[✓] [World Lore] The Beastsmith's Arsenal

[Avacyn 1706]

 

Here comes a quick bit I did that aims to provide some mundane and low-fantasy worldbuilding to some of the more 'normal' aspects of roleplay life. Ideally this should need no monitoring at all- death to applications and the bureaucracy involved. Run wild with some detailed blacksmithing roleplay.

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The Beastsmith’s Arsenal: Fourth Age Forgery

 

“And by the heat of the fire I found him, swinging his hammer with such haste and vigor I thought it miraculous. Verily, he smithed at incredibly high speed.” -The Beastsmith’s Arsenal, Vol I., Foreword

 

All but forgotten are the drake-smiths of the First Age, their ironworks masked beneath the heavy and old layers of secrets and ash from the burning of each previous era. Steel and hearth and flame are not things easily buried, though, and so it was inevitable that their work would resurface elsewhere. While the scaled and crowned children of the Titan may have reclaimed the true heritage of their Dralachite, what became of the ancient language of the forge that the strongest of Man’s children knew so long ago?

The answer lay far over the seas and through the temperate storms of the ocean, upon the shores of a land called Aeldin, where monsters and men have a long and bloody history with one another. Deep within the halls of the Hexicanum, in the old forge of the Marked, an aged smith of the venerated beast-slayers claimed elder knowledge of the forging techniques long lost to the ebb of time. It would be Griffith of Gwynon, a member of the Hexicanum and a student of the old man’s, who put quill to ink and then to parchment and began scribing a text, to pass the techniques onward. Thusly, The Beastsmith’s Arsenal and its subsequent volumes were borne.

 

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Volume I: Blood-Quenching

 

“It was a gorey place, reeking of blood: that odorous, coppery tinge in the air. Blood was kept by the barrelful. But for what?”
 

It is known among the beastsmiths that the blood of monsters has keen properties upon metal when forgeries are quenched within it. The recipe is simple: A barrel must be filled with three parts water and one part blood for an even balance, and so the mixture is still suitable for extinguishing the heat of tempered steel. Over years of experimentation, the effects of different monsters’ lifeblood upon weaponry and armor has been documented and still continues to be learned.

Dragonblood --- Sometimes the most difficult to collect, the blood of all dragonkin grants a noticeable heat resistance to steel. Not much damage is inflicted upon swords which are oiled and lit aflame.

Striga blood --- A rarer sort, striga blood acts as a sort of ‘blood thinner’: cuts inflicted with quenched weaponry bleed for longer, the blood flowing more freely.

Fjarriauga blood --- The chilled blood of the ‘frost witches’ simply gives a residual chill to metal. Though not the most practical in combat, it’s seen some use in keeping wine and ale cool.

Bryophite blood --- The saplike blood of the Bryophites grants a very weak poison to quenched steel. Wounds inflicted hurt a bit more.

Aengulic blood --- The holy folk of Aeriel and the Keepers of Xan possess a unique lifeblood within their veins that grants a shimmering, gilded appearance and often makes things appear more valuable than they are.

 

Infernal blood --- Opposite to Aengulic, the blood of the Inferi has been observed to give a darker, almost smoky tint to metal quenched within it.

Horror blood --- Mystical and otherworldly, the spilled blood of Voidal Horrors grants steel a unique pain inflicted upon those connected to the Void: the typical mage will feel more pain from the blow of a weapon quenched this way.

It must be explicitly noted that any attempt to mix blood with one another to produce layered effects is disastrously corrosive to the metal and will result in a ruined project.

 

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Volume II: Ingot Infusions

 

 

“It was bizarrely religious the way he sat before the melting steel, and yet I myself could not help but marvel at the way the Dreadknight’s gauntlet bubbled and oozed into molten liquid. A machine of gore and war, reduced to slag.”

 

The invention and temperance of various alloys has remained a part of smithing knowledge and practices for centuries, though since the discovery of steel and bluesteel and their near-perfect practicality there has not been much ingenuity in the matter of ingots and material used during the forging process. The beastsmiths, however, through experimentation and the dangerous collection of various parts and trophies, have found a few pseudo-alloys by combining the remains of magical creatures and beings with their ingots during the smelting process. Just like with the techniques outlined in Volume I, mixing these effects proves disastrous for the metal.

 

Apelpinium --- A combination of the slagged armor from a fallen Dread Knight and any practical alloy. The addition of the once-mundane metal’s dark, eldritch infusions results in an odd alloy that is significantly heavier and denser than normal. The metal itself takes on a darker color as well, closer to black iron.

