Hello!
I was running some lore thoughts in my head when I suddenly realised that all of Jonas' metal parts are made from cupronickel, but not the gears. So why are gears made out of Iron? I love the idea of using cupronickel as "the wonder material" that justifies the work he has done in the lore. In reality Nickel wasn't really understood in the Middle Ages, it was actually seed as an undesired impurity in Europe! The Chinese instead used a "white copper" (which does indeed seem to be cupronickel) for a few applications, especially coins, and they were renowned for it.
The fact that Falx understood nickel and cupronickel and actually used it to his advantage is another way to show how genius he was while actually providing "genius material" and makes Vintage Story lore feel VERY believable.
So why are all the gears made out of Iron? The metal rusts and isn't as wear resistant or malleable as cupronickel is, it feels to me like such a giant gap. I think the gears we find in the world can only be the work of Jonas Falx because of their "unmatched production quality" for which traders seem to like them so much. Is it interned? Or could it be, because of the fact that it rusts, part of the deal that Falx made with the Rust world? Or maybe did the automatons that Falx created run on Rust energy, therefore NEEDED gears that could absorb rust? This would explain his creatures going rogue, and could start providing concrete, but very sinister theories as to how the drifters, bowtorns and shivers were created (by shoving iron parts in them which made them absorb rust, which corrupted them. It could be part of the deal that Falx made with the rust god).
This gives me hints of what to expect if Jonas Falx ever was added to the game, or remnants of him and his labs
My original question was why are gears made out of iron, the rest is me putting a tin foil hat on, but I do find exploring the concept interesting!
