METAL: Mythrall

Mythrall is the metal of legends. It is crucial to make the family of iron alloys called adamantiums. It is half the density and weight of iron, yet is hard as, and holds an edge as well, as well-forged steel. It is a powerful medium for magic. It is said a king whose crown is pure mythrall will lead his people well and not lead them to be heavy in heart. Mythrall can be found in many legendary articles of magic.
Mythrall is a natural element of the world, although one of the more spectacular ones. It is a silver metal that can be polished to a reflective shine. Mythrall does not oxidize and is fairly inert, making it maintenance-free. It is harder than steel but not as hard as adamantium. It requires a forge design that runs hotter than needed for iron.
It is found in a complex iron ore containing sulfur, chlorides, chromium, and titanium. It is called mythridrakonite, as it is found in the rocks around red dragon lairs. Extracting metals from ore is always a multistep and complex process, but this ore is far more difficult. Like most ore extractions, it produces some poisonous gases and waste. Mythrall has six stages it is processed through. Any knowledge about this process is highly guarded. Most will never meet a smelter who knows how to do this. Those that do are prized amongst kings. In the great dwarvish smelters, teams are taught only a single stage of the process, never knowing the sequence or any of the other four. Additives to the ore are mixed by masters and they are not told the components. This allowed massive dwarvish mines to smelt enormous amounts of mythrall.
After the fifth stage, the last impure metals are undetectably different from mythrall. It functions and is worked as expected for mythrall.  Wyrmfallen, or False Mythrall, does not oxidize with air or water and is relatively inert. However, it carries an impurity that creates an aura that has no smell, color, or taste and is not detected by magic. It imparts a sickness to those who are exposed to it. It is not detectable through magical means. It is theorized that it is a form of swey magic, which is present with dragons.
If left submerged in seawater, it will develop a dark green transparent sheen that still allows the trademark reflective shine of mythrall. This oxidation takes about a month of exposure to become noticeable, but it is the only sign that reveals the impure wyrmfallen. It is believed that when submerged beneath seawater the aura has no effect on those close to or touching it.
The illness, also called Wyrmfallen, destroyed the dwarvish kingdoms of the Iron Teeth mountains. The kings and nobles descended into insanity and paranoia. It caused the Great Dwarven War of Madness, which lasted for a century. The outer world saw the disruption of the massive export of iron throughout the lands, the wars were heavily fought underground.

by Royal Frazier

Type

Metal