Balemetal

The evil metal whose awesome power comes with the ultimate price

HP/Inch: 50 Hardness: 50

Price

There is no set price for Balemetal. It is not sold by any sensible merchant, armorer, or creature and instead only seems to appear before those desperate enough to require its use.

Effect

Spoken of in legends and myth as "The Bane of all life", Balemetal is a deadly thing that is said to be absolutely impossible to remove or stop wielding once they have been donned or gripped, with only the direct intervention of a Deity said to be powerful enough to sever the unholy bond Balemetal forges with its victim. It is also attributed the evil, unholy property of draining the very essence of those who wear or wield it, though the specifics have never been fully explored or documented...only stories that, in time, the wearer or wielder of a Balemetal weapon or Armor will vanish entirely into the weapon or armor they once wore, consumed utterly for the blasphemous sin of daring to wield such an unholy metal.
Though it is simply myth, legends also speak of a Balemetal Crown, forged by Drogun Raal to better control his Black Legions clad in Balemetal plate and wielding Balemetal weapons...this crown is said to be the controlling centerpiece of all Balemetal items, and he who wears it supposedly can claim command of every poor soul consumed by their armor over the eons, turning them into nigh-infinite legions of invincible automatons...though, such an item is simple fable and fairy tail, and not believed to exist. If it ever did, it is believed shattered or lost after the Fall of Suras Kerlith and the betrayal and subsequent binding of Drogun Raal and his Black Legion at the hands of his closest allies.
Weapons: The specific effects of Balemetal Weapons have never been documented, but Balemetal weapons have been attributed miraculous abilities not limited to supposedly bypassing all metal-based resistances on creatures, ignoring the hardness on objects it strikes, and all such weapons and Ammunition are undoubtedly evil to those who are more damaged by evil. Finally, all Balemetal weapons are said to, terrifyingly, pass through all forms of armor, either natural or manufactured, as well as shields and even force effects to strike directly at the skin and soul of its target...when it hits, such weapons are said to corrupt its target, twisting their insides and incapacitating them for a short time after they hit.
Armor: The specific effects of Balemetal Armor have never been documented, but Balemetal Armor has been described as being notoriously invulnerable in myth and legend. Not a single type of energy can scratch it nor its wearer, and it blunts all physical attacks to such an extreme degree that they are almost impossible to kill. Additionally, the Balemetal Armor's damnable metal wires and fibers are said to burrow and integrate with its host, draining them even as they knit all of the wearer's wounds back together, and granting them a shard of its unholy power to better resist all attacks.

Description

The insidious demonic metal that appears sporadically throughout the history of the world, Balemetal is almost never found for sale on open markets and instead is found almost exclusively by those who find themselves in the more dire and desperate need of it...events will transpire in such a way to bring such a person into contact with this damnable metal, such as a miner striking vein of Balemetal ore, or an adventurer stumbling upon a lost cache of it. Despite its bewitching power and the malevolent sentience with which it finds its targets, Balemetal is a metal so damnably vile and unforgivably evil that all who wear or wield it pay the price for their desperation with their very lives, bodies, and immortal souls. None know the origins of this insidious material, and the sensible and the sane know to stay far, far away from it...and even further from the rare merchant who is selling it, for to embrace Balemetal is to invariably accept one's own eternal damnation and fate as a mindless automaton in service to the Balemetal Crown, a mysterious artifact lost to history said to control those consumed by Balemetal over the Eons.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Balemetal is said to be as black as the darkest onyx or obsidian, but more unbreakable than the most indestructible Adamantine. It is impossible to chip, crack, bend, break, or damage in any way, and the mere act of mining it is said to be impossible without paying some terrible price. It gleams and shines with a baleful light, but it never reflects the faces of any who peer at it, as if a portent of their future fate.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Balemetal is spoken of as chilling to the touch, and incredibly resistant to physical attack while being outright immune to all forms of energy such as Fire, Acid, Cold, and more.

Geology & Geography

Balemetal is never found in a specific place, and is never found in the same place twice or found by any observable pattern. Instead, it is spoken of in history as being almost sentient, appearing in some way before those who require its unholy power before consuming them entirely.

Origin & Source

None know the origin of this terrible, terrible metal.

Life & Expiration

Balemetal is immune to aging, rust, deterioration, and expiration.

History & Usage

History

Balemetal has appeared at several points throughout the History of Ea, each time appearing before one in true and dire need of its terrible power...most notably, it appeared before the ancient Dwarven Hero-King Drogun Raal during the 8 brutal months of the Siege of Suras Kerlith at the hands of the High Lamia, where he used the blood of his own subjects to make the unholy metal pliable and clad his legions in its invincible carapace...over time, the metal consumed the bodies, souls, and lives of his legions and turned them into unthinking and unfeeling automatons bound to the Unholy Balemetal Crown he forged for himself, now said to be the sole artefact capable of controlling all who fall victim to Balemetal over the eons before and since.
Though it has surely appeared before many others, all those it does either realize their folly and abandon it, or are consumed entirely and vanish from the world forever.

Discovery

Balemetal was most famously discovered by Drogun Raal, but many have undoubtedly discovered it before and since...however, they simply either realize their mistakes and abandon it to survive, or embrace it and are consumed.

Everyday use

Balemetal, when it finds a target suitable for its needs, appears before them and is often smelted and forged into weapons or armor.

Refinement

Commonly, Balemetal cannot be refined save by those it has chosen to be in dire need of it...and by these targets, its refinement methods vary...from blood to simple forging, this odd metal rarely chooses the same method twice as if to taunt those who seek to study it.

Hazards

The mere act of possessing, smelting, and refining Balemetal is said to be an act which slowly poisons the soul and corrupts one absolutely, but nothing is more dangerous than wielding or wearing armor or weapons made of it. It is said to have overwhelming power, but at a terrible price; given time, those who dare to wield or wear it find they cannot remove it, even with the most powerful mortal magics, and it eventually all but consumes them...mind, body, and soul, turning them into spirits bound to the armor and weapons they once wore in life, making unfeeling and hollow automatons bound to the Balemetal Crown.

BM

Type

Metal

Odor

Blood

Taste

Unknown

Color

Darkest Onyx Black

Melting / Freezing Point

Unknown

Common State

Solid

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