Jump to content

[✗] [World Lore] Songsteel, Songs in the Deep


AlaricGrimgold
 Share

Recommended Posts

 

>< Deepstone ><X>< Songsteel ><

 

DVPLknIjm5CS-LIHm38RcSp3vCJqOOQCMooTVgpid0-tgF7bkuFEO13ssjTLC7S7OhJVp2HglwWk0O_lDl4eEwS2FmYtUBLMrBBTmvSJ8iG0QkeyvxJAa5_FgANqTlt1bzP5_g_R

 

Origins

 

Long before stories were told, stars have fallen to the surface of our world embedding themselves in rock and soil. For centuries prospective Starbreaker Dwarves and Elves of all manners have sought to harvest the fallen stars, but those that go unfound are swept away by the churning tectonic activity into the depths. Here, the pressure and heat have cracked and churned the deposits in with other base and exotic metals like a mixing bowl, forming it into a new alloy where the rolling plates settle in veins. Amongst deep caverns beneath mountainous sea cliffs or chasoumous valleys of the ocean, streaks of black rock shining with crystals of purple and blue and green and gold coat forgotten walls along chthonic rivers, where the material has found time to cool. The silvery cores of the fallen stars now brimming with impurities of niobium and titanium and base ferrum until a new material was birthed in the rocky womb of the earth. Tales have passed from deep delvers about this mineral and the strange resonating properties it gives off-- tales of caves that chime with the groaning movements of the earth, the light hymnal sound of metal begging to be pulled from the walls, the secret songs of the steel that sing in the deep parts of the world. These stories have all come to give the metal its enigmatic names; some call the strange substance ‘songsteel’, while others have chosen to use ‘deepsteel’ as a preferred description of the anomalous metal, others still use the name of the Grimgold Dwarves who first whispered of the stones and call it ‘Grimril’, finally those who have gotten lucky enough to receive a sample of the stone have given it the scientific name ‘Reverbium’. What is known about the substance is its overwhelming difficulty to find.

07oU-4Kctbr6JTtuF_wVhEVlDjsKqR1FP2DGD4ZXPX9S_YyzZFUEhkSEiAkmeSn-mS9OOkujFY2Tl4YjcAIDLCLwPKiCzNw06auRuYaXQuKAKGU3f27EXWedmU6UqLoghJOf-uM0



 

Deepstone (Raw Form)


 

Deepstone is found in veins of crystalline, jet black striations along walls of deep caverns within regions of heavy tectonic activity-- coastal mountains, volcanic regions, and sea trenches. Having originated with a meteor that went unfound for thousands of years, already a very uncommon find in its own right, the metal is rarely discovered. In a raw, untreated form the rock is a dark black hue with formations of gold or green or blue or purple crystals growing from it.

 

The most noticeable sign of being close to a deposit of the material is the slight hum of the rocks' reverberation sounding through the cave. It takes an extremely experienced miner to determine an ore vein to be deepstone.



 

Red Lines (Raw Form)

 

Spoiler
  • Unrefined deepstone will have a slight humming noise that exudes from the rock but doesn’t have a strong enough kinetic repulsion to be used as anything more than a slightly bouncy stone.

  • Most inexperienced miners would not know of the properties and nature of the material, assuming it to be a slightly strange form of firm obsidian or titanium.

  • The ore is highly magnetic due to the heavy ferrum impurities within the ore.




 

nHsqd2K_XhDADRADjlttXoYVwdtMl0xxF65PhPFjwUjXE0e0QgITh753HJMBeyDjueV1NM0wvLHRbm6NRql6Sq3hLB-0sWcbZeY6TLARNP5Hoz0Wromb2Uf-0u-IXhVDalcG7azI


 

Chthonic Song Mining (Harvesting Method) 


 

After finding a large vein of the vibrating stone, the first thing a knowledgeable miner would wish to do is to test the vein with a small brass hammer, listening carefully to the sound each area of the rock would ring. Once an area was found with a duller, more ‘thuddy’ call a chisel would be placed to the stone and chunks would be freed from the hard stone wall around it.

