A society like Deshret relies on fundamentally different materials in most every sector - industry, fashion, transport - than modern-day Earth. Efficiency is the byword of underground life, with reuse and recycling critical to maintain so large a population.
ENERGY
POWER
The city itself is fueled by the Pneumatikon, a massive geothermal steam engine and pressure grid. Geothermal heat boils water, the steam drives a huge mechanical press, and those presses compress banks of the mysterious power crystals provided by House Qamarat. Under pressure, the crystal releases an electrical charge. Its structure gradually breaks down, however, so a constant supply of crystal is required.
FUEL
Vehicles, on the other hand, don't use electricity OR fossil fuels. Instead, they run on a standardized liquid synfuel distilled from recycled carbon, waste oils, and fungal/algal biomass, as well as other organic feedstocks.
Most ground vehicles use combustion engines while aircraft use turbines, but whatever the engine? Synfuel powers it.
CHEMICALS
Additional chemicals like plastics, lubricants, and industrial solvents are also grown by the same alchemical industry that produces synfuel. The Kolkhos is able to produce simpler compounds, but these more complex chemicals are grown or fermented primarily by Mythos' proprietary methods.
TEXTILES
Basically all textiles produced within Deshret are at least somewhat synthetic, except perhaps among the richest of the rich . As such, fabrics that have the same name as IRL fabrics are often not the same actual material, but a cheaper/easier-to-make imitation with similar properties.
For example, a fabric referred to as 'cotton' is the most common option for the populace at large, being lightweight, cheap, and fairly durable. However, this is not the kind of cotton we know. Instead, it is made from plants bioengineered to grow tall in dense stalks that extrude soft fibers around the stem. Polymers applied to this product during the weaving would strengthen it to imitate the properties of cotton but at a fraction of the resource cost of 'real' cotton. This approach applies to anything that sounds similar to a real-world natural fiber.
Of course, plenty of fabrics are just straight up synthetic. Various forms of polyester, or polycot (a polyester-cotton blend) are produced for clothing that needs to be wrinkle- or stain-resistant.
Twistle is the common name for a synthetic wool-type fabric known for being immensely tough and flexible, difficult to tear under any circumstance. Looking and performing similar to a heavy tweed, it's good for items like jackets or hats.
Wealthy citizens might wear synth-velvet or synth-silk, but those kind of options would be far outside the budget of your average Deshreti.
FURNITURE
Interestingly, wood furniture actually dominates within Suburba. This is because the slummers don't have easy access to the kind of technology required to generate high-quality sculptable plastics or similar materials - but they can of course use axes, chisels, and hammers to build. House Amari's ample stocks of wood make it a reasonably affordable option, too.
Those from the upper classes might have access to a much wider array of options, though, and furniture manufactured through very different processes.
MINERALS
Items that can be mined in Deshret include:
##STONES:
Alabaster, Limestone, Marble Block.
##METALS:
Cadmium Ore, Galena, Iron Ore, Native Gold.
##MISC. MINERALS:
Argentite, Chalcopyrite, Coal, Galena, Ilmenite, Limonite, Magnetite, Molybdenite, Ochre Earth, Osmiridium, Pentlandite, Pyrolusite, Saltpeter, Stibnite, Sulfur, Wolframite, Zircon.
##GEMSTONES:
Alexandrite, Diamond, Emerald, Garnet, Hematite, Lapis, Opal, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire.
From these raw materials, a number of alloys and materials can be wrought for smithing armor, weapons, and electronics:
Bar Iron, Blister Steel, Bulat, Bullion, Cermet, Cupronickel, Electrum, Mangalloy, Maraging, Shakudo, Shear Steel, Silver Wire, Sinter, Slagged Iron, Speculum, Spring Stock, Terne, Tumbaga, Type Metal, Wire Bar, Wire Mesh, Wootz
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