Mithril
Interestingly enough a specific guards were created to protect supplies, aptly named Mithril Guard.
Properties
Material Characteristics
Mithril appears in lodes much like iron and silver. It is chunky with stone. In its unrefined state, the globs of mithril shimmer like large effervescent pearls.
Physical & Chemical Properties
Surprisingly cold to the touch. Not to the extent of special handling, but carrying unrefined mithril around all day in bare hands will cause slight frostbite. It is surprisingly light as well compared to ore of similar sizes.
Compounds
When added to anything else mithril loses its properties of lightness and durability. As such, no known alloys of it exist.
Geology & Geography
The dwarves of Brin Balo are exceptionally blessed by Moradin. It is exclusively under those mountains and those dwarves chief export.
Origin & Source
The mithril veins run through the mountains and were first called Moradin's tears after his children lost so much of their homes to orcs and fiends and drow. Some dwarf population towards the north of Brin Balo found it and Moradin is said to have visited him in a dream and showed him how to forge with it and its uses.
History & Usage
History
First found by dwarves in the northern mountains of Brin Balo, the metal remained a closely guarded secret until the Third Era when the reclusive dwarves needed trade for food.[br[
The half-elves of Lochish, master traders, seized the opportunity to make great deals, selling the mithril chainmail to the warring humans in Evoria and the port city Iron Quay. Here, the ships traveled carrying the goods to other locations, who tried to find the ore but never could. The dwarves of Catholonika envy the Brin Balo dwarves for having access to such a priceless material.
Everyday use
No common usage outside of fighting usage.
Cultural Significance and Usage
Mithril became synonymous to Brin Balo and the dwarves there carry that associate close to their proud hearts.
Refinement
It requires a blast furnace to heat up the mithril to several thousand degrees. The molten rock is scraped away, leaving the brightly shining mithril in the pools.
Manufacturing & Products
The mithril, while still melted, shifts immediately to its molds. The main product is chainmail, though some other armor pieces use mithril.
Hazards
Due to the high temperatures, the sturdiest of dwarves are required to smith and pull the levers. Even with several feet of iron between them and the furnaces, the heat causes the air to rise to a sweltering 120 degrees. Interestingly, mithril is a great coolant, and absorbs heat, so the smiths wear mithril gloves, and first time smiths must create and earn their own.
Distribution
Trade & Market
There is no such thing as a "mithril merchant" because such a person would need an army of guards, and even then pay goes only so far before treachery squirms inside. As such, almost all dwarven merchants carry some mithril with them to sell. A few even have a chainmail shirt underneath their clothing.
The prices are exorbitant. Most merchants only carry the special orders received from years backlog. The prices mithril fetch on the blackmarket is enough to feed an entire thieves' guild for almost a year.
Law & Regulation
Mil Bazon and other cities that have mithril deposits mandate mithril must be orderly mined and there can no no excess of a certain amount pulled each day. This is to ensure the longevity of the ore's payout. No mine or mining guild may mine more than 20 pound of mithril a day. No smith or smithing guild may make more than 5 pounds of mithril in total per day.
Type
Metal
Value
Retail: 2,000 – 5,000 gp per pound; Blackmarket: 1,000 – 1,750 per pound
Rarity
Rare
Color
Silvery, effervescent
Melting / Freezing Point
Melts at a higher temperature than iron, but cools quicker
Common State
Always found in solid form as the liquid form is too hot to be harvested successfully.
Related Locations
Related Species
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