The Gift of Bronze

Long ago, mortals on Theros fought and hunted using weapons made of stone and wood. According to legend, it was a satyr smith named Tecton who discovered how to refine copper ore and work it into tools and weapons. Purphoros, delighted, saw this as the mortals’ first tentative steps toward true craft. Some smiths, hastily copying Tecton’s methods, devised a way to blend copper and arsenic into a crude form of bronze, but the forging method was dangerous and often yielded defective results. To reward the smith who took the first steps, Purphoros appeared to Tecton and granted the satyr the secret of smelting copper and tin into true bronze. The manufacture and use of bronze weapons spread across Theros, launching an age in which heroes conquered the wilds and founded great civilizations. Bronze is still the most used metal on Theros—and will remain so, at least until Purphoros decides that more than a few are ready for the secret of iron.