What is it with Chalk?

[Tarontos he/him]

Now i know that this likely has no ability to be discussed or answered but i would appreciate theories as to why chalk is Rithmanticly viable. we know its not a specific type of chalk because Joel's dad had weird chalks that are different colors. so its not just one type of chalk,  it is not just the breaking pattern of it charcoal is too similar. again can't think of answers probably won't get any but i would really like to know if someone caught a reason through the book.

 

or of course there could be no reason but this has been bugging me.

[Kurkistan he/him]

I don't know the overall reasons, but it's noted in the book that the composition of even Joel's chalk is still largely regular chalk. That chalk is organic and formed from the bodies of shelled creatures, so maybe you can run with that. Charcoal from relatively new burned down trees, chalk from long-dead (albeit very tiny) animals.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Kurkistan

[Observer]

Being made of once-living things has given it power. Sound like something else we know?

 

Hint: It regards something that starts with an 'S', and ends with an 'ibbler'.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Observer

[Morsk he/him]

Zombies? A line of chalk is actually an army of the living dead, microscopic chalk-particle zombies.

[Shardlet he/him]

I don't know the overall reasons, but it's noted in the book that the composition of even Joel's chalk is still largely regular chalk. That chalk is organic and formed from the bodies of shelled creatures, so maybe you can run with that. Charcoal from relatively new burned down trees, chalk from long-dead (albeit very tiny) animals.

 

I think it should be noted though, that the part of the living creature that forms chalk was never alive or organic.  Chalk is calcium carbonate which is an inorganic substance.  It may be produced from organic reactants generated by the beastie, but once the reaction has taken place to form the shell, it no longer is in any way organic. 

 

I wonder if you could make rithmatic chalk out of limestone since it has the same/similar origins as chalk and should be structurally very similar (just on a larger scale) to chalk (i.e., finely ground limestone should = finely ground chalk).

Edited July 2, 2013 by Shardlet

[drepson]

not shore but it did mention large blocks of limestone in Joel's Farther's workshop

[gjustice99 she/her]

Zombies? A line of chalk is actually an army of the living dead, microscopic chalk-particle zombies.

If this is it that would be so awesome. But then only Rithmatists can make the zombies do their will

[king of nowhere]

I doubt the "was once living" aargument has any merit. if that was the discrimination, then charcoal, coal, and even most inks would work equally well.

And I doubt it's crystal structure either. there are plenty of salts with the same crystal cells of calcium carbonate.

I suppose it's just something arbitrary.

[Redbird he/him]

I think it has a lot to do with intent, as with the effect lines, curves or that swirly thing.

[Shardlet he/him]

The book at least suggests that more than intent is involved.  Joel's dad was convinced that the quality of the chalk made a difference.  That suggests that much more so, the basic material itself (e.g., chalk, charcoal, etc.) certainly makes a difference.  It will be interesting if Brandon ever answers 'why chalk?' in the next book(s?).

[Wrath]

I think it's interesting that a Rithmatist can activate the drawings of a non-Rithmatist. Assuming that intent is a factor (and Melody's chalklings certainly suggest that it is), does that mean that when Joel draws a line he's imprinting it with his intent even though he's a non-Rithmatist?

[KalynaAnne]

I think it's interesting that a Rithmatist can activate the drawings of a non-Rithmatist. Assuming that intent is a factor (and Melody's chalklings certainly suggest that it is), does that mean that when Joel draws a line he's imprinting it with his intent even though he's a non-Rithmatist?

I don't think Melody is activating Joel's lines so much as using them as a pattern to draw hers.  During the duel, we get things like:

 

"Melody traced his line, and hers shot across the floor- conveniently dusting away Joel's original as it moved."

 

The exact role that intent plays intrigues me a great deal though.  We see it in Melody's chalklings and in the fact that the new swirly squiggle line doesn't activate for Prof Fitch until Joel tells him what he thinks it is supposed to do.  I wish we knew more about it, but I get the impression that it isn't well understood even in-world.

[Wrath]

Right, right, I was getting mixed up about who drew the lines. Thanks for the correction. But still Joel was the one making the strategy for the fight, so Melody's drawings shouldn't have had the same intent given that wasn't explaining it to her.

 

Intent is definitely a factor of some sort and it's definitely not understood in-world. Or at least not by your lay-person or student Rithmatist. Joel tells Melody that according to Rithmatic theory her chalklings should not work the way they do. If a human knows how it works then their information is not available to Joel or Melody in the first book.

