sacred symbol to those that follow the old gods but to a greenseer it is so much more. It's a resource of knowledge and history. Could an oily black stone be more than it appears? Could those that pursue the higher mysteries potentially unlock something within the stone? A gateway or bridge between planetos and a world of shadow? Could the black oily stone be a catalyst and augment magic in the same manner The Wall increases Melisandre's power.

[Kushluk of Skagos]

Well there might be a *tiny* amount of support for the conduit theory in the story of Nymeria. Nothing seems to be present in Yeen according to the tales, and the settlers there disappear. We are also told "all attempts to resettle Yeen end in horror." Perhaps it is the case that the inhabitants were teleported somewhere else, wherever the black oily stone takes you - basically making it an evil stargate. This would also explain why no animals or plants wander in there. If they get inside, they are eventually teleported away.

[Mrs.Grumpy]

<snip>

Oooh, I like your idea!

And yes, lets call this Strange Stone.

[Farwynds Oceanseer]

I think it's likely, as Butterbumps and others have suggested, that we have two types of Strange Stone--the oily kind only found near water, and the kind presumably used at the Five Forts, possibly worshipped by the Bloodstone Emperor, and maybe even used to make Dawn (if it were like a geode--milky white on the inside).

My working hypothesis is that the oily Strange Stone originates in the ocean trenches like basalt and was used by the Deep Ones (who has a connection to the Squishers, the webbed lords of Sisterton, the people of Toad Island and the Thousand Islands); the various magic meteors, on the other hand, are fragments of the "dragon-moon" that the Quartheen say shattered near the sun and gave birth to dragons. It might not have given birth to dragons directly; it might have carried fire magic to counteract the magic of the Deep ones, and provided a source for the magic behind the "unnatural history" of dragons.

This is even more of a conjecture, but I wonder if Dawn, possibly made from a moon-fragment, counteracted the horrors of the Long Night, brought on by the Bloodstone Emperor and his own moon-fragment because of the same logic that makes fragments of krypton lethal for Superman? Sort of like magical homeopathy: use a little bit of what causes the disease to cure it.

Even wackier conjectures: the Maze people warged firewyrms at Lorath, Yeen, and Oldtown (or bound them with magic akin to the Dragon Horn); some put mazes in oily Deep One stones, other in fragments of the Dragon-Moon.

The oily Strange Stone, being associated with the sea, is a conduit for the deep ones, and thus the forces mythologized as the Drowned God.

The Dragon-moon fragments, falling from the sky, are a conduit for the forces mythologized as the Storm God (hmmm… what kind of stone is the wall at Storm's End made of?)

Just as neither ice nor fire directly correspond to good or evil, neither the oily Seastones nor the moon-fragments are wholly evil or good--but they are powerful and hard to control. Sort of like nuclear materials: they don't HAVE to be used for evil, but they often wreck havoc both by design and by accident.

One last thing, slightly tangental, that occurred to me: one maester suggests that the Hammer of the Waters arose from a period of longer summers, gentler winters, and the resulting rising sea levels. Perhaps this is precisely how the COTF brought about the Hammer of the Waters--they magically lengthened the summers and caused global warming. And to compensate for the magical global warming, the beings in the heart of Winter responded by shattering one of the two moons (not expecting it to absorb fire from the sun?), because meteor strikes and airborne ash can bring on an ice age--and diverse forces were unleashed with unforeseen consequences. Then the Blood stone Emperor got ahold of the moon fragment and made the Long Night worse.

That's enough conjecture for now--I'm going to do a thorough reread for evidence. I read slowly, so it might take a while.

[Vegeta_Greyjoy]

Monoliths from the Ainur, who have long since left Middle-Planetos.

[Aetta]

Another fact: no quarries seem to exist for this oily stone, so far that anyone has discovered. If the blocks of Yeen are so big that even an elephant can't move them.... then there must exist somwhere where the stone occurs naturally. As of yet, no place exists. As a result, the stone may be conjectured to be 1) purely supernatural or 2) imported from a very distant place.

Not for nothing, and I am just now diving into the thread, but soapstone can be black, oiled and can be made in small pieces and seamed together. It is highly sculptable yet very resilient.

Wanted to to get this thought out there before I read on an inevitably lose my train of thought-no idea how the type of stone can tie in...

[Hrafntýr]

On a partial re-read only stones in Asshai, Yeen, the Toad Stone and the Seastone Chair are described as greasy or oily black stone. The base of the Hightower may also be composed of the same stone. Strangely the stone at the base of the Hightower is never identified as a known material either.

It's human nature to classify and organize the world by giving names to plants and animals through taxonomy, this is also applied in geology. It's safe to assume that almost all common rocks and minerals have been classified at least by a common name, the more rare a rock or mineral becomes the less likely it will be classified. There are of course exceptions to this rule if that particular rock or mineral is highly prized or sought after. Maester Yandel appears to demonstrate considerable knowledge of rocks or stones but fails to identify the black oily/greasy stone by a common name. Maestor Theron simply calls it Strange Stone. One can infer from this that the strange stone is rare on planetos.

