Silver

In the new dark age, silver is no mere transition metal from the wall of a science classroom. Within the supernatural world silver is a substance of great power, and it is both coveted and feared. It is exceedingly toxic to most supernatural creatures of human origin, including vampires, shapechangers, anthropomorphs, and the possessed, though notably not to morloks. Silver disrupts the flow of magic, causing wizards to lose much of their power while it touches their skin. Interestingly, silver will burn both angels and demons in their true forms. Only the fey and elementals seem immune to the debilitating effects of silver, though even their magic can be hampered by it when applied creatively.

Silver is also known to be a key component in medicines used to combat supernatural diseases and infections. Silver nitrate applied swiftly enough to the wound from a vampire or anthropomorph bite can counteract the infectious effects of their respective conditions, though if applied too long after the initial exposure it could just as easily kill the nascent vampire or anthropomorph.

There are stories of certain psychics who use silver embedded into their flesh and rarely bones in order to reinforce their own bodily mastery and channeling of energies. There is no clear evidence that this has any real, direct effect on psychic ability, but given the unique nature of psychic power and human thought it is plausible that even simply believing the silver is effective causes a tangible change in that psychic's abilities. This is not however considered a normal practice and the Council of Magi has not recorded any specific information relating to such actually having been performed.

All of these traits are intentionally hidden from the human world so as to prevent the vastly greater population of mortals from hoarding all silver. Nevertheless mortal humans seem drawn to silver as strongly as the are gold and gems. Many believe that recent shifts in popularity toward alternative metals such as gold, platinum, and tungsten are all due to supernatural market manipulations in order to protect the world's remaining silver from what most supernaturals would call frivilous waste.