Santorini Event Pumice Stone

Origin
The volcanic stone was created by the Minoan eruption on the island of Thera around 3000 years ago. Imbued with the burning magma that coursed out of the mantle of the Earth, the stone is now connected with the flow of molten rock beneath the Earth’s crust, just as the Thera Volcano's caldera continually filled with magma and catastrophically released the material throughout its several thousand-year life span.

Effects
When thrust into the ground, the Pumice Stone will draw magma up from the mantle and create a chamber of superheated rock below the surface. When left undisturbed for a long enough period of time, the magma collected will have grown so large, a natural eruption will occur. Due to the volume required, natural eruptions are the worst-case outcome, being capable of creating pyroclastic flows, lava, tephra, and gaseous emissions.

 To forcibly erupt the collected magma, the Pumice Stone must be broken by striking it. The materials built up inside the Earth’s crust will be released in a manner dependent on the region and the inclusions within the molten rock. When all the material is erupted, the Pumice Stone will reform.

Collection
In August 79 CE, the Pumice Stone was used in a plot against Warehouse 3. It was buried at the tip of Mount Vesuvius to build up the volcano’s magma supply and erupt onto Pompeii if demands were not met. On the 24th of that month, Regents stormed the mountain and fought off the man responsible. Although the culprit was apprehended and the artifact removed from the ground, its presence on the volcano for four days built up enough magma to force an eruption. Only the Caretaker’s ability to disappear kept the Pumice Stone from being consumed by the pyroclastic flow, where it would have been buried in the earth and caused another magma chamber to appear.

 The artifact was brought to Warehouse 3 and stored in a three-foot thick metal box to prevent it from coming into contact with the ground. It has been passed on from Warehouse to Warehouse successfully, it from of containment improving each move. The Pumice Stone is currently stored in the Nature section of Warehouse 13. It is sealed inside a two-foot thick concrete and rebar box to ensure no events will allow the artifact to contact the ground.