Maestor Yandel refutes Maestor Theron's notion of the black stone forming the base of the Hightower and the Seastone chair being related, but strangely not on the premise of them being composed of different materials. This would be the most obvious argument to counter Maestor Theron's theory. The Seastone Chair is described as an oily black stone. Maestor Yandel would of attended the Citadel, lived in Oldtown, one would assume had access to the base of the Hightower and been able to oppose Maester Theron's claims by stating the base of the Hightower is not an oily black stone. He does not. Is it safe to assume then the black stone that forms the base of the Hightower is indeed oily black stone?

I did not conclude that the 5 forts are composed of this same oily black stone in my readings due to a lack of evidence in their description. However the 5 forts share the same unknown origins as the buildings in Asshai, the ruins in Yeen, the Toad Stone on the Isle of Toads, the Seastone Chair and the base of the Hightower. As noted by previous poster(s) in this thread these particular places are all considered ancient (predating the arrival of the first men in Westeros). They are all located near water with Yeen being the furthest inland, the rest being in very close proximity to the sea. This theme of using a rare material in construction near water, suggests that a common culture that valued the oily black stone is responsible. This begs the question Why did this culture use this oily black stone? I have several crackpot theories and I'll share one shortly.

Yeen appears to be the only area not currently inhabited where the oily black stone is found. The people of Toad Isle exhibit abnormalities such as webbed hands and feet and fishlike appearance, but the people of Asshai, Pyke and Oldtown are not described in this way. Suggesting that the cause for such abnormalities is likely genetic and not the result of living within proximity to the oily black stone.

Here is one of my crackpot theories on the oily black stone I have not come across yet. It's a conduit. I have no textual evidence to support this claim, and it needs more fleshing out but bear with me. We have textual evidence that supports using Weirwood trees to tap into the past. A Weirwood can see and record history, the vast majority of the planetos is ignorant of this even to those that regard them as sacred. A Weirwood is just a tree, albeit a sacred symbol to those that follow the old gods but to a greenseer it is so much more. It's a resource of knowledge and history. Could an oily black stone be more than it appears? Could those that pursue the higher mysteries potentially unlock something within the stone? A gateway or bridge between planetos and a world of shadow? Could the black oily stone be a catalyst and augment magic in the same manner The Wall increases Melisandre's power.

The thing is, though, the black stone at Oldtown is almost certainly the only one among these black stones that Yandel would himself have personally seen. For all the others, he's relying upon the testimony of others, which, unless his sources named the variety of stone, would make geological/minerological identification tenuous at best. He's simply repeating the descriptions of his sources when he says something is made of black, oily stone. Since he hasn't made a first-hand inspection of the Seastone Chair, and relies upon the text and drawings of Maester Theron, he may simply be acting with appropriate scholarly caution when he doesn't attempt to argue that the Chair and the Hightower are composed of different materials, for how would he know? Instead, he falls back upon what he "knows" about history, which we might think involves some incorrect assumptions, but which no doubt reflects scholarly consensus. But I'm not 100% sure that we can take his lack of assertion that the Seastone Chair and Hightower look different from one another to mean that they are therefore the same materials. But this does not, of course, mean that they aren't made of the same stone!

Yandel seems most open to the Archmaester Quillion's hypothesis that the Hightower base structure and the mazes of Lorath were constructed by the same culture, on the grounds of similarity in architectural style. But the mazes of Lorath are described as being constructed of blocks of hewn stone, unlike the stone of the Hightower which shows no mark of chisels. It seems an obvious contradiction, but Yandel doesn't raise this objection.

I think that the construction methods data is important: that the Hightower shows no signs of working by hand (it's described as "solid rock") differentiates it from the "carved" Seastone Chair and the effigy on the Isle of Toads, which is also said to be "crudely carved." The city of Yeen is also built of massive blocks (i.e., not solid/fused stone). The Five Forts, however, are said to be "single slabs of fused black stone that resemble certain Valyrian citadels in the west."

[Kushluk of Skagos]

The thing is, though, the black stone at Oldtown is almost certainly the only one among these black stones that Yandel would himself have personally seen. For all the others, he's relying upon the testimony of others, which, unless his sources named the variety of stone, would make geological/minerological identification tenuous at best. He's simply repeating the descriptions of his sources when he says something is made of black, oily stone. Since he hasn't made a first-hand inspection of the Seastone Chair, and relies upon the text and drawings of Maester Theron, he may simply be acting with appropriate scholarly caution when he doesn't attempt to argue that the Chair and the Hightower are composed of different materials, for how would he know? Instead, he falls back upon what he "knows" about history, which we might think involves some incorrect assumptions, but which no doubt reflects scholarly consensus. But I'm not 100% sure that we can take his lack of assertion that the Seastone Chair and Hightower look different from one another to mean that they are therefore the same materials. But this does not, of course, mean that they aren't made of the same stone!

I agree entirely with you. Given what we know if the Citadel, he is making the smallest leaps of logic possible so that he is not seen to be propounding unscientific theories. Those additional hypotheses may (or may not) be correct, but by simply not mentioning them he is avoiding the debate and potential negative consequences of being right or wrong.

[Mrs.Grumpy]

I wonder if the HoTU is made from Strange Stone. It drinks light too.