[Traveller]

I've just finished the whole 'escape from the burning city' chapter on my reread, and yet again am totally blown away by this awesome event. The tunneling sequence especially.

However... what I couldn't help thinking, from the start of Leomans plan, and you know, from reading it before, is.. olive oil isn't that flammable.

It will burn, a bit, yes, and give off smoke, but the scenes in Y'ghatan describe the stuff like it's gasoline - it's lighting people up like torches in seconds. And, rather than buildings stuffed with it just leaking and giving everyone a nice moisterised skin, it's exploding and setting bricks and mortar alight.

It just took me out of it a bit this time round. I mean, if olive oil burned like that the Trojans could have just thrown a flaming torch and wiped out the entire Greek army in one big bbq.

Maybe olives on Wu are just a different thing entirely...

This post has been edited by Traveller: 02 April 2015 - 10:55 PM

[Shadow Knight]

Olive oil is actually flammable, its flammable enough to keep a wick in a lamp lighting well, but its pretty smokeless, given enough quanties and with a fire already in place it would act as a fairly good fuel source id say, given building etc would also be consumed as fuel.

[Traveller]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't just combust if you stick a flame near it. It doesn't give off a flammable vapour like gasoline or spirits; in a large quantity I would doubt you could 'light' it at all.

(Edit.. it looks like it's classed as a 11B combustible liquid, which is kind of at the bottom of the scale as its flash point is greater than or equal to 200°.)

So combustible rather than flammable as there is no vapour to light.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 02 April 2015 - 11:06 PM

[Shadow Knight]

I dont no much about combustible liquids being honest, gas yes liquid no, but im guessing in the quantites involved and the face everything around was burning it would suffice? although exaggerated

[Abyss]

Also, magic.

[Bonesaw85]

I think your last sentence nailed it.

This isn't weak ass Earth olive oil, it's next level Wu shit.

[Andorion]

Bonesaw85, on 06 April 2015 - 03:17 AM, said:

I think your last sentence nailed it.

This isn't weak ass Earth olive oil, it's next level Wu shit.

The Olive trees were probably watered by Eleint blood

[korik]

And the fires were started by Moranth munitions.... which I am sure set it off with quite a bang, and once a fire is burning hot enough then everything starts to go

[Kanese S's]

Probably depends how hot you get it. If it's hot enough, it probably burns quite easily.

Leoman would have known this. The Malazans also use some munitions that are incendiaries and probably burn pretty hot, which Leoman would also have known.