Darkwood
For the Twelve's sake, don't underestimate those swords. They look like wood, they move like wood - they're not just wood. If it didn't look so silly I'd want some of that to make armor.Orginally cultivated by the elves, darkwood is a magically-enhanced material which can be hardened like iron. It does not necessarily come from a special tree, but it is derived from any viable hardwood and intense concentrations of primal magic. The result is a wood which becomes hardened and durable, capable of holding an edge and resistant to most things which cause wood to degrade. The process adds some weight to the end product, though not enough to make it as heavy as iron or steel. Such as it is, darkwood is the materials of choice for those in tune with primal magic.
History & Usage
History
When the elves first began to develop their culture into an empire, they turned to their innate understanding and connection to primal magical forces to help acquire an edge against rivals and enemies. Being able to work steel with naught but magic was fine, and produced exceptional results, but wood was far more plentiful. It is nigh impossible to discover exactly how the process was discovered, as the elves do not discuss it with outsiders. Even inside their culture, it is shrouded in many layers of myth and revised history. However, darkwood became a much easier way to arm large groups of elf warriors or to provide weapons for the common folk to rely on for self-defense. In the final decades of the elves' empire, elven steel was used primarily by elite warriors and ringed with powerful enchantments far more often than it was used by "lower-class" individuals. Luckily, darkwood proved itself quite an alternative - it would also accept enchantment and enhancement quite readily despite already being heavily imbued with such energies.
As the empire broke apart, elves scattered across Erisdaire and several of the refugee groups took with them the means and knowledge to make their own darkwood. From these groups, the use of darkwood continued into the time of the ascendant Rhyliss Empire. Priests and druids serving the Green Mother bargained with elves, trading some unknown boons in order to secure the knowledge of how to craft darkwood themselves. Despite this knowledge, the application of the rituals hinge on divine sources of magic instead of the primal underlying energies which elves tap readily.
As the empire broke apart, elves scattered across Erisdaire and several of the refugee groups took with them the means and knowledge to make their own darkwood. From these groups, the use of darkwood continued into the time of the ascendant Rhyliss Empire. Priests and druids serving the Green Mother bargained with elves, trading some unknown boons in order to secure the knowledge of how to craft darkwood themselves. Despite this knowledge, the application of the rituals hinge on divine sources of magic instead of the primal underlying energies which elves tap readily.
Cultural Significance and Usage
The rites to create darkwood used to be known only to elves within a region of Erisdaire, only for those who left to continue the tradition elsewhere and spread its existence. To many of the elven families which carried the rites and traditions, this was an anchor to where they had come from and what it meant to be an elf when measured against what humans or other races were doing with their own portions of the world. The settlements which kept these traditions held them firmly to themselves, using darkwood for more ceremonial weapons and implements or to arm their elite warriors. The high houses of elvenkind, residing in realms subtly distinct from Erisdaire, have taken to using it as an aesthetic alternative to elven steel, or as decorative accents in their homes.
Humans who embrace the druidic lifestyle, and worship the Green Mother, have acquired rites which produce very similar material to darkwood. The distinction is less in appearance or measurable properties, and more in the innate 'feel' of these objects. The source of magic used for the rites is divine in nature instead of primal, which carries a host of implications and limitations of no small importance. Those devoted to the Green Mother have been known to arm themselves with weapons of darkwood, or fashion plated armor which is lower-profile than a steel cuirass; these are vastly preferred to steel, in most cases. Most divine foci to channel energies from the Green Mother are crafted from darkwood, instead of metal.
Humans who embrace the druidic lifestyle, and worship the Green Mother, have acquired rites which produce very similar material to darkwood. The distinction is less in appearance or measurable properties, and more in the innate 'feel' of these objects. The source of magic used for the rites is divine in nature instead of primal, which carries a host of implications and limitations of no small importance. Those devoted to the Green Mother have been known to arm themselves with weapons of darkwood, or fashion plated armor which is lower-profile than a steel cuirass; these are vastly preferred to steel, in most cases. Most divine foci to channel energies from the Green Mother are crafted from darkwood, instead of metal.
Type
Wood
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