Centurion Steel
Centurion smiths and natural philosophers have made many important discoveries in the area of metallurgy making them centuries ahead of the rest of the world. Steel is made by smelting iron from iron ore and then adding carbon to it, usually in the form of charcoal. Most of the world cannot get iron hot enough to turn it completely into a liquid, they get it very soft, like chewing gum, but not actually into liquid form. Because of this, it is impossible to completely remove all the impurities and inclusions within the iron and to thoroughly mix carbon all the way through it. Centurions have discovered smelting methods that allow them to smelt iron at very high temperatures and turn it into a liquid which produces a very pure iron and allows for a complete mixing of carbon all the way through the metal. Centurions have also discovered some rare metals in some of their mines in East Francia that can be added into their steel during the smelting process to produce exceptional steels. Centurion Steel is one of the most closely held secrets of the Order and part of their cultural identity. It also gives them a clear technological edge that makes them formidable warriors despite their relatively small numbers.
Mollis: mollis refers to “soft” steel. Low-quality iron with many impurities and inclusions and a low carbon content would be considered mollis by Centurion smiths. This is the standard steel used for weapons and armor by the rest of the world. The Centurions will sometimes produce mollis while training new smiths because it is easy to make and easy to work with. They use it for pots, flatware, and farming implements.
Durum: durum refers to “hard” steel and is the standard steel used by Centurions for most weapons and armor. It is a very high quality, high carbon steel that is much stronger and harder than mollis. A few Ulfberht swords made during this time used a very high-quality crucible steel (probably produced in India) that was close to durum steel in quality. Most Ulfberht swords did not use this steel and this crucible steel was not generally available in Europe (or most of the rest of the world outside of India, for that matter).
Altum: altum refers to the “high” steel. This is the legendary Centurion Steel that most outsiders are referring to when they speak of Centurion steel. It is durum with small amounts of tungsten and vanadium added. The addition of tungsten and vanadium into the steel alloy makes it even stronger and harder. It is resistant to corrosion and will hold an edge like no other metal on earth. The tungsten makes the steel denser but also stronger so the blades can be forged thinner to compensate for the slight increase in weight. Making the blades thinner also makes them better at cutting. Adding tungsten and vanadium increases the cost and makes the metal much harder to work so altum is used sparingly in Centurion castles. Swords, some select weapons, and Mail and Plate armor for elite knights and shieldmaidens are its primary uses.
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Utility
It is used for certain classes of weapons and for elite armors.
Manufacturing
Iron is heated into liquid form through the use of coke as a fuel source, impurities are scooped off the top until the iron is very pure. Powdered carbon is added to very pure iron until carbon makes up about 1.5% of the mixture by weight. Altum still also contains 1% Tungsten and 0.5% Vanadium by weight. After forging the weapons are tempered to reduce their brittleness. Forging requires working them at very high temperatures and using altum steel tools.
Access & Availability
The knowledge to create Durum and Altum steels are a closely guarded secret. Smiths do not even know what other metals are added to make the Altum steel (Tungsten and Vanadium). They are provided these in a powdered form and told what proportions to mix them into the liquid iron.
Complexity
Extremely complex for the time period since just heating the iron up enough to turn it into a liquid is a military secret.
Discovery
Progressive discovery over several decades of different aspects of the steel making process. The PRIMARY reason for this advanced development was that most non-Centurion smiths did not share their knowledge widely so there were very small pockets here and there of high quality steel production by master smiths who passed on their secrets only to family and closely trusted apprentices. The Order made it a priority for the sharing of knowledge across the entire order so that master smiths from across Europe were sharing their secrets (WITHIN the Order) and technology advanced at a tremendous pace. When the Order's natural philosophers made discoveries in metallurgy (especially the discovery of some interesting metal ores in Centurion mines near Salzburg) this was added to the Order's mastery of metallurgy. The result is that the Order of the Centurion is now about 500 years ahead of anyone else in Europe and 200-300 years ahead of anyone else in the world.
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