Shadowglass

The body seemed to have suffered severe internal damage, muscles and organs sliced cleanly as if by something sharp. If it weren't for the fact the skin was entirely unbroken I would have said this woman had been killed by a blade.

— Case Report, Chief Investigator Rosse

Shadowglass, despite what its name implies, is a dark coloured metal popular amongst assassins and other criminals for its unique properties. Believed to be a metal tainted with pure negative energy it almost seems to sap the life-force from creatures it has physical contact with. This unique metal is rather scarce, as no naturally occurring ore has ever been found on Eleron and few smiths are familiar with working the strangely draining metal. Interplanar traders may bring in the occasional shipment of shadowglass ingots from the plane of Shadowfell, but the majority of shadowglass found on the material plane is already formed into items that are sometimes broken down and reforged.

by Moonbro

Properties

The nature of shadowglass already lends it to be an interesting metal for making weaponry, particularly bladed weapons, giving them a slightly draining attack. The secondary property shadowglass features is perhaps the most intriguing, as when the metal is used with force against a creature, it completely passes through the skin only harming the flesh below.
In ingot form, the dark metal has wisps of shadows emanating from it, the shadows growing in size the higher the concentration of shadowglass in one spot. This property is mostly lost after the forging process, though some stories exist of greatswords made purely of shadowglass that maintained this effect. If such large weapons of the material did exist, they have likely been melted down at this point.

Uses

Shadowglass weaponry has become quite desirable for anyone looking to prevent messy injuries or deaths. Smiths wanting to spread their meagre supply of shadowglass out may use it to create a steel-shadowglass alloy, losing the ability for the weaponry to not harm the skin, but granting a weaker form of the metals' life-draining property to the weapon.
Rumours of a set of shadowglass armour catch the attention of many armourers, artificers and treasure hunters. However the allure of the armour is more about the sheer amount of shadowglass within it, as the aspects of the metal imply it simply is better applied to weaponry than armour.

Properties

Type

Metal

Rarity

Very Rare

Color

Dark grey to black

Melting / Freezing Point

1,358 °C

Common State

Solid

Related Locations

• Sien

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Shadowglasses?

A rare but useful item, particularly for light-sensitive humanoids like Drow, these glasses help block out light with only a minor impact on the wearers' vision. Frames can vary in material, but the glass itself is exceptionally thin sheets of shadowglass that allows the wearer to see through the metal, darkening their vision.
The amount of shadowglass contained in these is minuscule enough for the draining effect to be non-existent, or at least not felt.

Contraband?

As a city with notably tumultuous politics and powerful groups of assassins and smugglers, Sien has long banned the trade, possession and usage of shadowglass and shadowglass weaponry. Possession of shadowglass goods will land an individual in jail for a maximum of 5 years, being involved in the trade will see the convicted faced with either a life sentence or execution.
Despite Sien's best attempts to crack down on the metal within its borders the clandestine organisation known as The Clock  have been known to issue shadowglass weaponry to their best assassins, and rumours say that the Clock have been experimenting with the creation of shadowglass bullets.