Adamantine

This odd metal is known for being used by the dwarves—primarily the shield and gold dwarves, though few are truly aware of where it comes from. It is an extremely hard, black metal that has a green glimmer when reflecting firelight or magical light created through divine magic. If it reflects magical light created by an arcane caster, it reflects purple-white instead.   The metal is extremely heavy compared to steel, but also exceptionally durable, nearly impossible to break with anything less than a weapon made from adamantine as well. The metal is ferromagnetic, thus being vulnerable to a rust monster's grasp.
Unprocessed adamantine, known as adamant metal or adamantine ore, is hard but brittle, not being suitable for use as a weapon or armor. It has a glossy black appearance and has the unique property that reflections seen in it glow with rainbow edges. Thus far, only the dwarves have ever found adamant ore, and they are exceptionally secretive about it. Unknown to others, adamant metal grows from crystals that create geodes with nuggets of the metal within them. These crystals are nearly as resilient as the metal itself, but when arcane magic is used near them, they shatter, destroying any adamant metal growing from them and taking centuries to regrow. Due to this, the dwarves keep arcane casters far from their mines—something often simply thought to be the dwarves not wanting non-dwarves in their mines—and plays a large part in why other races, particularly those who are able to scry for metals, have been unable to find it.
Once the adamant metal has been processed into adamantine, requiring a special blend of other metals to create the alloy, and has cooled, it cannot be deformed or bent by mundane means. Anything made from adamantine do not dull, chip with use, or rust over time.
Due to the odd properties of the adamant crystals, they are almost entirely unheard of in areas with many magic users or areas otherwise saturated with magic. These crystals can be shattered and re-seeded in other places as to grow the metal themselves—a practice that dwarves have taken to wholeheartedly—though this sets back the time until harvest several centuries. The crystals themselves can take upwards of four dwarven generations to grow, and each geode can take upwards of a decade to fully grow.
Processing the adamant metal into adamantine requires it to be alloyed with numerous different metals in very specific amounts and extremely high amounts of heat. The primary areas the metal is refined use lava flows to refine it. A group of deep dwarves had attempted to use the breath of a red dragon to refine it, but the magic of the beast's flames tainted the metal, creating what physically appeared to be adamantine, but lacked its odd light reflection and legendary durability. It became extremely brittle, as though it had not changed from the original adamant metal, and when struck it fell to pieces as though made of rust. Adamant metal forged without alloying it creates Adamantium, a metal with considerable durability still that keeps the rainbow reflections of the Adamant metal. Unfortunately, Adamantium does not hold up well, and is still affected by arcane magic in the same way adamant metal is.
The primary use of adamantine is in the construction of weapons, armor, and tools. Due to it being so heavy, it is used only by the stoutest and strongest of warriors, being very favored by the dwarves. Due to its rarity and difficulty of working, this metal is rarely worked by any but the most masterful of smiths—and almost always those of the dwarves who rarely sell the metal before crafting it into items.
Weapons made from adamantine are exceptionally hard and durable, and are able to smash solid objects with ease. The best adamantine arms and armor are as potent as magic weapons. Adamantine weapons are able to overcome certain creatures' resistances or immunity to normal steel weapons such as golems.
Adamantine armor is supremely resistant against damage, and virtually unbreakable. The dwarves of Elaris craft exceptional suits of full plate from adamantine, showing off their skill by shaping it into such impressive pieces. This armor is rarely sold to other races, as the dwarves greedily keep most of their adamantine to themselves, and they believe this stockpiling is the only way to keep themselves from being overwhelmed by other larger races. A non-dwarf wearing dwarven-make adamantine full plate marks them as a true friend of the dwarves, granting them passage in most dwarven lands regardless of race.
Many mages have attempted to create contructs from the metal, though it often does not work especially well with arcane magic, and only one case of success has ever been recorded. The resulting adamantine golem was a titanic beast with a body worth as much as a small kingdom. Upon the death of its creator, it seemed to gain sentience of a sort, thinking for itself. It grew to enjoy learning, though many people saw it as a grand threat—or a possible treasure trove—and sent armies to slay it. This drove the golem into developing a hatred for mortal beings, beginning to rampage. To this day, it still walks the lands, in many ways considered to be a force of nature as much as a living thing.
The metal is occasionally used for doors or even walls when extreme security is desired. The vault doors of many a dwarven citadel are forged from thick steel plated in adamantine, and often times the walls are made from the same.
Adamantine tools are some of the only ways to engrave anything into adamantine armor or weapons once it has cooled, being able to chisel into the metal and set designs—or more commonly clan emblems—into the metal.

History & Usage

Everyday use

Adamantine is primarily used for tools, weapons, and armor, particularly by the dwarves who guard the secrets of its creation very closely.

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Table of Contents

Type

Metal

Value

~1,000gp/pound

Color

Black with a green glimmer in firelight or divine magical light; reflects purple-white in arcane magical light

Boiling / Condensation Point

10652 F / 5900 C

Melting / Freezing Point

4136 F / 2280 C