Crafting (lore)

On this page you will find the most commonly known substances of crafting within the world of Atalan. If you are looking for how to perform crafting, please see our Gameplay Mechanics page once crafting is fully implemented.

Note that what is seen below is only the most basic and well known crafting materials. Different races and organizations will have much more detailed information on others existing, and there are other materials that will only be discovered in game. Not all crafting options are or will be posted here.

Woods

Wood can be found throughout Eramere, particularly within the Witchwood, Mystwood and Tir'Ehtele forests.

Oak

Found nearly everywhere trees can grow, the wood from the humble oak tree is a staple to most people's daily living. Whether as a building material, firewood, or used in a hunting bow, wooden shield, or other wooden weapon, it is a versatile type. While commonly used in hunting bows, it is not especially adept at making weapons of war, at least compared to other types of wood.

Eramerian Yew

Although a less frequently occurring tree, the Eramerian Yew is inevitably found in all forests on Eramere, by those with patience enough to search, or those with a natural bond and a keen eye. It is primarily used in the manufacture of bows of war; use of it as firewood or building material is often considered a waste of the wood and not worth the effort, given the distance from a sawmill one must travel in order to find such a tree.

When used in such crafting, users of bows or shields made from this wood find it to be somewhat lighter and sturdier than regular oak, allowing for quicker movements with a shield, and greater precision with a bow. On other weapons, users find that its advantages cancel its disadvantages; on a staff for example, greater velocity on strikes is countered by reduced impacts.

Blackwood

A wood rumored to be found within the Eastern Tir'Ehtele, it is considered distasteful to use at the least, for it is said it drains the life of those that seek to use it's power.

Rwokwood

A tough, grey colored, leafless tree that resembles a stone pillar jutting from the earth with the branches rarely having pale green leaves on them.

Desert Fingers

Tall, thinly growing trees sprouting from the desert. Their wood is flexible and very pale in coloring, and the leaves are often a sickly brown-tinted green. The trunk of the tree sways seemingly on its own, even without the aid of winds.

Metals

Steel

The bread and butter of many a modern army. It is an alloy made primarily of iron, and minute amounts of other metals, varying widely based on its intended function and the skill of the tradesman manufacturing it. Iron is a common find in most mines; indeed, it is its frequency of occurrence that revolutionized modern industry, architecture, and warfare. This is what the vast majority of all metal armor and weapons are made of, excepting bows.

Cold Iron

Normally, iron or steel are heated to high temperatures to make them malleable with significantly reduced effort. However, some craftsmen possess the strength, stamina and patience to simply beat and chip wrought iron into shape without any heating. Due to the extensive effort and time required to produce an item made of cold iron, such items are quite rare, especially as the amount of material required rises. Of these, bolt tips and arrowheads made of cold iron are more commonplace, becoming significantly rarer with light weapons such as daggers, shortswords and maces, and almost unheard of with larger weapons and any kind of armor.

Some people believe that cold iron is more effective than heated, tempered steel against some creatures, but the truth of this is dubious at best. It is unknown what benefit, if any, armor made of cold-forged iron confers to its wearer.

Alchemical Silver

Silver almost seems a misnomer for weapons, as it is a soft metal that deforms easily and does not hold an edge well. Indeed, its relative rarity and shiny appearance usually pushes it into the realm of jewelery and currency. However, it is sometimes used to make ornamental weapons or armor parts for the nobility or high-ranking officers of the military. It is also rumored to penetrate some supernatural creatures' defenses where standard steel does not.

Unfortunately, few possess the required set of talents to forge a weapon or set of armor from silver; this is what makes such items ornamental due to their expense. The process requires magic to bond molten silver with a steel lattice, frame or base in order to come up with a good result. A silver weapon is inferior to a steel weapon in combat, another reason it is often relegated to ornamental and decorative use only; it is both significantly heavier and softer (despite the magical bonding) than an equivalent steel weapon, making it both slower and less damaging.

Mithral

An extremely rare mineral, mithral is currently only seen within symbols of Leeya, an old Syl'vaen arms and light armour. Those that know its secrets guard it carefully.

Adamantine

Perhaps the rarest material in existence, the process of its manufacture harkens back to when the Zvarkglar were not Zvarkglar, but Rwokglar, and is forgotten to all but a dwindling number of the Zvarkglar. Historically, adamantine was known for its unsurpassed strength, and ability to defeat many types of magical barriers.

Aurichalcum

An extremely hard and tough ore with a distinctive gold-orange sheen. It has only one known source both in ancient times, and now, and that is within the mining caverns below High Reaches. Even there, usable veins are rare and difficult to find, and even more difficult to mine out. It can only be worked with a particular rare and expensive alchemical solution, and only with implements made of the same metal.

Hides

Leather

Standard leather is most often taken from various cows, deer, and other woodland creatures.

Wyrm Skin

The cooked and worked skin of a desert Wyrm. Very thick and light tan in coloring, though very flexible in contrary of its hard appearance.

Wyvern Hide

The tanned skin of a Wyvern. It is a large variant of colors and is tough to work into a leather, though when it is, it appears thin and light.

Worg Hide

Worg skin worked into a very thin membrane. Used mainly in the lightest of tasks and is not very tough in comparison to other leathers. Its flexibility makes it good for bags and very light weight equipment.

Leaper Shell

Forest Leaper are worth hunting for, as the elves can make a supple leather-like substance from the shells and the mandibles can be used as the heads of arrows and bolts, among other things.