Dragonfire

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Dragonfire. The goblin survived nearly a year before finally failing a shield block; the tin goblet, however, remained undamaged.

Dragonfire is a very powerful form of fire that is produced by dragons. Dragonfire forms a rough cone shape, with a range of approximately 20 tiles and a spread of 10 tiles^[1]. Notably, dragonfire does not spread vertically through additional z-levels (although dragons will target visible creatures on other z-levels). Despite its powerfully destructive nature, dragonfire can effectively be blocked by a simple shield better than 99% of the time.

Legends claim that dragonfire can reach temperatures up to 50000 °U . At that temperature, almost all materials should be destroyed (the dragon's own body and its butchering products are exceptions). However, research has shown that dragonfire does not actually affect temperature, but seems to use a special-case reaction instead. When in a tile with dragonfire, organic materials will ignite, even including nether-cap wood with its fixed temperature. Non-flammable common stone, glass, and ceramic items will melt and boil away. Metal objects and metal buildings, however, are apparently immune to dragonfire, even non-fire-safe metals like tin. Dragonfire is similarly ineffective against water, producing no steam or evaporation. Buildings (but not constructions) are affected by dragonfire on their tile, making non-dragonfire-safe doors immune as long as they remain closed.

Objects ignited by dragonfire drop to and continue to burn at their standard combustion temperature, however repeated blasts of dragonfire can sustain much higher combustion temperatures, sufficient even to eventually melt nearby adamantine.