Forge Spice

“You don’t breathe it, you endure it. You don’t forge with it, you fight it. But if it bends first, you’ve made something that will outlive gods.” -Thrain Emberveil, mage-smith of the Emberfall Forges

Forge Spice is a volatile, crystalline alchemical mineral mined from the volcanic arteries beneath Newforge’s deepest smelteries. It burns hotter than magma, breathes like a beast when exposed to air, and reacts violently with unprepared metals. Though impossible to eat or inhale without lethal consequence, it earned the name from the way it ignites forge fires with a scent like sulfur, pepper, and dried blood. When used properly, it enhances metals beyond mortal craftsmanship, infusing enchantments, increasing structural integrity, and even warding off corruption. Used improperly, it incinerates forges, melts bones, or worse, awakens something in the steel that never sleeps again.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Forge Spice appears as jagged, amber-orange crystals laced with flickering red veins, like veins of fire frozen mid-surge. Warm to the touch even when inert. When ground into powder, it hisses constantly, reacting to even minute shifts in heat or energy nearby.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Highly combustible in open air. Amplifies heat exponentially in proximity to flame. Conducts magick and alchemical currents with extreme volatility. Cannot be doused by water, liquid contact causes steam explosions. Toxic if inhaled or absorbed through skin.

Compounds

Used in the creation of:

• Flamebound Alloys - armor that resists or channels elemental fire

• Magicked Tools - items that hold enchantments longer and more stably

• Forge-Runes - runes activated by heat, inscribed with Forge Spice powder

• Soulsteel Catalysts - for binding magickal essence into metals during forging

Geology & Geography

Found only beneath Newforge, deep within the Ashen Pit, a refinery-mineshaft hybrid carved into unstable geothermal rock. Some deposits are rumored to pulse or glow of their own accord. Other sources claim minor veins exist near Hearthblood Hollow, but these are usually tainted or unusable.

Origin & Source

Forge Spice forms in pressure-sealed chambers where magma meets raw magick flow, usually at leyline intersections now sealed beneath rock. Believed to be the residue of creation energy, trapped and compressed beneath centuries of volcanic stone. Extraction is perilous, requiring magickal dampeners and blood-forged tools.

Life & Expiration

Stays stable for years in sealed containers, but decays quickly in open air. After exposure, begins hissing and glowing within minutes. Unstable within hours. Becomes inert slag after 3-5 days of mishandling, but even “dead” Spice can cause minor burns or boil nearby water.

History & Usage

History

Forge Spice reshaped the future of the Dwarfish people. After the Schism left most of their ancestral homes shattered, the surviving clans of Newforge discovered it beneath The Cloudrend Mountains. It allowed them to create weapons and defenses unlike any seen before, giving rise to the Emberfall Forges and the Ironclad Republic, a Dwarfish renaissance in a clay pot.

Discovery

First found by tunnel-scouts fleeing a collapsed mine. Several died within minutes of exposure. The survivors were left half-mad but returned with glowing ore that melted steel and burned through stone. Early uses burned dozens alive before the Spice’s power was understood.

Everyday use

Too dangerous for common use, and believed by many Dwarfish folk to be a lifeline to secure their independence from Everwealth. Reserved for elite smiths and restricted workshops. Some households keep slivers sealed in glass as family heirlooms or to prove blood-rights to forging guilds.

Cultural Significance and Usage

Among Dwarfs, Forge Spice is considered a sacred element. Smiths wear talismans forged in its presence. A blade made with Forge Spice is treated like a child or a name, never sold without ceremony. Some say the Republic is built more on Forge Spice than iron.

Industrial Use

Used exclusively in high-tier forging, rune-stamping, or enchantment embedding. A single grain can power a small forge for hours. In Emberfall, entire furnaces are built around its slow-burn method, feeding off controlled reactions. The Ashen Pit operates as a refinery, prison, and sacred ground simultaneously.

Refinement

Raw crystal is removed with null-tempered picks and stored in rune-locked coffers. Powdering it requires cold environments and bone tools. Refinement involves chilling, grinding, sealing in binding oils, and sometimes chanting rites to “appease” it.

Manufacturing & Products

• Enchanted Weaponry.

• Purpose-Runed Tools (Heat Resistance Runes).

• Living Steel Blades (rumored: swords that grow hotter the more they kill).

• Remarkably durable metallurgy.

Byproducts & Sideproducts

Grinding Forge Spice releases thick yellow-orange fumes that cause hallucinations, rashes, or combustion. Spent spice becomes ember-glass, a fragile, obsidian-like waste that sings when touched and sometimes shatters without cause.

Hazards

• Severe toxicity

• Lung damage upon inhalation

• Delirium

• Spontaneous combustion of clothing and oils

• Loss of magickal control among nearby casters

• In rare cases, exposure has driven smiths mad with “the Fire Chant,” erupting in a gibbering song about the 'fire speaking to them' while obsessively undertaking what, oddly enough, becomes a remarkably capable smithing crafts, witnesses reporting far better than any the victim had ever been said to be capable of making; Repeating this tune in their creative frenzy until they fall dead. These examples of their craftsmanship often quickly procured, out of respect of course, who wouldn't want their master crafts to be put to good use..? Right..?

Environmental Impact

Extraction destabilizes surrounding terrain. Exposure leaks heat and volatile magick into soil, leading to spontaneous flame sprouts, warped wildlife, or structural collapse. The Ashen Pit is slowly expanding due to Spice-thinned ground.

Reusability & Recycling

Can be reused if resealed quickly after exposure. Dead Spice may still hold residual thermal energy. Some forge-smiths claim even spent spice can “wake up” if placed near magma or ritual fire.

Distribution

Trade & Market

Extremely limited. Controlled entirely by the Ironclad Republic. Export forbidden except in officially sanctioned commissions. The Dwarfish Cartel moves small amounts via the Smuggler’s Causeway, selling it at prices exceeding Dwarfish gold. Fakes are common and dangerous.

Storage

Stored in heat-resistant, magick-dampened containers lined with bone ash. Sealed vaults include runic traps to prevent tampering. Even trace residue is cleaned with blessed salts and tongs of null-metal.

Law & Regulation

Highly restricted. Unauthorized possession leads to branding, exile, or death. Only Forge Guilds and licensed smiths are allowed access. Cartel trade is ruthlessly punished unless useful. Non-Dwarfs caught with it are presumed guilty unless protected by writ.

Fs

Value

Incredibly valuable to licensed smiths and warlords alike. A single vial can buy a masterwork weapon or a noble’s silence. Among Dwarfs, it is worth more than gold or favor.

Rarity

Extremely rare. Found only beneath Newforge in volatile volcanic seams. Strictly controlled by the Republic, most who mine it die, and most who steal it vanish.

Odor

Sulfur, scorched parchment, and blood with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Taste

Acrid, metallic, causes tongue blisters on contact

Color

Amber-orange with glowing crimson veins.

Boiling / Condensation Point

2,200°C

Melting / Freezing Point

900°C, but softens long before

Density

Medium-density, similar to rock salt.

Common State

Solid (crystal or powder), briefly becomes an energetic plasma under duress.