science and magic march on

[marycatelli]

So the fairy folk are vulnerable to iron.  Other nasty beings, to silver.

I was pondering whether some of the unusual folk might be vulnerable to -- oh, platinum.  Or aluminum.  Metals not known until science devised new ways to find them.  An unpleasant surprise perhaps.

On the other hand, I don't know if any creatures are vulnerable to some anciently known metals.  Tin.  Gold, even.  Lead -- I have heard of cases where lead from church windows is dangerous, but not lead in itself.

And then there's the question of whether they are random and wild enough for a proper vulnerability compared to some of the wacky stuff you find in folklore.  A catalog of metals is a bit standardized when compared to such weaknesses as a pentacle, soybeans, or four-leafed clovers.

Comments

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

You could probably find modern developments that are more comparable to pentacles or four-leafed clovers: the Mandelbrot set, GMO fluorescent cats, etc.

[marycatelli]

Yeah -- it would be interesting to see what sort of thing could be worked out.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I saw this just after a G+ thread on scary chemicals. Now I'm visualizing a supernatural creature choosing which material to be vulnerable to and going with chlorine trifluoride. "What the hell, it'd probably kill me anyway."

[marycatelli]

Kinda depends on the powers he's getting with it -- but on the other hand, it's very unlikely he picked it as something to be invulnerable to

[mobius wolf (from livejournal.com)]

I've wondered if the advent of ceramic blades was a boon to the faerie.

[marycatelli]

Depends on the world building.

In the one I'm working on, not much -- for other reasons.