Dire White Oak

The mighty magical wood of the primordial forests, now endangered in the realms of the material

Mechanical Benefits

Dire White Oak is a rare and hard to acquire special material outside the lands of the Jugeum Union, as the Dire White Oak trees that produce it only grow in exceptionally cold climates - and even then, almost exclusively on the Isle of Myrkheim(As most other populations have been harvested into extinction elsewhere). Consult your GM to discuss its availability to your character.

HP/inch: 30
Hardness: 15; Dire White Oak can be used in the construction of any item normally made of wood or metal, including metallic weapons and armor. Dire White Oak is thus usable by druids and the like.
Special: Any item made out of Dire White Oak is immune to fire and cold damage - this applies only to the item and not any creature wielding, carrying, or wearing it. When used to construct structures or other objects, it is a watertight and airtight material as the wood naturally expands to seal any gaps in its makeup. When damaged, this unique trait grants any item made out of Dire White Oak Fast Healing 1 until any damage it suffers from is repaired and so long as the item is not destroyed - such items will repair the broken condition after 24hrs of not suffering damage.

For Armor: Armor made out of Dire White Oak is incredibly resilient, and confers this property upon its wearer - any creature who wears a suit of Dire White Oak armor gains a unique bonus to their Fortitude, Reflex or Will Saves(Chosen upon the item's creation, and cannot be changed): If the wearer succeeds on a saving throw of the chosen type against an attack, spell, or effect that normally deals half damage or has a reduced effect on a successful save, they instead take no damage or avoids the effect entirely. If the wearer already has an ability that gives them such a boon(Such as Evasion or Stalwart), they instead take half on failure and none on success. Additionally, once per minute as an immediate action, the wearer of a suit of Dire White Oak armor can force an attack that hits off their touch AC to hit off their normal AC instead - however, doing so disables the armor's saving throw boon for 1 round afterward.

For Weapons: Weapons made out of Dire White Oak give off faint, unobtrusive blue light when in the presence(Around 300ft) of evil outsiders. Additionally, because weapons made of dire oak are innately spiritual and exist on not only the material plane but all Coterminous Planes(Shadow, Ethereal), they strike incorporeal creatures as if they had the Ghost Touch Weapon Enhancement and ignore any defensive abilities that rely on being on the ethereal or shadow planes such as the Blink spell.

For Objects: In addition to the properties described above under "Special", rumors that circulate amongst the native tribes of Myrkheim persist that tell of a unique property that manifests only when a suitably large concentration of Dire White Oak is found in one place and on one object(Most commonly, the oldest and mightiest of Dire White Oak trees found in the wild) - such objects(Which also might include large pillars, massive mansions, or so on) exhibit a natural aura that blocks interplanar travel and extradimensional movement such as teleport and the like within a varying radius around the object in question, solidifying the barriers between the planes in the process. In smaller quantities(Such as quantities the size of adult trees), this property downgrades to a mild repulsion of evil entities such as bagbeasts, demons, vampires, and so on.

Weapons or armors fashioned from Dire White Oak are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.

Price

Ammunition: 50gp per missile
Weapons: 5,000 GP
Armor: 12,000 GP
Objects: Varies. Averages 1,000 GP / lb.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Despite the material's various unique properties, its physical characteristics are for the most part that of mundane wood - albeit more whitish-blue in external coloration than most other wood.
Its only other unique physical characteristic is its sheer, unrivaled size - White Oak can, as best as can be determined by modern scholars, grow without limits so long as it is properly supplied with what is believed to be its most important resource: magical energy. While it also requires more mundane things such as sunlight, water, and such, White Oak is unique in that so long as it has access to magical energy it can grow relatively unimpeded, spreading its roots into both the surrounding area physically and magically.

