Quicksilver

"Mind the canister, boy. Spill the quicksilver and you may as well spill our lives out onto the ground as well, for where we go, it should be as so precious."
Albion - Werewolf hunter

Properties

Material Characteristics

Quicksilver is a magical metal that is liquid at normal temperatures. It can be made solid only by magical means, and vapoised only by the most extreme of heat, such as that of magma. It is bright and shines like the purest silver and forms a multifaceted star when charged with plasma.

Physical & Chemical Properties

The true extent of quicksilver's properties are yet being discovered, but the several that are known, make it one of the most valuable metals in the world.
A component in many magical artifacts, combined with its ability to store large amounts of plasma and lightning make it extremely useful, given that with the right equipment and knowledge, one can make the substance stable.
Of course, the most useful of all properties would have to be its ability to destroy not only the lycanthropes of the world, but to seriously harm and destroy many of the undead as well. To this end it had been placed in glass bottles to be used as destructibles to cause splash damage, much like holy water, or as an alloy with silver to create weapons such as arrows, blades, hammers and maces. Some inventive blacksmiths have also created quicksilver chains from the same alloy, providing binding methods against the changelings of the silver moon which seems to have had the effect of returning them to their original form, albeit for the duration of how long the chain is is place. To the greater undead, such as vampires, quicksilver seems to burn them when in contact with the skin.

Compounds

To date, quicksilver may only be bound with silver to become a stable alloy, as it seems to reject all other metal bondings.

Geology & Geography

Quicksilver is derived from Cinnabar ore, and once melted down, retains its liquid state.

Odor

Quicksliver has no odour.

Taste

Quicksilver may be deadly to Lycanthropes and the Undead, but it is aslo deadly to all that would ingest even the smallest dose.

Color

Reflective silver