Home, Rules, Message Boards, The Parthenon (AIM), The Parthenon (AOL)
Back to World, Stones and Metals
Ironsheen
Ironsheen is neither metal nor alloy, but rather a technique of magically drawing ore from stones, shaping it, and enhancing its properties to benefit mages and others attuned to the weave of magic in Bierilon. Finished ironsheen appears as a smooth, pale ivory metal, rounded wherever it has not been deliberately sharpened to an edge. Under magical light, it gleams with a pale green iridescence. Ironsheen is poorly suited for armor, as it tends to cause unpredictable variations in the wielder's grasp of magic when worn, and it is too expensive for ordinary use; thus it is found only as weapons and, rarely, ornamental objects.
The basic techniques of crafting ironsheen have been known for centuries. Wizards and artisans in the Ardasi courts perfected the art long ago. Because of its expense and limited practical use, however, ironsheen has always been regarded as a costly novelty and was never in much demand. Occasionally a bard commissions a few pieces for use in theatrical swashbuckling, but that seldom covers the cost of creation, much less makes much of a profit for the creator, and so the art has been slow to spread.
Ironsheen weapons can be directed partly by manipulating the magical weaves embedded in the objects, rather than by martial skill. To do so, the wielder must remain in direct physical contact with the weapon; there are no ironsheen arrows or throwing knives. This greatly diminishes the value of ironsheen weapons to most mages, who would prefer not to be caught facing their enemies toe-to-toe and tend to invest their funds accordingly.
However, for those inclined to spend the money, ironsheen is not difficult to find. Most conclaves of mages in Aridoc and Ardashir have at least one or two members capable of crafting it, and they are generally willing to hire out their services. Heirloom weapons can also sometimes be found on the market, although since the primary value of ironsheen is as heirlooms, these tend to be even more costly than new-forged weapons.
The creation process involves using elemental magic to draw threads of iron out of silver hematite, so a wise buyer will bring several large nodes with him when haggling out the price. Other known ingredients include blood or ichor from a creature with an innate command of magic (beholders were once much in vogue for this use, although less lethal creatures are reputed to work nearly as well), still-frozen sea ice, and blades of grass clipped from a wizard's grave. Gold-veined quartz is yet another ingredient, and one of the more expensive. More expensive by far, of course, is the wizard's time in crafting it; the process takes precious days away from other studies, and must be compensated accordingly.
There are no comments on this page. [Add comment]