Post:Auction Material Design Contest: Winners - 12/07/2019 - 20:49
| Auction Material Design Contest: Winners · on 12/07/2019 20:49 | 660 |
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| We are pleased to announce that the following materials have been selected as winners of the Auction Material Design Contest. We will be contacting the winners in-game and/or via e-mail to deliver their non-transferable alteration vouchers along with usage guidelines.
It is our intention to release these materials in limited quantities, such as via auctions or other comparably exclusive avenues. The characters are listed below for the sole purpose of crediting the players who submitted the designs. ICly, these characters did not discover or create the materials and are not otherwise involved in the official lore. List of winning entries and the players who submitted them: Below is more detailed information about each material. While we consider this to be the preliminary staff-approved lore, we reserve the right to make changes to the lore or physical properties as needed.
Description: Inky black with a liquid-like appearance, asharsh'dai could almost be mistaken for an inkblot. This strange metal is incredibly dense. Other Information: Like kertig, this metal comes from the sky, though its source is unknown. It is speculated that this could be debris from the blackening of Katamba. The metal was first discovered deep below the surface by the Dwarves near Raven's Point. However, that supply of the metal was stolen by the Dragon Priests during their period of expansion. The Dragon Priests would go on to give the metal the only name it has been known by: asharsh'dai (or moonsteel in the Common tongue).
Description: Not truly a steel, but actually a unique metal with hues that range through the gamut of greys and blues, both dark and light. Regardless of the color, when light hits the metal, it invariably reflects a brilliant yellow. Dawnfire steel is known for its ability to hold a strong, keen edge even when forged into a very thin blade. Other Information: As the story goes, there was a young Prydaen shaman living at Sunfall Hub who was keen to devote himself to the gods. He isolated himself in a life of severe asceticism, spending most of his time in meditation and depriving himself of all but the smallest morsels of food. He immersed himself in the signs and symbols of Demrris, reveling in particular each day at dawn, appreciating the strength of the new light and the majesty of the changing sky. He emptied himself of worldly interests so that he might fill his spirit with that light. One night, exhausted, he passed out and had a vivid dream in which Demrris was silently in front of him. He followed the dark god through the night, eventually coming to a cliff-side facing east, where the nimble god disappeared over the edge. When he looked over, he saw Demrris sitting on a ledge far down the side, gazing out at the sky, his fur now shining in the palest light of the morning. The god briefly glanced up at the shaman. The shaman awoke into darkness but with the sense that he could follow the god's footsteps. He did so and managed to find a cliff very similar to his dream, climbing down to the ledge below. As he sat watching the sun rise, he glanced over to where the god had sat and noticed a small crevice opening into a cavern. Within the cavern, a vein of metal shone in one wall, reflecting the new sun's light a vibrant yellow. The people of Sunfall Hub now carefully harvest small quantities of the metal in honor of Demrris, forging blades that always carry with them the brilliant light of dawn.
Description: The most notable characteristic of hiromin is not how it looks, but rather how it feels. Hiromin is cold, preternaturally so. The metal is imbued during the forging process, emitting a chill proportional to the product's mass. A medallion forged from hiromin would have a slight briskness to it, while a dire mace would be bitingly frigid. On the surface, hiromin is a silvery white substance with the slightest hints of violet. These hues intensify toward the core which, with sufficient volume, glows a vibrant purple. This incandescence does not permeate the surface of the metal, requiring a craftsman to employ engraving and other techniques to breach the facade to draw out a dim luminance. The material may be smelted and reformed without losing its special properties. Once it has been "ignited," only a substantial reduction in size will dampen or extinguish the core. Hiromin is ill-suited to projects that don't have some heft. Dainty applications are considered wasteful, lacking to critical mass necessary to invoke its frozen heart. Restriction: Barring exceptionally dense pieces (which would likely be stationary, like a forge, architectural elements, or some industrial tool), hiromin will not glow unless the surface has been compromised in some way, exposing the core. Even when reworked, a "skin" (for lack of a better term) will form and obscure any light. History: Hiromin dates back to approximately 2700 BL, created by the Elves in the decades following the death of the Dwarven Mountain King. Perfected deep within the Dragon's Spine, the exact technique and elemental incantations used to create hiromin are unknown to outsiders, though the methodology likely escaped Elamiri with the exodus of the Bone Elves. What is known is that the process is highly ritualized.