Physical & Chemical Properties

The most notable properties of Dire White Oak, aside from its natural frigidity and low temperature, is its extraordinary resilience - capable of shrugging off metallic blades, Ezdhûl Blackpowder Bombs and Blasts, and even siege weaponry such as ballista and trebuchets with little external or internal damage, Dire White Oak is unbelievably durable. However, its durability is not limited to the realms of the physical - thanks to its unique makeup that allows it to grow and feed off magical energy, Dire White Oak exhibits incredible resistance to magic in all forms; this property makes it incredibly prized by adventurers and warriors and spellcasters of all kinds, who relish its extraordinary protection to keep them safe in all dangerous walks of life.
These properties are believed to trace back to a unique facet of Dire White Oak's supernatural makeup - because it is believed to be rich in magical energy, Dire White Oak has a presence that extends onto all Planes of Existence that are Coterminous with the Material Plane such as Mensis(Also known as The Ethereal Plane) and Eventide(Also known as The Plane of Shadow) - because of this, certain items such as weapons made out of Dire White Oak develop odd properties such as being able to strike Incorporeal Creatures such as Ghosts, and inhibiting planar travel as the material spreads its "roots" across Planar Boundaries and serves as a natural anchoring force in the area.

Geology & Geography

Though modern scholars theorize that Dire White Oak trees which produce the material of the same name should exist in any suitably frigid locale with good access to magical energy, and likely did in the past, the truth remains that in the modern day populations of Dire White Oak trees are found almost exclusively on the Isle of Myrkheim, birthplace of the Jugeum Union. Here, the last known forests of these majestic, enormous trees stand protected by Union Law to prevent overharvesting and deforestation - and as a result the Dire White Oak Tree has become something of a symbol of the Union which has come to represent its people's Nationalism, Pride, and Solidarity.

Origin & Source

None know the exact origins of the Dire White Oak Tree - but popular rumor holds that those towering, enormous trees are the last living breed of primordial megaflora that stands on the material plane: a living window into the type of tree that may have once covered the entire planet of Ea during the time before the dawn of recorded history, before the Material Plane seperated from Iabora(Also known as The First World or the Feywild) and the Cosmos was divided into the Planescape it is today.
While unconfirmed, it has been upheld by much of the modern scientific community - and especially by planar travelers who claim to have seen a nearly identical breed of tree, deep within the primordial forests of Iabora...

History & Usage

Discovery

Though exact details of Dire White Oak's discovery are murky, it is believed to have been first discovered by the first settlers to the Isle of Myrkheim, who found the trees being worshipped by the native Giant Tribes and in their industriousness found their useful properties as they built their first fishing boats and sailing ships from the towering trees, which they then used to sail the vast ocean and explore the world...

Everyday use

In the modern day, usage of the material is strictly managed by the government of the Jugeum Union - who placed the entire breed onto the Endangered list to prevent the species from being overharvested into extinction. As such, the days of carving the enormous trees into warships and armies worth of weapons and armor have mostly passed - though it still sees frequent use in those fields albeit in smaller quantities.
Perhaps more popularly, however, is the material's new life in recent years in the furniture field - thanks in large part to the efforts of the now world-renowned Hælgi and Sons furniture company, centuries of hard work has given them(And the material as a whole) a reputation for being of the highest quality, the most masterfully hand-crafted, and the most artisanal items attainable on the market today. In the same vein, Hælgi and Sons and their dedication to their craft of Dire White Oak furniture has turned them into a household name for the most top-of-the-line, high-end furniture so expensive that only the richest of nobles, merchants, or mages could possibly hope to afford them.

Cultural Significance and Usage

Though the material retains some cultural significance to the Giant Tribes on the Isle of Myrkheim(home of the Jugeum Union) and in the Shenchuan Tundra as well as Hyeojiin Island, it has mostly fallen out of cultural significance elsewhere and even amongst some of the aforementioned tribes thanks to the rapidly waning natural populations of the Dire White Oak Trees which simply cannot sustain the old cultural practices they may have once been the basis of.

DWO

Type

Organic

Odor

As Wood

Taste

Cold and Wooden

Color

Bone-White with the Faintest hint of blue

Melting / Freezing Point

Doesn't Melt - carbonizes or evaporates at high temperatures instead. Impossible to freeze.

Common State

Solid