Post originally by JRM at 2004-08-21 16:31:13
Converted from Phorums BB System

That's cinnabar, or mercury sulphide. When used as a red pigment it's called vermillion. (Although it's not used as such nowadays, since it's poisonous.) It featured a lot in alchemy, both European and Chinese. According to my Chambers dictionary it's a Greek word which derives from Persian.

Don't know what that has to do with Synnibarr though. . .