 

Should a more inexperienced miner pick a part of the stone that gave of a more bell-like, high-ringing chime the kinetic pushback of the material would be far stronger, possibly strong enough to cause the brittle crystals to shatter in an event caused a ‘Grim Shriek’, a loud expulsion of stored kinetic energy that sounds like the large wail of a banshee. Should the ‘scream’ be loud enough and the nearby rock weak enough, it would risk a full collapse of the cave around the node. While the process itself is not hard, it can still be quite dangerous should the proper precautions not be observed.


 

Deepstone Ore Chunk items may bear this description and an ST signature:

 

“An irregular shaped rock that hums and vibrates with delight, rough and unrefined. It appears to be stratified with glossy, jet black stone , which glistens with flecks of purple and blue and green and gold when put under light. It shines and shimmers like untold galaxies under the lustrous dark surface. Even if one knew its name, they most likely will not know exactly what to do with it.”




 

Harvesting Red Lines

 

 

Spoiler
  • An often inert and mostly safe material to gather, mistrikes of the hammer can cause pushbacks of significant amounts of force that can pose a real danger to those around.
  • Chthonic Song Mining  requires the use of a small impact hammer made of a neutral sounding metal and a chisel to remove the usable material from the stonewalls. A pick makes a suitable replacement but is capable of causing a ‘scream’ if mistruck.
  • Most miners will not know of what they found upon first stumbling upon a deepstone node, let alone how to safely mine it, as it is a very rare material spoken of only in certain circles.

 

 

 

 

MYSWFK2NEGBN6eRgPS74ybI4UGipoZoqYIK8JuqCiAynp45IDV2Zl_9VRXilp9xUid8aYDM-pnI7PToiM6L23BXZtyzoBp3_xs4SXILC1jQU

 


 

Songsmithing (Refining)

 

 

The process of crafting deepstone into Songsteel begins by breaking the excess of rock away from the jet black ore, separating the slag material from the workable metal. When a large portion of fleck filled black nuggets are left, they are placed into a special forge. The crafting process of deepstone is known by very few, but the ore must be melted in a special blast furnace that keeps the stones frozen in stasis between two large slabs of Magnetite. Because Magnetite has a lower melting point than the deepstone, the preparation of the forge must be careful to retain its magnetic properties. Once the metal has heated to clear the slag with proper coke and sintering, it is melted into a crucible and poured into billets or ingots.

 

If done properly the metal will retain the kinetic absorptive and repulsive properties in the form of a workable product. To test this, a forgemaster should lightly strike the now processed songsteel with a small mallet and listen to the sound it makes. If the sound is dull like the sound of ferrum or steel, too many impurities were left and the final product will be rendered inert; while if the sound is shrill and screaming like a hellish wail, there is not enough carbon to maintain the form of the final product, rendering it too weak, and it must be reforged with more coke added. If the material gives off a long chime that resonates with a high calling pitch, the material has been forged properly, and can be softened into malleable metal with quenching and tempering, or further hardened through a folding process. In the more mild form, it is far more brittle than the standard metal, being roughly as soft as gold, and hums and sings only a light and constant buzz that may comfort those who hear it, giving off a slight vibration upon the skin.



 

Refining Red Lines

 

Spoiler
  • Songsteel must be crafted by separating the waste material from the usable rock before adding it to a special ST approved forge.

  • The forge must have two large blocks of magnetite that will not receive direct heat but are within the magnetic field range to keep ore frozen in place to prevent the kinetic properties of the ore from bouncing the chunks around the forge.

  • The second reason for the magnetic field is to keep the niobium and titanium inside of the alloy without melting away. Should the field not maintain the metal during the smelting process, the final product would be rendered a useless inert chunk.

  • Once the metal has been further hardened or softened, it cannot be worked into a different state.

  • The unique method of forging Songsteel is not widely known and should be considered deeply held trade secrets that should be learned from capable blacksmiths who have worked with/ or understand the use of the forge.

  • The folding process is very difficult due to the kinetic absorption of the metal and should be done carefully to beat bands of ‘charged’ metal into each layer, working up a deep core of tense and vibrating metal bands.