Description: Occasionally, pieces of the stars that Phelim flung to the heavens will find their way back to Elanthia. When such a piece lands in the desert of Velaka, the bright white sands melt and mix with the material of the fallen star, creating a silvery-white metal with a glossy sheen, almost like obsidian. When held in the right light however, lighter and darker striations can be observed interleaving at perpendicular angles beneath its glassy surface. Velakan starsteel is light, strong, and holds a keen edge. It is somewhat hard and not very flexible. It would be quite suitable for light, sturdy weapons, such as a short sword or a spear head. It could also be used for armor, but most likely just for reinforcing vital areas, or even just in a decorative fashion. Otherwise, starsteel could be used for most applications where regular steel would be used. Other Information: The identity of the first person to discover starsteel is lost to history, but it was likely a Moon Mage, who observed an object fall ablaze to the desert and decided to investigate. Velakan starsteel is sometimes associated with Phelim, due to its origin from the stars.
Description: A slightly to moderately translucent stone best described as a mixture of icy and fiery hues, with an iridescent sheen across the surface. The predominant color is invariably a shade of milky white to palest blue, presenting with intermingled streaks of brilliant reds, oranges, and/or yellows throughout the pale gem. When the color is contained deeply enough within the stone, it luminesces from within, as if a fire were trapped deep beneath layers of ice. In this latter case, it is often cut in cabochon to best display the glow, which emits a faint light and is sometimes found to pulse or flicker. Extraordinarily rare and costly, this stone is found only at the highest elevations and in areas with a planar weakness to the Plane of Fire, which allows some rules from that plane to bleed into the Abiding. Other Information: The Kaldar first found this stone in the caverns of their most formidable Albarian mountain. It was said to be discovered by a warrior on her first quest to prove her worth -- for conquering a mountain climb in the bitter cold was a true test of strength in the face of Misiumos's power. She sheltered in an icy cave near the summit. When she lit her fire, saw that an entire wall of ice appeared to erupt in color, brilliant hues streaked across the surface as if veins of fire were snaking through the depths of the ice. She brought back a piece of the wall as proof of her journey, declaring that it proved the fire within her still burned in the face of adversity, and the stone became a symbol of inner strength, spirit, and force of will. Among several tribes who lived near the mountain, proving oneself always involved journeying alone to the peak to obtain a single stone, and they were always kept close afterward, sometimes carved or set into magnificent amulets. Often the carvings would be particular to the warrior and his or her personal tastes, but the more devout would sometimes include themes related to Misiumos and Merion, the goddesses of ice and fire, respectively. Later, some would convert to the Thirteen and replace these with Eluned and Hav'roth. Many saw the stone not only as a symbol of strength but also as capturing the idea of balance, the cycles of the seasons and of life. Although anyone could find such various meanings in the stone, and it is thus valuable to all Kaldar, it tends to have special significance for Barbarians and those elementalists who recognize its connection to fire, even interesting those who are not Kaldar. After the journey to Kermoria, the Kaldar were saddened at the loss of this piece of their culture. However, an intrepid Kaldaran Bard interested in the gem managed to acquire a piece brought from Albaria, and it's said she meditated over it for weeks. Although she never shared whether she learned anything from the practice, a few months later she returned from the Himineldar Shel with news that she'd found a source. After deep negotiations with the local Dwarves, the Kaldar obtained permission to mine the mountaintop, and they now have access again to a small quantity of the precious gem. Although the Dwarves did not give permission to quest to the location, the Kaldar will occasionally provide the gem to those they believe have proven their worth.
