Granite

Granite was a type of hard igneous rock found in many places in Faerûn and beyond.

Description
Granite was commonly grey in color, but black, pink and white varieties also existed. Its hardness made tunneling into granite a difficult enterprise.

History
Sages versed in the topic assumed that granite was formed at high pressure within the earth.

Quarries
Granite was quarried in the following places in the Realms:
 * Atalyan hills
 * Furrowed Mountains
 * Mulhorand, where granite was abundant.
 * Red Cliffs in the High Moor
 * The Ridge

It was also quarried on the planes:
 * Pluton, Gray Waste
 * Mountains around Tantlin on Stygia, Baator

Other Granite Deposits in the Realms

 * The Battle of Bones
 * Haptooth Hill in Battledale
 * The Moonshae Isles' cliffs
 * Mount Kus
 * Old Skull Tor
 * Ra-Khati
 * The Serpent Hills
 * The Stonelands
 * Thonn's Fist
 * Tor of Swords
 * Turnback Mountain

Uses
Granite was a common building material for stone fortifications. In Mulhorand, it was also favored for monuments, such as for the central crypt of a pyramid, and for the construction of tall, broad, ornate temples. In Chessenta, granite was used for construction of temples.

Granite Buildings in the Realms

 * Citadel Adbar
 * Aefindar Ultokhurnden's exterior walls
 * Blingdenstone's main gate
 * Caer Callidyrr, palace of the High King of the Moonshaes, and surrounding roads
 * Endar Aglandtor, abbey dedicated to Haela Brightaxe
 * Faerntarn, the Royal Palace of Tethyr
 * Inner Temple walls in Solon
 * Maddgoth's Castle
 * Metalmasters' Hall in Waterdeep
 * Nycopolis
 * Bridges of Orofin
 * Prayer Stone, temple of Amnwater
 * Saharkhan keep in Tethyr
 * Main temple of Jergal in Seventon
 * Stone Bridge over the River Dessarin
 * Suryvlashadah, the villa of the Caleph Arcane of Calimport
 * Zhentil Keep's walls

Sculpting
Mulhorand granite was popular among foreign sculptors in the late 1350s DR. For example, Chessentan sculptors typically worked in Mulhorand granite; it was also the custom to paint their finished works.

Known works of art made of granite in the Realms were:
 * Colossos of Uruk on Sahu
 * Colossos of Ostoria below the Sunset Mountains
 * Sarcophagus of halfling Duke Corcytar Huntinghorn of Imristar

Magical Uses
Granite was a necessary component in several spells: Granite was the most common material for fashioning stone golems. E.g. the Walking Statues of Waterdeep were made of that stone.
 * Protection from telekinesis: A block of black granite.
 * Standfast: A piece of granite
 * Stone bones: A tiny skull carved of granite
 * Stoneskin: Granite dust
 * Strength of stone: A chip of granite
 * Wall of stone: A small block of granite

Religious Significance

 * Dark granite was sacred to the Chultan demigod Eshowdow.
 * Temples of the dwarven deity Clangeddin Silverbeard usually contained a huge block of granite as an altar.
 * Altars dedicated to dwarven deity Dugmaren Brightmantle were also often fashioned from granite.

Trivia

 * The body of a galeb duhr most often resembled granite.
 * Topaz and as well as some garnets occured in granite deposits.
 * Granite was one of the many materials the Infinite Staircase was made of.
 * The Gilded Nugget, legendary founding price of the hidden gnomish kingdom of Songfarla, was rumored to be a large piece of either iron pyrite or gilded granite.
 * For stone giants, granite was the preferred material for book covers (and bookshelves).