What is morta?
Morta is semi-fossilized wood. It is created when large trees are felled or overturned by geologic activity and become buried in an oxygen-limited fashion, usually in peat or clay. The wood is unable to rot normally so it begins the long process of fossilizing into stone. Morta is a generic term used to describe any semi-fossilized wood of this style, but all the morta I use is from a local oak forest that covered the Briere area some 3,000+ years ago. Morta is found in various locations across the globe, usually in marshlands or moors, and varies widely in its durability, age, and potential usefulness for pipemaking.
