Mathilde doesn't know the elemental composition of air. Atomic theory's still a ways away.
"The Elemental composition of air? Well, yes, naturally it's frequently Elemental
Azyr- especially at altitude- although air can of course instead be infused with
Ulgu at ground levels or dawn. I believe there are some more esoteric theories of Mystical
Azyr Air within the Celestial College."
O rite. Yes, we should probably avoid melting Max into an abomination. I suspect he wouldn't enjoy that.
And our academic output would drop with the loss of penmanship in our other Familiar.
The posts are coming pretty fast, but the QM already confirmed it doesn't look the same as when runes activate:
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest Fantasy
As others have suggested, it could be 'leaky' Runes from RuneMasterFlip Tinkering. Changing what the Runes do, even by putting on aftermarket modifications, would get severe frowns from other RuneLords.
Now THAT's a big hint. In other words, the places furthest from the Polar Gates and Chaotic energies, around the equator!
I'm not sure the link is that direct, as I suspect it's not a transmutation happening here- it's a
translocation:
With a tiny fizzle of Divine energy, a tiny piece of rock disappears from the lip of the crater, replaced by a few grains of sand that tumble down to join the rest of the desert.
But it might be symbolic, as a place Chaos Energy can be drained off to, as the equator doesn't contain much.
Actually, real-talk-if those trees were around since the Chaos War or whatever that cut these Dwarves off, would that be right for their apparent age?
So if the trees are as Boney replied
more than ~190 years old, it's either
-Accelerated Growth (time fuckery or
Ghyran), or
-The trees are
not from around here.
So we may be observing not one, but two translocation effects. Bringing in, or perhaps superimposing a copy of, an Empire-style Forest and a Dark Lands or equatorial desert.
Desert expansion as part of some KickFlip Anti-Chaos Externalisation of Valaya Rune effect.
Empire Forest because of the Herdstone Effect. It's not filling the crater, because it started later? Dunno.
(Which theory makes me wonder if somewhere else there's an expanding several-mile-wide patch of Chaos Wastes. I sure hope not.)