 

Ossitation --- Not an alloy itself, Ossitation is the use of magical bones of a particular sort (See: Compendium entries on Liches and Darkstalkers) by grinding them into a fine powder and dusting the line of the ingot mold before pouring slag. The result is a metal that does not easily chip or dull: while structural damage and the wear and tear of battle will still ebb away at it, the superficial lustre will remain pristine, almost idyllically so.

 

Petrite --- Perhaps the strangest of infusions in the slagging stage, Petrite is a result of the crushed and dusted remains of a Golem’s core being added to an ingot while it is being set. Whenever the metal is cool, it takes on a rough, almost stony texture to it and could be mistaken for rock itself though bears no structural improvements or weaknesses in comparison to unaffected metals.

 

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Volume III: Mundane Techniques

 

 

The drake-knights of Gwynon use old dragonflame smithing practices to achieve their vibrant hues of red.

 

Alas, reader, you come to the least marvelous of all there is to read in The Beastsmith’s Arsenal. Outlined here is an ever-growing list of materials and techniques with much lesser effects to be used at your leisure and your own ingenuity. Experimentation is encouraged: perhaps you will discover properties and uses I overlooked when scribing this.

 

Draconic

Dragonhide, when tanned and cured into leather, makes for a sturdy material for grips. Dragonbone, while being dense and difficult to shape, rewards effort at chipping and carving it over a long time: It bears surprising flexibility, making it an interesting substitute for wood in weaponcrafting. ‘Dragonflame’ smithing is a technique adapted from the old work of the First Age Drakesmiths and simply refers to tempering metal for very long times at high heats in order to produce vibrant hues of red in steel.

 

Undead

Ghoulhide or the rotting skin of any undead being has proven entirely impractical and its use is not advised. However, the bones of fallen liches and darkstalkers have a keen durability and have seen use in weapon handles and ornamentation for armor.

 

Monsters

While the bestiary of known monsters in the world is far too vast to cover and detail the uses of all their bodies, let it be known that monster hide is a durable and suitable replacement for regular tanned leather in just about any situation. Utilize different textures and colors to achieve the desired appearance of your weapon’s grip. Monster bones have not proven any better than a regular animal’s in crafting purposes. The strung innards and hairs of monsters have also seen prolific use as bowstrings.

 

[Babehab 289]

He's finally gone off the deep end

[Gladuos 857]

Top notch illustrations. 10/10 +1 Didn't even read.

[Ford 1991]

*unsheathes alpepinium-forged, striga blood-quenched katana*

 

*voidal shifts behind you*

 

 

[LoTC's Next Top Model 713]

wheres the daggerfall pics

[JEEGK 1327]

have you re-applied to the lt yet?

[GDPR 014 26]

hahaha.... 

 

AHAHHAHA.... cant wait to use my archon blood as origin rounds....

[Avacyn 1706]

2 minutes ago, Jeiku said:

have you re-applied to the lt yet?

0
 

yeah you commented on it

[FreeHongKong 934]

Wow! Using the bodies of dead thing in crafting that isn't mook tier scrublord OP!

[Dromui 755]

+1

It feels as if this was designed for the low fantasy cucks who can't handle high fantasy RP. Good work, sweet boi.

[monkeypoacher 6994]

man is it just me or has all of lotc's lore gotten really stupid

Edited December 22, 2017 by tavern_roleplay

[BrandNewKitten 2789]

I don’t agree with the horror blood one. Why would horror blood have a painful effect on mages? Also horror blood isn’t supposed to last. When it is spilt or the horror dies the blood eventually dissipates. That is why it is a hard ingredient to use in blood magic despite its boons. 

[Avacyn 1706]

12 minutes ago, tavern_roleplay said:

man is it just me or has all of lotc's lore gotten really stupid 

thank you for yet another exceedingly insightful post of yours, i look forward to the next time you look for my name on the forums to comment on something i say i really appreciate the special attention uwu
 

12 minutes ago, Sir K Andruske said:

I don’t agree with the horror blood one. Why would horror blood have a painful effect on mages? Also horror blood isn’t supposed to last. When it is spilt or the horror dies the blood eventually dissipates. That is why it is a hard ingredient to use in blood magic despite its boons. 

Let's pretend it's an excessive amount of mana. Also, the blood is pretty quickly mixed with water, so we're also gonna say that watering it down and creating the mixture lets the blood remain there, albeit diluted and unsuitable for blood magic.

[JEEGK 1327]

59 minutes ago, Avacyn said:

yeah you commented on it

0

Upvote

 

oh you're right.

[Slayy 816]

This is very interesting perrin! Great job hehe!