Description: Ixaemite, known in Gorbesh as sishav fisha or deathstone, is a pale, grey metamorphic stone with swirling bands of vibrant violet and crimson. Despite its hardness, it is considered ill-suited for weaponry and is instead prized for its magical capabilities. Other Information: Ixaemite was discovered inside the catacombs of the Albarian ruins of Ixaem, also known as the Luethran City of the Dead, by the Gnomish explorer, Osiuban the Dusty, during an archeological expedition. Despite the location where it was discovered, the stone did not receive its nickname as Death Stone because of the City of the Dead. Mishaps -- and even death -- often occur for those who possess the stone. Both Gorbesh and Kaldar are highly superstitious of ixaemite, believing it to be the melted bones of their ancestors, and that the colorful bands interlaced inside the stone are their trapped souls. Regardless of this, ixaemite is highly sought after by Gnomish enchanters, who find the material suitable for many of their inventions.
Description: The stone is oblong in shape, with smooth, barely visible edges. The stone has appears to devour nearby light like a small black hole. Shadows surround it in an almost flowing fashion. It has the appearance of extremely dark dry ice. It is also cold to the touch, regardless of ambient temperature. It was discovered during the raid on Maelshyve's lair, dropped by demonic creatures. It retains its Maelshyvean association.
Description: A hollow, vividly blue grass with motes of verdant green, haizeebo is a member of the bamboo family. Though extremely dense and durable, haizeebo is better known for its flexibility, making it a treasured resource for bows. Other Information: Found exclusively in the Gilen Otso Steppes, haizeebo is a rare species of bamboo. Its combination of dense durability, and remarkable flexibility makes it an exceptionally treasured resource for the archers of Horse Clan. Known for the ease it which it sways too and fro with the wind, Elves in the Steppes would often use the grass to keep track of weather during their hunts.
Description: Stormwood is any wood that results from a special process of directing lightning through the wood, which invariably produces a dendritic, fractal pattern in snaking black lines across the surface. The wood literally captures the shape of the lightning as it is burned through it. Light woods are usually preferred as the "base" in order to best show off the pattern, but any wood can be used, and sometimes particular ones are chosen in order to be better suited to weaponry or to marry the significance of the lightning with that of the base wood. Nomenclature: when the base wood is unspecified, it is called stormwood. When the base wood is specified, it is called stormtouched [base wood]. Other Information: Drogorian priestesses have developed a ritualized process of preparing wood to receive a strike of lightning. They wash the wood in seawater and affix it to a long metal stand engraved with images and inscriptions sacred to Drogor, then place this stand in high places best suited to receiving His storms. When one is struck, they consider it blessed by Him and offer it for use. Stormwood is most often used to create ship's figureheads, weapons, or small tokens of worship. It is a popular material used by pirates or other seafarers who wish to show off their allegiance and "partnership" with Drogor in order to scare off any opponents. Additionally, any traveler or worshiper of the Immortals might care for a piece to show honor and respect to Him, and some claim that possessing it wards off being struck by lightning. Some wielders choose to add inlay tracing the pattern of the lightning in order to add color, interest, or other special materials to the stormwood, and this is considered a respectful way to enhance the work of Drogor. However, the use of too much stormwood is considered disrespectful, thus the priestesses tend to make it only in limited quantities. As well, they look down upon elemental mages attempting to recreate the process themselves, considering only those pieces created by natural lightning to be true stormwood from Drogor Himself. Stormwood found as flotsam or driftwood is also considered bad luck, as it reveals that the bearer was tested by Drogor and found wanting.
GM Cordulia This message was originally posted in Events and Happenings in DragonRealms' Elanthia, General Discussions - Events in General (OOC). To discuss the above, follow the link below. | |
| This message was originally posted in Events and Happenings in DragonRealms' Elanthia/Game Master and Official Announcements, by DR-CORDULIA on the play.net forums. | |