Angelics/Demonics Although the Shards don't qualify as a race, and they don't have 'racial secrets' per se, their spiritual link with the gods has allowed them to imbue a weapon with part of their divinely granted energy. Once a Shard has gained a certain level of mastery over their skills, they can craft a substance known as 'soulstone' which is tied to their very essence. The soulstone can then be combined with other items in order to infuse them with divine energy. Once imbued with their essence, equipment made for a shard is virtually indestructable and can only be used by the shard who shares its essence. This makes stealing the items functionally useless and provides the shard with equipment as unique as they are. While weapons made of this material aren't quite as strong as true holy relics, they are more than sufficient to get past the defenses of most creatures. Dark Elves The cabals of the dark elves produce a wide variety of substances, most of which are either used to sustain the population or decimate the population of another cabal or less suspecting race. Some of these substances have multiple uses, such as the material known simply as 'glowstone'. Glowstone is used by the dark elves primarily for lighting the underground tunnels that exist under the hot sands of the desert. While they don't provide much light, the amount is usually sufficient for the nightwalking dark elves. The name "glowstone" is actually a misnomer, since the glowing material is actually a fungus. The interior walls of the caves are coated with a substance that the fungus can grow on, but once it's grown it is completely self sustaining - even to the point of regenerating if parts of it are destroyed. Rumor has it that a long ago dark elven alchemist mixed troll blood into the fungus, but the truth is that it actually requires the blood of other races - specifically that of humans and elves - along with a unicorn's horn. The material is virtually indestructable once it has bonded with another substance, so it is frequently used to construct weapons and armor. Elves The elves have both a natural disdain for "ravaging the land" with mining and a natural desire to use every part of their kills for some purpose. An animal killed for food is used in numerous other ways at the same time - fat is used for tallow, many organs can be used for other practical purposes, and bone can be used for a variety of other things - including weapons. Some elves have even learned the secrets of a material they refer to as "Blessed Ivory" - where the bones of several different animals are blessed by Eraen, fusing them together into a material even more durable than conventional steel. This ivory can only be cut by something else made of Blessed Ivory, so it is not uncommon to see an elven smith carrying a whittling knife stronger and sharper than a Warrior's steel blade. After the bone has been blessed by a cleric of Eraen, the smith uses Blessed Ivory knife to carve a weapon from it. In most cases, pride dictates that the hilt be cut from the same piece, although often the blade is cut and mounted into a separate hilt from some other substance such as wood. Humans Although not as elegant as the blades manufactured by some of the other races, the humans have unlocked the secret of a material known as Torodinium. Whether this is mined in the outskirts of Torodan as suspected, or is the product of fusing other metals together as some scholars claim is highly under debate, but what is known is that Torodan is the only known city that is able to produce this material. Furthermore, the Miner's Guild itself is the only supplier of this metal, and purposefully keeps the supply limited in order to keep it's value high. Torodinium forged items are generally more lightweight and durable than ordinary steel, but once forged a Torodinium item is impossible to melt down and create something else from. It is sometimes possible to shorten a Torodinium weapon - making a dagger from a short sword for example - but even this requires a level of skill beyond that of many artisans. Working with Torodinium also requires a temper with a heavy acid concentration and a hammer also made of Torodinium. Working with the metal is less a matter of traditional forging than sculpting, cutting a smaller piece from a larger using a combination of tools and acids. A hammer is used to break off the pieces weakened by the acid. Failure to work the material properly will ruin the entire piece of material, so most blacksmiths won't even attempt the job until they've done sufficient planning. Although difficult to work with, once forged an item made from Torodinium is virtually indestructable and rarely needs even sharpening. Mongrels Pending.Undead Like the elves, the undead don't want to waste their kills. However, this is less for the purposes of good ecology than increasing the terror involved with their curse. Although the desecration of bodies is common enough with the undead for trophy purposes, some of the undead have the ability to find bones strong enough in the fallen to produce weapons. Only the Undead seem to have this ability, possibly owing to their unique bond with death itself. These bones are generally ripped free from their former host, and if other enemies are present (or even allies in some cases) this is done in the most grisly fashion possible in order to increase the terror involved and demoralize the opposing forces. Generally these bodies are left to rot in the open to serve as a marker of where the undead has been. Knowing that an advancing army is using the bones of their own people against them has served a psychological weapon in many battles. |