Writer's Wednesday XXVII

Greetings and Happy New Year to all!

Today we are looking at another
harvesting skill. Many a crafter can
recall the days of mining ore, an
element that is needed in a great
number of crafts. In some ways this aspect
remains unchanging, as it is
the reality that metal is an intricate part of
many cultures' success.

Though traditionally thought of as dwarven
specialty, ore mining is
practiced by nearly every race on Layonara. Many
races have varying
methods and policies regarding how long to mine an area
and what places
to mine in, though dwarven folk seem to have the best luck
managing
their veins. The history of relations between humans and dwarves

actually revolve around ore mining to a degree. There have been a few

points in history where wars nearly broke out over the disagreement in

methods.

The master miner does far more then bang away at the cold
veins of
Layonara, but they are knowledgeable about the properties and
locations
of those veins. There is a wide variety of minerals available on

Layonara, and many of them have been mastered to a certain degree.

However the more rare the metal the less it is understood and utilized

in the world as a whole. A sample of the upcoming metals
follows!

Copper- This metal has a reddish tint to it and is typically
found in
caverns, crevasses and a few areas of the Deep. It is widely used
in
most cultures. Its uses range from tableware to weapons to furniture.

In its raw form it is a malleable and lustrous metal that is easily

found across Layonoara. It is often the metal of choice for those

beginning to learn the art of blacksmithing and gemcrafting as it is

capable of various tasks, forms and blending. It does not hold the

Al'Noth well, however, only managing minor enchantments by even the most

capable masters.

Most forms of copper found for sale are artistic
pieces, table ware,
goblets and other small trinkets. It is called the
'household metal'
because of its common usage, and of course due to its
availability. It is
also frequently smelted with other materials in order to
adjust various
qualities to make the metals usable for a variety of
purposes.

Silver- Pure silver is found often as a by product of other
mining
especially copper. It is a very soft metal on its own but prized for

its beauty. Its malleable nature seems to include absorption of

Al'Noth as it is easily imbued with qualities, though it does seem to

have a limit to how much power it is able to hold. In its purest form

it is too soft to hold shape under any stress. To strengthen it

silver is often smelted with a small portion of copper to assist any

crafted item to endure its shape under stress of pressure.

Due to
silver's coupling with other metals it is fairly common and a
beloved metal of jewelers. It is also made into place
settings in affluent
households. It is not uncommon for silver to be
worked into pieces of
decorative art due to its renowned beauty.

Nodaod'urna- A century or so
ago a new metal element was discovered on
Layonara. This new metal, called
gaznd'urna, is a dark metal when first
mined due to the impurities trapped
with the ore. It has a deep purple
hue lending the ore to appear especially
dirty as compared to common
ores that have a natural luster. When worked,
the metal brightens up
considerably. Unfortunately the metal on its own was
very soft, but
incredibly resilient. Immediately the same process of
blooming was
attempted on the metal with carbon as with iron, but the metal
became
brittle and essentially useless. After some considerable
experimentation
by a group of dwarves, a solution was finally found.

When
combined with small amounts of iron the gaznd'urna blended into a
usable
metal they
called nodaod'urna. It was quickly found to be harder
than steel, but far lighter and more resistant to elements. Further
experimentation showed that the element was highly receptive to Al'Noth.

Despite the addition of iron, nodaod'urna did not require the
additional care
and protection as steel did. All of the qualities it
displayed made it a very
popular item despite its rarity. Nodaod'urna
quickly became more popular
then a few other metals that are no longer
used.

Nodaod'urna is exclusively used for weapons and armor at this
point, as
it is very new and has yet to be mastered by smiths to make more
decorative pieces. Its most popular usage at this time is full plate
mail,
as it can be crafted to weigh close to steel scale mail.

Thank you for checking in with us this week!

~row, on behalf of
the Writing Team