Materials
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Materials
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These materials are used by smiths to create armour and weapons.
Here is a list of materials, in alphabetical order. In addition to
these materials there are many exotic and rare materials in the
valley that aren't listed here.
Adamantium
Adamantium is even more rare than mithril (if that's possible in the
first place). It's cost is about the same, and it's little bit
heavier than mithril is. There is no material which could protect
you better than adamantium.
Adamantium is a very strong and protective metal.
Aluminium
The metallic base of alumina. This metal is white, but with a bluish
tinge, and is remarkable for its resistance to oxidation, and for its
lightness. Quite rare and soft.
Bone
The hard, calcified tissue of the skeleton of vertebrate
animals, consisting very largely of calcium carbonate, calcium
phosphate, and gelatine; as, blood and bone. Common, soft and cheap.
Brass
An alloy (usually yellow) of copper and zinc, in variable proportion,
but often containing two parts of copper to one part of zinc. It
sometimes contains tin, and rarely other metals. Quite common,
pretty hard and expensive.
Bronze
An alloy of copper and tin, to which small proportions of other
metals, especially zinc, are sometimes added. It is hard and sonorous.
The proportions of the ingredients being varied to suit the
particular purposes. The varieties containing the higher
proportions of tin are brittle, as in bell metal and speculum metal.
Hard, pretty common and expensive.
Chitin
Chitin is a common natural polymer that can be found in the exoskeletons
of insects and crustaceans. It is light, but does not do well against
steel and other hard substances.
Chitinium silk
Very flexible, yet very durable, greyish-blue in colour, this
substance is woven by old chitines. The silk produced by chitines
is possibly treated with other substances afterwards, but the
whole process is a well kept secret, known only by chitine elders.
The silk is very light, and can be cut with normal tools with some
effort, but makes excellent light-weight armour when layered.
Clay
A soft earth, which is plastic, or may be molded with the hands,
consisting of hydrous silicate of aluminium. It is the result of
the wearing down and decomposition, in part, of rocks containing
aluminous minerals, as granite. Lime, magnesia, oxide of iron, and
other ingredients, are often present as impurities. It's more
common than booze in Wizards' workrooms, and suits worse for armours
than Neurotico as a comedian (ie. it's bs).
Cloth and Heavy Cloth
General clothing made of wool, linen or similar material. Provides little
protection but it's cheap. Better than nothing.
Copper
A common metal of a reddish color, both ductile and malleable, and very
tenacious. It is one of the best conductors of heat and electricity.
It is one of the most useful metals in itself. It is being used as money
or jewelry in its pure form, and alloyed with tin or zinc to make it
more enduring.
Cuir-Boulli
Leather boiled in oil in order to make it harder.
Crystal
Stone which internal structure has been re-organized due to intense
heat, also making it transparent. The crystal used for weapons is
actually of a special sort found only deep under the mountains, near
the volcanoes of Icesus. It is less brittle than usual crystal,
making it more suitable to use for weapons.
Demonhide
Very rare material gained from extra-planar creatures, it's basically
leather with different attributes. Demonhide receives its name from
its first origin, skin of demon. It's heavy, confusingly colored
material which can be used as decent armor material for light armours.
Diamond
A crystalline carbon that usually is nearly colourless. When it is
transparent and free from flaws it is highly valued as a precious
stone. It is very hard and therefore suitable for weapons, but it is
also rare, and finding a diamond large enough to be made into a
weapon and cutting it is no easy task. The diamond used for weapons
is usually of a slightly flawed or coloured quality, although legends
are told about blades made of pure diamond.
Dragonscale
The scales and hide of dracoforms such as larger wyverns and drakes
treated with alchemical solutions to increase their toughness and
durability, armours made of this material are as hard as steel and
much lighter.
Fur
The short, fine, soft hair of certain animals, growing
thick on the skin, and distinguished from the hair, which is longer
and coarser. It's common, warm and nice to wear.
Gold
A metallic element, constituting the most precious metal used as a
common commercial medium of exchange. It has a characteristic
yellow color, is one of the heaviest substances known, is soft,
and very malleable and ductile. It is quite unalterable by heat,
moisture, and most corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for
its use in coin and jewelry. It is not very good for armours and
weapons because of its softness. However, ceremonial armours and
weapons of richer religious cults are often made of gold.
