The Blue Metal

The Blue Metal is a book of magic attributed to the pseudo-historical thaumaturge Morogyad. Part of the Esoterica of Morogyad, specifically the "Oluz canon," written in Oluzpek, evidently when the wizard was in semi-retirement in the north, the book deals with metallurgy as a thaumaturgical exercise. Its authorship has been disputed by some post-Wesmodian scholars.

Contents

In contrast to the highly poetic, discursive books of the "Tyros canon" - generally accepted as being products of an earlier stage in Morogyad's career - The Blue Metal is a fairly concise book which deals with its subject matter in a rather bald, businesslike manner. It opens with a philosophical discussion of the Blue Metal as an ennobled and magical material said to bring good fortune to its maker and possessor simply because of their association with a substance that represents an enrichment of the universe by human artistry. Oluzian smiths have adopted this as something of a mission statement for their profession as a whole, but Morogyad himself seems to draw a fairly strict distinction between the blue metal and other substances of its type.
Thereafter Morogyad gives a long, involved chapter discussing the qualities and properties of the blue metal. He describes it as being the colour of a clear summer sky, and to actually darken in colour, rather than lightening or turning red, when heated or melted. It is as hard as steel, remarkably ductile, and of sufficient density to be used for purposes requiring solidity - such as hammers or adzes - without becoming overly heavy. It can also take and hold alarmingly sharp edges and be cut and polished to achieve remarkable spangling effects. Overall the metal appears to be something of a perfect material, having all the properties one could desire from any given metal without any evident drawbacks.
Morogyad goes on to devote four fairly short, focused chapters to the formulation of four different fluxes that are, he implies, to be used in the multiple-stage process of creating the blue metal. The first of these is a powder said to be applied to base metal in three different consistencies - first coarse as sand, then less so, then extremely fine - to purify the basic ingredient. Gold dust, sea salt and other ingredients make up this flux. The second is a very precious liquid, based on tears shed out of joy, which is applied during a lengthy phase in the metal's formulation when it must be allowed to cool, yet remain liquid. The third flux is another liquid, apparently created by the careful smelting of mercury, which is applied when smelting the metal out of its constituent ingredients. Finally the fourth flux is a resinous gel formulated from sea foam, ambergris, and the contents of the swim bladders of several specific species of fish, which is applied to the metal to give it its distinctive colour and complete the process of its creation.
Morogyad provides no comprehensive instructions for how to apply these fluxes, or indeed what to apply them to, leaving any metallurgist interested in the blue metal to do considerable experimentation. He also makes frequent references to the "appropriate gestures" to be made at various points in the production process without giving specific information about what those might be.

Commentary

It is generally believed that The Blue Trident Morogyad manufactured in the later stages of his career was made of the blue metal. Typhan of Ramoros says as much in his book History of Morogyad, in which he gives a lengthy (though not necessarily accurate) account of the manufacture of the trident. It is also speculated that some of the Morogyad pieces are made of this metal, though which ones are anybody's guess; the pieces' capacity to change colour in the light makes it hard to simply point to the blue ones.
Morogyad's frequent discussions of the "appropriate gestures" required for the creation of the metal strongly suggests that the key to the process can be found in one of his books about the magic of gestures, Phardys Horodyas Karanrad or Horod pal Terenys. Of particular interest is the Morogyad's association of two of the fingers of the left hand with the solid state of matter and the concept of transmutation. In theory one should be able to perform gestures with this finger and, by so doing, effect the transmutation of metals. There is a lot of scope for experimentation here, but with both books on the subject being as abstruse as they are, a specific methodology has yet to be published by anybody. This does not mean, of course, that nobody has actually succeeded.
Another book from the Tyros canon, Zarph Mograyn, discusses three different blue metals. There are possible explanations for Morogyad narrowing his focus to just one such substance later in his career., all of which are problematic This book may deal with only one of the three metals discussed in the earlier volume, though in that case it is odd that Morogyad does not identify which. Another possibility is that he is dealing with the metals in general in this book, though he does not say this or indeed acknowledge his earlier work in the field at all. Finally there is the long-standing, if slightly far-fetched, suggestion that the Oluz canon is not the work of Morogyad at all but a different author whose ideas display considerable convergent evolution with his. None of these ideas invalidate the idea that Zarph Mograyn may be constructive cross-referenced with this volume, though whether the additional expansion of the list of variables in formulating this supposedly wondrous material is a blessing or a curse is for individual researchers to decide.

Availability

Copies of The Blue Metal circulate freely enough in Oluz; the book is expensive, rather than difficult, to obtain. The straightforward composition also lends itself to translation, though it is widely agreed that the book loses something in translation and is best studied in its original Oluzpek.