Silver

Properties

Material Characteristics

A soft, white, lustrous metal. Silver does not corrode, but it is tarnished by contact with hydrogen sulfide, and develops a patina of silver sulfide - a yellow patina that turns black over time.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Silver resists rust and has anti-microbial properites. It is a a soft metal, easy to work into complex shapes, and alloys well with other readily-available metals such as gold, coppe, tin, and mercury.
Silver's combination of physical properties mean that it isuniversally used as an anti-decay agent - its mere presence is a deterrant against ghosts and other un-dead, and it can be enchanted but cannot carry a curse.

History & Usage

Everyday use

Silver has been mined and worked since antiquity, with artifacts dating from the Third Age, though some are speculated to be even older than that. Minted into coins and made into decorative amulets, the arcane properties of silver have made it a popular metal for jewellery.

Medical uses

Silver colloids are widely used as a wash to prevent infection, especially prior to surgery, but are beginning to be superceded by anti-biotics. Fine silver wire is routinely used as sutures and silver-infused fabrics are used to promote wound healing.
In Erwā, it has been used as a tool against therianthropy and other soul-afflictions since 5.15, as a killing blow struck with a weapon made of silver (or silver alloy) dispells the curse. Experimnents using silver as a prophylactic against soul-afflictions have met with mixed results, initilally due to quality control but later due to the social effects of the Mage War forcing many people to sell the silver.
In Iasteron it is the weapon of choice against evil spirits, the un-dead, and afflictions of the mind, and silver eyeglasses are believed to enable the wearer to 'see through' deceit.

Au

107.87

Type

Metal

Color

White

Boiling / Condensation Point

2162 °C

Melting / Freezing Point

961.78 °C

Density

10.503 g/cm

Common State

Solid