Moonsilver

Properties

Material Characteristics

Moonsilver is a luminous metal that glows with an inner light that is comparable to the light of the moon. Looking beyond the glow, the actual metal that makes up raw moonsilver looks like a white mineral, reminescent of silver, while alloys of moonsilver typically take on the properties of the compound metal. Moonsilver is ultimately best identified by it's innate glow.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Raw moonsilver is almost entirely intangible, and will pass through most physical objects with only the barest hint of resistance, almost as if they weren't even there. However, it seems incapable of passing through any sufficiently solid surface, and will come to a rest against solid ground or a block of about 30cm of solid iron—more or less, depending on the size of the moonsilver chunk.
Natural forces seem to have a greatly reduced effect on moonsilver—a tempest-level storm or a torrential rush of water will barely even rock it out of place, and heat has less effect upon it than it should have—though a truly exceptional temperature will melt it, at which point it temporarily loses it's properties and can then be solidified into a more practical alloy.
More curiously, moonsilver seems to be able to affect both souls and Fire, to some capacity. The exact nature of this interaction is unknown, but it is clear that moonsilver has several practical applications when dealing with such forces.

Compounds

As raw moonsilver is inherently unwieldy to deal with—being practically intangible—it is all but necessary to create a moonsilver alloy, which will then retain a portion of the moonsilver's properties and thus becoming tangible enough to put to practical use. Contrary to the popular name, raw moonsilver has nothing to do with actual silver, and alloys made of moonsilver do not necessarily contain silver—although moonsilver and silver alloy is common in jewelry
Depending on what the intent for the desired moonsilver item may be, several alloys may be used to create the item. For instance, a warrior may wish for an intangible moonsilver sword, with a blade made up of nine parts moonsilver and one part steel. In order to wield such a blade, it would have to attach to an alloy with a larger measure of steel (or other metal), which would in turn be attached to another piece with progressively less moonsilver in it, which might then attach to the handle. This is also how one commonly handles and retrieves raw moonsilver—with a special pair of moonsilver alloy pliers, or likewise.
Due to the high melting point of moonsilver and the relative scarcity of the metal, melting it into an alloy can be quite the challenge. The smith's forge must be heated nearly to the limit of what is achievable in order to melt the moonsilver, and usually a hardener alloy must be created in order to lower the melting point of the moonsilver to make it easier to deal with. This hardener alloy can then be used in different proportions in order to create the various alloys necessary to create the desired item.

Geology & Geography

Moonsilver is commonly found in desolate, remote places where little to no life can be found.

History & Usage

Everyday use

Reports indicate that weapons made of moonsilver can be used to inflict harm upon a person's soul, to temporary or permanent detriment. The shape and weight of the moonsilver weapon, as well as the way in which it is wielded seems to have a bearing upon the effect it has on the unfortunate individual, with a blunt chunk of moonsilver able to send a person into a stumbling haze of delirium for a short time, almost as if they had been dealt a blow to the head—and yet, the weapon harmlessly passes through the target's body, seemingly without any lasting physical harm. Slashes from an edged moonsilver weapon have less of an immediately obvious effect, but may nonetheless leave the person the lesser for it for a lenghty period of time, as if part of their soul had been cut off or wounded—though they seem to recover from it if the damage done was not too severe. However, repeated slashes are known to permanently reduce a person to a soulless husk, still alive and capable of thinking and even carrying on short conversations, but left without any sense of drive or motivation to perform more than basic rudimentary actions such as eating and sleeping—presumably, enough attacks will shatter the person's soul permanently, with no hope of recovery.
A more commonly popular use for moonsilver is as a ward against Fire. Moonsilver is believed to absorb stray Fire while leaving the wearer untouched, and so makes for a popular choice of jewelry amongst the extremely wealthy—if not to ward away Fire, then for the natural beauty of the material. While wearers of such charms seem less likely to develop into wilders, they are not immune, either.
For similar reasons, some cultures use moonsilver as part of death ceremonies, where the sick, elderly, or dying are brought to an early death while a chunk of moonsilver sits nearby. This is done to prevent the dying person to afflict their surviving relatives with Fire, inadvertently turning one death into further tragedy. As the alternative way of avoiding such complications is to leave the dying person alone in the middle of a forest or suchlike, hastening their death in a 'safe' environment is seen as the greater kindness by some cultures—though such is by no means universal, and the specific details of how disparate cultures perform such last rites can vary greatly. Even so, moonsilver is rare and expensive, and even if such a group of people have access to a token of moonsilver, it is more likely than not a watered-down alloy that will have less of an effect than the pure stuff.

Type

Metal

Value

Costly

Rarity

Scarce

Melting / Freezing Point

1835°

Common State

Solid