orinth

Orinth is the name given to the metal most ancient relics are made from. It is a green-tinged metal with numerous incredible properties, such as great strength, hardness, and sharpness. The method of creating the metal has been lost and not rediscovered, despite a great amount of study. The metal cannot even properly be reforged; while relics have been melted down to create bars of orinth, the process invariably reduces its structural integrity. A few rare useful objects have been forged from it thanks to dwarf strange moods.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Properly treated orinth is very strong, hard, and sharp. No known metal can cut it or break it, while it can cut through virtually any other material. Only adamantine is known to be strong enough to resist orinth weaponry. It is somewhat lighter than steel as well, making it extremely sought after for armor applications. Despite its many other properties, orinth can be melted with the same difficulty as iron. The metal is somewhat unique in its coloration. It is a shiny, metallic chartreuse color.
Melted down orinth is incredibly brittle and has a consistency roughly equivalent to candle wax. It can easily be cut through and crumbles under too much pressure. It can be shaped into decorative objects, such as rings or artwork, though aside from coloration, they have no special properties.

Origin & Source

Orinth is only found in the form of relics. These relics can be anything from highly useful devices to mere scrap. Discovery of these relics is highly scattershot. At times, a single relic can be found on its own, other times entire fields of relics may be excavated by archaeologists. The relics in themselves can be incredibly valuable, meaning a great number are kept safe and used as is. However, less useful items, such as old frames, furniture, or mere scrap, may be melted down into bars.

History & Usage

Reusability & Recycling

There have been numerous attempts over the millennia to reforge orinth into something more useful. However, the process of melting orinth down alters some fundamental properties of it, turning it incredibly brittle as a result. Orinth that has been melted down is much like hard wax and is thus useless for anything beyond aesthetic applications. Numerous tests have been run on orinth during the process of melting it down, but none have yet discovered a method to avoid this. Cold forging of orinth is simply not possible due to its hardness.
However, dwarves who are in a strange mood have been known to restore the original properties of orinth. The method used to achieve this has yet to be properly observed, as dwarves who select orinth immediately become far more secretive than normal. Even in rare cases when work on their object has been observed, no particular techniques appear to present themselves. Afterward, the dwarf will have no knowledge about what they did to turn the orinth usable; even under magical compulsion, they are unable to remember or reveal it.

Type

Metal

Color

Chartreuse