Special Materials
The lych’s hand drew back, and when she pointed, a bolt of dark energy, crackling with power and surely fit to kill whomever it struck, lanced forth. Kaelos leapt before the bolt, and it caught him in the chest, the impact throwing him back against the wall. But impossibly he rose, his doublet and tunic burnt away, to reveal the glint of metal beneath, a metal that had surely saved his life. A waistcoat of mithril had dissipated the magic harmlessly – and Kaelos drew his blade, and charged again.
- Sextus the Immortal, In The Battle for the Living (1733)
There are some materials that smiths and craftspeople treasure above others; rare and valuable metals and wood worth at least their weight in gold, difficult to acquire and precious to attain. Crafting items of these materials requires the very acme of skill, and such items often become heirlooms or things of legend, difficult or impossible to find on an open market. Where they are sold at all it is by specialized dealers, who must often acquire special writ or license to do so; a single blade, however finely honed, may do little to upend the world’s order, unless of course its point is to the correct throat.
Leviathan Harvest
The idea of making potent arms and armour from a defeated monster is not a new one; legends tell of the blade Anaxus, forged from the very bones of a felled dragon, with a sharper edge than any other. However, dragons being relatively uncommon in this age, and jealously guarding their bones, the average adventurer is more likely to see the still-quite-rare Leviathan hides, teeth, and claws in the course of their travels.
Harvested from great seagoing monsters, some large enough to sink merchant ships and all quite large enough to swallow a swimming mortal whole, leviathan harvest varies from creature to creature, but tends to move with surprising lightness and grace within the water. Weapons cut from the creature’s natural armaments are in no way impeded by being wielded while underwater, and shields and armour made from their hides are similarly light on swimmers. While not useful to every adventurer, this may provide a much needed edge for those who find that their adventures take them below water level.
Kereste
It is said that when the first King of Understone was buried, the fertile ground clung to the sixteen nails within his coffin, and one year later, sixteen saplings of a strange wood, beautiful and hard as iron grew from the soil that covered over the grave. Over time, the trees grew to their full measure, and cuttings and seedlings spread across the known world, growing only here and there, but where they grew, craftspeople could fashion from the wood arms and armour that functioned much like steel, but which was oh, so very much lighter. Even those who could not harden themselves for heavy metal armour could wear the much lighter kereste, and weapons forged of the material resisted corrosion from all sources.
In the Lakes Region, a vast majority of kereste grows only in Michian; this is both because the soil there is particularly suited to the cultivation of the trees, and because of a concerted effort on behalf of the government of Michian to maintain their monopoly. Lumber from the trees is heavily taxed, and a major revenue source for the government in international trade. While it has proven impossible for Michian to wholly restrict the spread of what is, after all, a natural tree, the mature glades and groves of Michian kereste make up the majority of the trade of the material within the Lakes Region, mostly distributed through the Michian merchant house Davidoff.
Adamantine
Named for an ancient word for ‘diamond’, stories differ about the original origin of adamantine. Some claim that it is the bones of long-buried titans, being so vast that their bones needed to be unbreakable to support them; others, that Atha wished to prove her will unbreakable, and created the mineral as proof. Whatever the case, mining for adamant ore is painstaking, dangerous if done incautiously, and quite lucrative, because adamantine does not break once forged.
As much due to happy coincidence as any dedicated plan, adamantine, which often runs in seams alongside iron, is most commonly found in Harodom within the Lakes Region. Even there, it is difficult to come by; while several mines in Harodom produce it, excess rarely stays on the market for long, and it is believed that the House of Haro retains a strategic supply against future need. Relics made of adamantine are occasionally found in ruins in the region, in roughly the same condition as the day that they were made. While the Harodonian merchant house Toth does not have exclusive license to deal in the material, they do have a supply available at usurious rates.
Mithril
Otherwise known as mage-bane, mithril bypasses any magic, and cannot be enchanted. In other applications, mithril has been known to neutralize magic, or adjust how it flows, making mithril invaluable to those who wish to affect magical dweomers, to protect themselves against hostile magic, or to assassinate spellcasters who would use magic to protect themselves. Powdered mithril, in minute quantities, is a powerful alchemical reagent in mixtures that banish or store magic, the metal interacting with other ingredients to create differing effects.
Mithril deposits exist in much of the known world, but mining is dangerous, and for obvious reasons, magic that can assist in other mining endeavours cannot be used to prospect for or locate useful veins of ore. As well, the Guild Arcane has a claim to at least some mithril deposits in the various nations of the Lakes Region, and jealously watches for those who would dig up this potent anti-magic mineral, for obvious reasons. Even small mithril articles can fetch hundreds of gold pieces on the open market; when the newly created mining town of Yorik was founded, the celebratory tournament had a mithril maille coif and hauberk as its grand prize. The winner, it is said, was never seen again, presumably having retired in luxury on the strength of the sudden wealth that they had chanced into.
Authored by: Andrew Dunlop
Fantasy Alive Lore Team 2026
Copyright © Endless Adventures Ontario