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Minerals
What QualifiesEdit
"Mineral products of commercial value on Vvardenfell include the following: ash salts, diamond, emerald, ruby, and scrap metal. Pearl is not a mineral product, but is traditionally included with gems because of its association with precious stones and their ornamental value."
—A Third Era citizen on Vvardenfell's mineral products
—A Third Era citizen on Vvardenfell's mineral products
The denizens of Tamriel live in a fantasy world. Because of this, there are no accepted definitions for minerals. For the purpose of simplicity, some guidelines have to exist.
- On the topic of categorization:
- Lore first. Minerals like malachite are described as crystals in the lore, but can behave more like how one would expect a metal to behave. However, it must be categorized as a crystal.
- Intuition second. Many minerals are clearly meant to be a certain type, but aren't ever explicitly stated to be such. Think about how a person in Tamriel would consider the given mineral.
- Wikipedia third. If intuition is supplemental to lore, then Wikipedia is supplemental to intuition. Real-world science has no place on the UESP, but understanding a mineral's inspiration when lore is unavailable can help categorize it. If the double-edged nature of this guideline isn't yet apparent, compare TES ebony to real-world ebony.
- Categorize items from left to right as they appear in the navbar. Meteoric iron is an aetherial metal, but the "aetherial" determines that it gets placed among the other aetherial fragments.
- "Crystals" includes gemstones. Some minerals, which wouldn't be included based on real-world scientific definition, are still included due to their properties and usage being indistinguishable from the other listed crystals. Most mineraloids are an example of this.
- The mineral must be named. For example, the mystery metal from the ESO quest Mystery Metal cannot be included on this basis.
- No unique minerals. Items whose characteristics are defined by their historical significance, like the stones of Barenziah, do not belong in the list. Star Teeth are a counterexample where the term refers to both, and thus merits inclusion. This is not to say that all minerals listed must "occur naturally" or be renewable, as faerite and Dwarven metal still qualify on the basis of generic-ness.