Vehicles and Machines of Gabriel's World, Part II

These phlogistone bricks form the structure of all modern city walls. The bricks are so very easy to manufacture that we can do it at nearly no cost. The brickamaton is an automated combine machine which farms up the sands out-side and uses the kilnair with a steam-powered on-board manufactury to process and deposit phlogistone insulating bricks in vast fields outside the city. Farmers travel out to the fields and collect the bricks–which are quite light-weight–once per week, and bring them right here into this facility to cool. Of course, that does take some time, so please do not touch the displays!"

~Professor Wynter

The Steampunk world of the Lamentations series is full of secrets and adventure that even the bravest explorer wouldn't dare uncover—but I did! With temperatures hitting 850 degrees during the day, keeping cool is an absolute must, and there are two resources they rely on to make it happen: nitre and phlogistone. Phlogistone is made from simple silica sand and has amazing insulating properties, making it incredibly valuable. Luckily, despite the rampant laissez-faire economy of Gabriel's five cities, this precious resource has been deemed a commodity just as important to basic survival as wood, so it's available for free to anyone strong enough to carry it away, thanks to government-subsidized brickamatons harvesting the sand and leaving stacks of phlogistone in their wake.

The intent of making phlogistone free was to encourage settlers to spread out into the frontier wilderness, but they got more than they bargained! Captain Pannel is rough, he's mean, but he's also very clever! He knew exactly how crucial this resource was, and has turned his pirate city of Tres Ojos into an empire after amassing a huge collection of phlogistone over time. He even constructed a secret harbor so his airships could come and go without detection - can you imagine? After my discoveries, I'm on a mission to find out what else Captain Pannel is hiding and uncover more of his exciting secrets! Join me as I explore the mysterious depths of The Furness and share my thrilling adventures!

Plogistone: The etymology

According to Thoughtco.com, air was once thought by alchemists to contain a substance which contained fire and allowed flammable things to extract it in the form of fire. They called it phlogiston. The word "phlogiston" is an Ancient Greek term for "burning up", which in turn derives from the Greek "phlox", which means flame. Phlogiston theory was first proposed by the alchemist Johann Joachim (J.J.) Becher in 1667. The theory was stated more formally by Georg Ernst Stahl in 1773.

In the LOASP universe, this vital construction material is explained as "absorbing" phlogiston, thereby preventing heat from getting through. It's simply another way to look at insulation. Because it is a brick, the name was formed by simply adding an 'e' to the end of phlogiston. Although they use the old alchemy terms, phlogiston does not in fact exist in the LOASP universe.

Phlogistone however, actually exists in the real world. It was invented in the 1930's by Samuel Kistler, and goes by the name aerogel. Because this world still mixes alchemy and chemistry fairly regularly, the alchemical name stuck to this ubiquitous and essential material.

The Brickamatron: Automated mobile manufacturing

This machine is a fully automated clockwork rolling factory. It travels the wastelands in open desert regions and scoops up a layer of sand, processes it into a silica gel, and infuses the kilnair into it to form the insulating phlogistone. Since insulation is a basic life necessity on a smoldering planet at 850°F, the machines are built and maintained completely by taxes. Plogistone is a commodity that actually can't be made for profit. Stacks of phlogistone slabs are left laying out in the desert free for the taking. Because sand is essentially limitless, this isn't really a big burden for the taxpayers.