Gillcrust

Salt to the wounds, Salt to protect from wounds.

"We just found these from the shore, cap'n. Whatcha reckon' they've on them?"
"Strange sharkfolk, who knows. Wearin' stone like it was freakin' armor."
"But cap'n... If they wear stone, won't they just sink below water?" ~Murmurs over the corpse of an Umanti.

No mines below the waves

Secretive are the lives that are spent beneath the waters surface. Only fragments of proof of possible underwater cultures ever come ashore and the differences between the umanti, the sahuagin and the merfolk are barely understood. One thing certain archaeologists have been able to gather from the rare carcasses is that underwater, metal is a rarity and often salvaged from sunken ships. However, in place of metal when considering armor there is the Gillcrust.

Gillcrust forms on the lower boddy of the colossal Hiding Whale. A whale that has received its name from often having its body covered in large slabs of stone and seaweed. As these whales sleep above waters surface on moonlit nights, they are often mistaken as small islands only to have entire crews taken away from their ships as the island slowly drifts overnight... and they are the lucky ones, who won't drown as the island decides to dive deep below the depths.

Heavy-duty protection

Gillcrust is scraped from the bellies of the Hiding Whales and formed through unknown means into pieces of armor. Some folk, like the umanti, seem to use the slates of salty gillcrust by just tying up the slabs together with strong fibers of seaweed to protect the most vital parts of their body. The savage sahuagin rarely use any armor, and unless an armor they scavange from the carcass of their enemies is a perfect match they will likely discard it. The merfolk however have some mystical, honed ways of molding and shaping Gillcrust to form beautiful and elegant armorpieces.

Type

Ore/Mineral

Odor

Seawater

Taste

Salty, Iron-y

Color

Pale grey