Extalt
I swung again, the wall finally breaking inward into the chamber beyond under my pickaxe. Dim blue light reflected back at us and across the chamber beyond from our torches. "You see?" I said breathlessly, taking in the sight of the blue crystals growing on the walls. "I told you I could tunnel us in."
"Aye, I'm sorry for doubting you," my partner said from behind me. A sudden pain in my back had me falling to the ground in agony. Screaming, I fumbled at the knife in my back.
"I'm sorry about this, too," he said, stepping over me into the chamber, "but splitting the take means we're each well-off for half our lives; I'd rather be done after this."
As darkness began to creep into my vision, I gained a small amount of spiteful satisfaction from the sound of the magical alarms warding the chamber rising around me. I hadn't told him how to disable them, or that they even existed. He could explain to the Thaniri rushing here now how he tunneled into the mines on his own.
Extalt is the most critical material in the process of forming the legendary alloy adamantine. As such, it is a highly-valued resource by those organizations who can get their hands on a reliable supply, allowing them to bargain with governments for wealth on the level of international trade goods. At the moment, the most famous and longest-running deposit of the crystalline material is in the mines of Lok'Thanor.
Properties
Material Characteristics
In its raw form, extalt appears as a blue crystalline material.
Physical & Chemical Properties
On its own, extalt is a brittle, weak material. Easily shattered, it is ineffective in weapons and arms production beyond the manufacture of crude arrowheads.
Geology & Geography
The single largest known deposit of extalt lies under the mines of the city Lok'Thanor; other finds so far have been quickly-depleted, offering up perhaps ten pounds at a time of material; enough for the catalyzation of perhaps a single weapon's worth of adamantine.
Origin & Source
What prompts extalt to form and grow is unknown for certain... although dwarves who know about the material are evasive and tight-lipped on the subject, leading some to suggest there may be methods by which one could encourage its production. In its raw form, it grows as a blue crystal.
Related Locations
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