Dwarven Deals

I'm not sure how best to set up the meeting with the Dwarves.  Could really use some good ideas here.  Doing it all through written material seems flat but so far I have not come up with any better ideas.

 

The dwarves will trade either the stones for the fonts or the metal for the Heart for an alchemical compound they need. 

To make what they need the players will likely have to perform this experiment:

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Red Cabbage Experiment

Red cabbage contains a pigment molecule called flavin (an anthocyanin). This water-soluble pigment is also found in apple skin, plums, poppies, cornflowers, and grapes. Very acidic solutions will turn anthocyanin a red color. Neutral solutions result in a purplish color. Basic solutions appear in greenish-yellow. Therefore, it is possible to determine the pH of a solution based on the color it turns the anthocyanin pigments in red cabbage juice.

The color of the juice changes in response to changes in its hydrogen ion concentration. pH is the -log[H+]. Acids will donate hydrogen ions in an aqueous solution and have a low pH (pH < 7). Bases accept hydrogen ions and have a high pH (pH > 7).

Here is a table of approximate colors of red cabbage indicator solution at different pH's. If you wish, make your own chart, using chemicals of known pH.

 pH   2   4   6   8   10   12 
 Color   Red   Purple   Violet   Blue   Blue-Green   Greenish Yellow 

Materials

bullet red cabbage
bullet blender or knife
bullet boiling water
bullet filter paper (coffee filters work well)
bullet One large glass beaker or other glass container
bullet Six 250 mL beakers or other small glass containers
bullet household ammonia (NH3)
bullet baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3)
bullet washing soda (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3)
bullet lemon juice (citric acid, C6H8O7)
bullet vinegar (acetic acid, CH3COOH)
bullet cream of tartar (Potassium bitartrate, KHC4H4O6)
bullet antacids (calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide)
bullet seltzer water (carbonic acid, H2CO3)
bullet muriatic acid or masonry's cleaner (hydrochloric acid, HCl)
bullet lye (potassium hydroxide, KOH or sodium hydroxide, NaOH)

Procedure

  1. Chop the cabbage into small pieces until you have about 2 cups of chopped cabbage. Place the cabbage in a large beaker or other glass container and add boiling water to cover the cabbage. Allow at least ten minutes for the color to leach out of the cabbage. (Alternatively, you can place about 2 cups of cabbage in a blender, cover it with boiling water, and blend it.)
  2. Filter out the plant material to obtain a red-purple-bluish colored liquid. This liquid is at about pH 7. (The exact color you get depends on the pH of the water.)
  3. Pour about 50 - 100 mL of your red cabbage indicator into each 250 mL beaker.
  4. Add various household solutions to your indicator until a color change is obtained. Use separate containers for each household solution - you don't want to mix chemicals that don't go well together!

Notes

This demo uses acids and bases, so please make certain to use safety goggles and gloves, particularly when handling strong acids (HCl) and strong bases (NaOH or KOH).

Chemicals used in this demo may be safely washed down the drain with water.

A neutralization experiment could be performed using cabbage juice indicator. First add an acidic solution such as vinegar or lemon juice until a reddish color is obtained. Then add baking soda or antacids to return the pH towards a neutral 7.

You can make your own pH paper strips using red cabbage indicator. Take filter paper (or coffee filter) and soak it in a concentrated red cabbage juice solution. After a few hours, remove the paper and allow it to dry (hang it by a clothespin or string). Cut the filter into strips and use them to test the pH of various solutions.

The items to test can be gotten from the Trader/Peddler.  The cabbage can be gotten from the spirit realm and brought to the real world with the use of a new formula for the Alchemy shop, Corporeal Soot.

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Quick Grow Crystals

  1. Make a crystal growing solution. You can use any recipe. Great choices would be epsom salt (sold with laundry or bath products) or alum (from the spice section of the grocery store) stirred into very hot water until no more will dissolve. Add a little food coloring.
  2. Pour a little solution onto a cookie sheet or glass pan. It's okay if the liquid is still hot.
  3. Tilt the pan around to spread out the solution. You'll see a fan of crystals form as the liquid evaporates, similar to frost on a windowpane.
Tips:
  1. You don't need very much solution at all! If you have a puddle of liquid in your pan, that is too much. Pour some off and let the bottom dry. The evaporation goes more quickly if the pan is warm, but it's not really necessary to heat it (in other words, avoid burns).
What You Need:
bullet cookie sheet or glass pan
bullet hot water
bullet crystal chemical (e.g., alum or epsom salt)
bullet food coloring (optional)

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Heated bubble Experiment

  1. Fill a glass bowl with cooking oil
  2. With a straw or dropper place a  drop of food coloring at the bottom of the bowl.  Withdraw the straw carefully so as not to spread the dye through the oil much.
  3. Put the bowl over a candle.
  4. The coloring will rise to the surface.
  5. Tell players to grab the first drop that reaches the top

 

Idea for font:
   If I can find a flat birdbath then we could stack flag stones to raise it up.