Iceron
A recently discovered and rare metallic element with striking
similarities to ice in appearance. Its properties closely resemble
those of titanium, except that it is slighty heavier, though lighter
than steel, and has a durability close to mithril. Molten iceron
is almost identical to water in appearance, and can be forged
into excellent armour and weapons with unique characteristics -
solid iceron is translucent, or even transparent if the ore is pure.
All of iceron's properties have not been revealed yet, but some
people claim the metal is unusually cold to the touch, and
impossible to enchant with fire magic.
Iron
The most common and most useful metallic element, being of almost
universal occurrence, usually in the form of an oxide (as hematite,
magnetite, etc.), or a hydrous oxide (as limonite, turgite, etc.).
It is reduced on an enormous scale in three principal forms:
cast iron, steel, and wrought iron. Iron usually appears dark brown,
from oxidation or impurity, but when pure, or an fresh surface, is
a gray or white metal. It is easily oxidized (rusted) by moisture,
and is attacked by many corrosive agents. It's quite common when
considering weapons and armours.
Lead
One of the elements, a heavy, pliable, inelastic metal, having a
bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished. It is both malleable and
ductile, though with little tenacity. It's a bit too heavy and soft
to be used efficiently in armours, but you can surely get good
bludgeons out of it.
Leather and Soft Leather
The skin of an animal, or some part of such skin, tanned, tawed,
or otherwise dressed for use. This is the most common material
when making light armours. It's cheap, quite light and easy to get.
Mithril
Mithril is very rare and expensive. It's also one of the
lightest materials around compared to it's abilities and hardness.
Platinum
A metallic element, occurring native or alloyed with other metals,
also as the platinum arsenide (sperrylite). It is heavy tin-white
metal which is ductile and malleable, but very infusible, and
characterized by its resistance to strong chemical reagents.
It's not a very hard material, but it's quite rare and expensive.
Silk
The fine, soft thread produced by various species of caterpillars
in forming the cocoons within which the worm is inclosed during
the pupa state, especially that produced by the larvae of Bombyx mori.
It's very fine and quite rare material for clothing, but it doesn't
provide very good protection.
Silver
A soft white metallic element, sonorous, ductile, very malleable,
and capable of a high degree of polish. It is found native, and
also combined with sulphur, arsenic, antimony, chlorine, etc.,
in the minerals argentite, proustite, pyrargyrite, ceragyrite, etc.
Silver is one of the 'noble' metals, so-called, not being easily
oxidized, and is used for coin, jewelry, plate, and a great
variety of articles. It's not very common or cheap either, but
one can make pretty nice weapons and armours out of it.
Steel and Fine Steel
A variety of iron intermediate in composition and properties
between wrought iron and cast iron (containing between one half
of one per cent and one and a half per cent of carbon), and
consisting of an alloy of iron with an iron carbide. Steel, unlike
wrought iron, can be tempered, and retains magnetism. Its
malleability decreases, and fusibility increases, with
an increase in carbon. It's one of the best 'common' materials
which can be used for making armours and weapons.
Stone
Concreted earthy or mineral matter; also, any particular mass of
such matter. We can't make very good weapons out of it.
Tin
An elementary substance found as an oxide in the mineral
cassiterite, and reduced as a soft white crystalline metal,
malleable at ordinary temperatures, but brittle when heated. It is
not easily oxidized in the air, and is used chiefly to coat iron to
protect it from rusting, in the form of tin foil with mercury to
form the reflective surface of mirrors, and in solder, bronze,
speculum metal, and other alloys.
Titanium
An elementary substance found combined in the minerals manaccanite,
rutile, sphene, etc., and isolated as an infusible iron-gray
amorphous powder, having a metallic luster. It burns when heated in
the air. It's very expensive and rare (almost as rare as mithril),
and is good for both armours and weapons because it is light and
durable.
Wood
The substance of trees and the like; the hard fibrous substance
which composes the body of a tree and its branches, and which is
covered by the bark; timber. It's very common and not very suitable
for weapons. Although it's often used in clubs.