Mithril
The hard won prize of many great nations, Mithril is an essential weapon in warfighting, construction and artifice across the world. Fought over and fought for, it is often enough to drive people to great madness in its pursuit. Through all the violence and legends there are a few core truths that can be understood:
- Mithril is a very durable and allowing metal IF it can be brought up to high temperatures to be worked. This task is no mean feat and eludes most smiths without access to great arcane power or an Arcstone smelting forge.
- Such is the allowing nature of Mithirl that is can be added to many other metals to increase their durability, resistance to the elements, and arcane grounding. A vast amount of mithril is used this way, rather than kept pure.
- Mithril appears as a dark silver ore that is found in long winding veins. These veins are often found in clusters but always wind deeper and deeper into the soil, necessitating deep mines.
- Mithril is found the world over but seldom in easily accessible quantities. The easiest veins to harvest are in mountains or canyons where miners can access the veins from the side rather than travelling down the course.
The simple knowledge of “If you can harvest these metals and bend them to your will, your blades will shatter those of your enemies” is reductive, but it is easy to see how it could lead to self-fulfilling resource wars on a frightening scale. There are few Warlords the Sphere-over who would not look the other way to a spy’s passage or a band of mercenaries for a wain of Mithril and what good it might do for their armoury.
But only the shallow look to blades, when nails, bracing, figureheads, and ploughs can all benefit from this same metallurgical gift. This is rarely the case as mithril forging (and its attendant require for Arcstone) require immense logistical centralisation to control fuel, designs and desires. This sort of organisation is common most in nations, and it is nations that most often write orders for swords above all others.
Between Mithril’s industrial and strategic usefulness and is stormcloud silver colour, it is seldom used for ornamentation or beautification, excepting by those some mentioned warlords. Harvesting the metal is also suitably dangerous, requiring either the application of extreme (generally arcane) heat to work a section warm enough to be cut free or the application of great weight to expose a section to be worked piecemeal. Between flaming mishaps and falling debris, it is no surprise that it is one of the most dangerous metals to retrieve.
Game Information
Cost: 20 Arcstone + 7 Vaults 15 Locks
Upkeep: 2 Vaults 15 Locks
Construction Requirements: Mithril Mines can be built in any region that contains Mithril. Only one Mithril Mine can be built in each region.
Construction Time: 1 Season
Function: Mithril Mines produce Mithril Wains which are granted to the current Deed holder. On average an Mithril Mine produces 15 Wains of Mithril in the season before each summit. Although this number may slightly fluctuate each season.
| Mithril Mines in The Concord | |
|---|---|
| Name | Location |
| The Rumwold Vastness | Windholme |
| Athermer’s Folly | Bolsterlee |