Magical Weapon Theory

A study by Phineas Wooperill

…and thus I have determined that I can be of most use to my comrades in arms by endeavoring to see that they are more effective vis-à-vis their weaponry.  Recorded herein are spells that temporarily affect weaponry in various ways. That being said the pinnacle (which I have of course reached) is to make permanently magical arms. By which I mean weapons of course. Blades and clubs and such. Making magical limbs will have to wait for later exploration and then only to empower combat. Do you hear me Robleon? If you’re reading this quit those disgusting dalliances with tavern wenches and apply your “magical enhancements” to a more proper use. What you’re doing is just obscene.

It should be noted that while the studies outlined in this book will allow me (and those who follow me) to create enchanted weapons it is by far not the only way to make such things. The Firstborn have crafting techniques that yield weapons of a magical nature, and various materials produce enchanted effects when worked into weaponry. I have taken the liberty to describe them here.

Dwarven Forged – Dwarven craftsmanship with metal is such that they produce a weapon that is either extremely sharp or weighted in such a way to land devastating blows. The Mountainborn understand combat.

Elvencrafted – the Skyborn weave “starlight” into their weapons, which sounds like the kind of superstitious malarkey that only a drooling imbecile would believe (still reading Robleon?). In any case weapons made by the Skyborn glow faintly when wielded which looks rather dramatic and is an excellent way to tell all enemies “here I am! I am clearly the biggest threat, my stuff glows! Kill me first!”

Halfling Made – the Meadowborn have a knack for throwing everything from rocks and stones to their lives away. Every weapon the Meadowborn make is balanced in such a way that it can be thrown accurately. Not understanding that there is already a whole class of weapons devoted to throwing (see my earlier book Classification and Types of Weapons – an Academic Reference) the Meadowborn decided that everything should and can be thrown, from dart to halberd. If they made siege engines they would probably devise a way for a whole village to unite and throw the trebuchet instead of just loading and firing the damn thing.

Gnome Carved – The Forestborn are miracle workers when it comes to wood and have developed techniques to create wooden weapons that are as durable and as sharp as steel. While their products are extremely serviceable and effective, I personally see their craft as mere novelty. We have steel. Why run off and make something as good as steel when steel is sitting right there? It’s like someone looking at a fork – that was given to them - and saying “Hey this could be handy to eat food with! I’m going to set it down and cut tines into a spoon, making it almost as good as the fork I was given and completely useless as a spoon with the added bonus of making me look like a damn fool!” (But don’t take my word for it Robleon… go ahead and market your “Foroon”, I’m looking forward to seeing you try).

Materials:

Lava Smelt – this is metal that was forged completely out of and submerged in lava. It produces something that looks like opaque black glass veined with red. When wielded the weapon bursts into flame and burns its victims as well as cuts/crushes/stabs. I'm saying the weapon still functions as a weapon, but while on fire. Thus burning and hurting. And yes I am aware fire hurts. Grasp the concept or abandon it; either way move on.

Perma Ice – this is actually ice harvested from the far north – some say (fools) from Eternal Ice itself. The ice is so dense and compacted that it does not melt if worked correctly and adds a deeply cold touch to the wounds it inflicts. Which I guess also burns. But it burns with cold not with fire. See it gets so cold that your nerves report pain, but the sensation is similar to the pain experienced from heat and oh just go to the next entry already.

Pitted Iron – pitted iron is only found in special mines throughout the world. It is a dark ash grey iron that is porous and constantly weeps a caustic acid. The combat benefits should be obvious to anyone of even passing intellegence (acid chemically burns flesh Robleon, making the owies hurt more).

Skymetal – falls from the sky as meteorites and can be worked about as easily as steel. It retains an electrical charge (Matry wrote that it acquires the charge as it passes through the sky dome where the clouds rub up against each other in his book Skymetal – Evidence of Worlds Beyond?; don’t bother reading it I just quoted the only piece that doesn’t read like a rabid dog chewing on its own gonads).

Adamantine – this extremely hard metal is difficult to work with but produces a weapon that can pierce the toughest of natural hide. Indeed reputably there are creatures that can only be effectively hurt by such stuff. Matry's ego is still impervious though.

Cold Iron – the bane of the fey, this softer metal must be forged underground at low temperatures, and is often finished in the dark, with the smith operating by sound and touch alone. Somewhat impractical for repeated use, against the right creature even its touch is devastating.

Mithril – the lightest and the prettiest of the mystical metals, mithril can be forged into hard weapons, or armor that bends almost like cloth. The Mountainborn know its rarity and are loath to part with it, while the Skyborn greedily covet every scrap they can get. More than one local war has been fought over possession of mithril.

Alchemical Silver – unlike the rest of the materials discussed here, Alchemical Silver is not found naturally. Instead it is created through a chemical process that involves bonding silver with another metal – usually steel or cold iron. Creatures of the night are said to fear this substance which makes it a good choice for weaponry. That is if you're fighting creatures of the night. I wouldn't take it into a desert during midday. Not going to be as cool.

Dragonbone – to my knowledge no one today makes weapons out of dragonbone. I mention it here because of rumored dragonbone weapons found in local ruins and in far off lands. Having never seen such a weapon I do not have any inkling as to what properties it might possess, if it exists at all.