 

There's also the thing about how Melody's whole family are Rithmatists even though that's supposed to be impossible too.

[Shardlet he/him]

Right, right, I was getting mixed up about who drew the lines. Thanks for the correction. But still Joel was the one making the strategy for the fight, so Melody's drawings shouldn't have had the same intent given that wasn't explaining it to her.

 

Intent is definitely a factor of some sort and it's definitely not understood in-world. Or at least not by your lay-person or student Rithmatist. Joel tells Melody that according to Rithmatic theory her chalklings should not work the way they do. If a human knows how it works then their information is not available to Joel or Melody in the first book.

 

There's also the thing about how Melody's whole family are Rithmatists even though that's supposed to be impossible too.

 

With most of the lines though, the intent is built-in. A LoW does what it does while a LoF and revocation do what they do.  Melody's chalklings would be the exception since they don't operate on express drawn instructions as most rithatist chalklings do.

[KalynaAnne]

With most of the lines though, the intent is built-in. A LoW does what it does while a LoF and revocation do what they do.  Melody's chalklings would be the exception since they don't operate on express drawn instructions as most rithatist chalklings do.

Based on what we have seen so far, yes - though the rithmatist does have to know what the line they are drawing is supposed to do, even for the basic ones. We see evidence of this when they are trying to figure out what is going on with the squiggles.  

 

On the other hand, according to anyone you talk to in the story (other than Melody and Joel) the only way to command chalklings is express drawn instructions.  Rithmatics is not as well understood in the story as they would like to think it is.  In addition to not fully understanding chalklings, there are LoW circle bind point patterns that aren't fully understood (I've had this confirmed). I have a feeling that intent, and maybe also confidence, play a bigger role than the characters think they do  

[Shardlet he/him]

Totally agree, Kalyna.  I merely was saying that a rithmatist drawing a LoW (for example) is intending to draw a LoW for the purpose of creating a defensive circle.  Since that is the only discussed (known?) function of a LoW, then the rithmatist is clearly intending to induce such an effect.  Thus, for all intents and purposes, the intent is functionally built-in.  If a rithmatist is unaware of the function of a line they are drawing, then the line would have little or no effect.

[Thought]

What is it with chalk? Nebraska, my dear two-year-old-question, Nebraska is what is with it.

 

Nebraska (which I think we are all agreed largely correlates with Nebrask in the books) is famous for its fossils, and those fossils come from the Niobrara chalk. That is a North American only geological formation that was created back when most of the continent was covered in water (sound familiar?). In general, Nebraska has a lot of excellent chalk mines.

 

Now, the Niobrara chalk covers most of North America, but its Type Locality (the place where it was first discovered) was Nebraska. Knox country, specifically.

 

Know what else is in Nebraska? The Pawnee Amerindians, who were excellent astronomers, and astronomy itself is the basis of time keeping (which, as we've seen, is important to the Rithmatic world). What more, they believed in the nahurac, spirit animals created by the supreme being and which could grant magical powers to humans. Now I'm not saying that these are Shadowblazes, but I will imply it.

 

Okay, some of this is oversimplification, and there's probably some random coincidence, but there seems to be a curious number of similarities between the real world Nebraska and the mythos of the Rithmatist.

[Left he/him]

What is it with chalk? Nebraska, my dear two-year-old-question, Nebraska is what is with it.

 

Nebraska (which I think we are all agreed largely correlates with Nebrask in the books) is famous for its fossils, and those fossils come from the Niobrara chalk. That is a North American only geological formation that was created back when most of the continent was covered in water (sound familiar?). In general, Nebraska has a lot of excellent chalk mines.

 

Now, the Niobrara chalk covers most of North America, but its Type Locality (the place where it was first discovered) was Nebraska. Knox country, specifically.

 

Know what else is in Nebraska? The Pawnee Amerindians, who were excellent astronomers, and astronomy itself is the basis of time keeping (which, as we've seen, is important to the Rithmatic world). What more, they believed in the nahurac, spirit animals created by the supreme being and which could grant magical powers to humans. Now I'm not saying that these are Shadowblazes, but I will imply it.

 

Okay, some of this is oversimplification, and there's probably some random coincidence, but there seems to be a curious number of similarities between the real world Nebraska and the mythos of the Rithmatist.

You know what else is interesting about Nebraska? Brandon grew up there ......

[Thought]

Cool beans. So Brandon's almost certainly in a position to know these aspects of Nebraskan heritage.