 

zQWNCd9NWXpjijT1ef27rwVCpaaTgTlkwDzY6L688qmX1b4RGR2Y0sIAtwb4Fl6WRWU0egXpcspmdhStCX0Y6WHogjJHBZbGlG4zS6jenWaEGR8oDdfeX21PU39uhLCcsuPIauZH




 

Songsteel (Refined Form)



 

Depending on the tempering of the steel, Songsteel demonstrates various levels of hardness and durability between that of aurum in its softened form, that of mild steel under only gentle tempering, and that of a hard ferrous alloy upon tempering and folding it into a dense chunk of metal. It is known under many names depending upon the region in which it is found-- ‘Songsteel’, ‘Deepsteel’, ‘Grimril’, or even ‘Reverbium’, but all of the final products bear the same distinct qualities.

 

  • Softened Songsteel heavily resembles a glossy black metal with flecks of gold and purple and blue and green seen inside the lustrous shine, with similar qualities and strength to gold. The metal gives off a constant hum and gentle vibration due to the highly sensitive nature of its kinetic absorption, giving off slight sounds and songs at even the tiniest of movements around it.

  • Casted Songsteel would take the form of dark black steel with bands and waves of many various colors in the patterns of the surface. It would be no harder than any other ferrous alloy crafted, but would absorb the force placed upon it and push back when enough had been stored in the banded matrix of the metal. When moved through the air the metal would seem to sing and when struck it would chime like a high tone resonating bell. When not stilled, the metal will gently rumble like a buzzing bee.

  • Folded and hardened Songsteel takes a deep matte black metal with large stains of purples and greens and blues and yellows upon the surface. It is capable of great durability and strength, like a heavily carbonized ferrum steel, with the bonus of repulsing heavy strikes against it due to the already charged striations in the steel. It sounds in long resounding gongs when struck and is more commonly found in large heavy slabs. It gives off a low droning vibration when held.

 

Songsteel will gather ‘rust’ upon its surface, but remarkably, the layer will not pierce the surface, instead gathering atop the metal in growing crystals of material stolen from its atmosphere and contact overtime through the slight magnetic pull of the metal. This layer is easily removed with a chime of the steel, shulking off the accumulated oxide like a dog shaking off water. While a handy property of the metal, it often leaves valuable tools and weapons hidden away amongst rusted artifacts in dusty tombs, waiting for their secret to be discovered.



 

bpf7xzW_SQfdmwh05hM4U0zpv1oqBYhSt1Qui0ZhgJplVw7vnmzf3X3DUe_Ixw7soGIldBCkTCOwrXXSvb4X4yvWIzE3UnrX2xVwIuuyQw09GfHsMc2dRMvj6XCfGJANTiLWz-VN






 

Uses of Songsteel (Refined)


 

Once refined, a skilled artisan or blacksmith would find many uses for Songsteel billets for its beautiful surface, gentle sound, and reverberating qualities. Most of the goods made of Songsteel depend on the mildness of the metal.

 

Soft Songsteel is commonly worked into artisan goods such as housewares and jewelry and instrument parts and other forms of art when paired with material like lunarite or kulia crystal to further accentuate the qualities of the metal. The Grimgold clan will often shape it into singing bowls to be used in their prayer and meditation, with ten minutes of stirring the rim of the bowl carrying enough kinetic energy to produce a loud, heavenly humming sound for an hour afterward. When used in objects such as dancing anklets or coin belts or other dangling objects, they will chime and ring upon movement. Windchimes made of the steel will continue to chime long after the wind has died and come to a rest, and stringed musical instruments with coils and strings of Songsteel will find their sound resonate farther than with simple base metals. It could also be crafted into flat discs that can be engraved by a master artisan to produce pre-recorded sounds and messages to be read by special machines.

 

Cast Songsteel is a versatile, if brittle, version of the metal that is suited for crafting tools, more durable artisan products, and simple cast weapons. With the rough strength of a simple ferrum, weapons and lumber axes made of Songsteel would carry the extra bite and resistance that comes with the absorption of each strike, singing as they are swung through the air, making them very effective tools in combat beyond just the luxurious nature of its rarity. Small figurines and statuettes crafted of the material will give off a soft gentle buzz against the skin and a resonating sound that lightly fills the space around it. Any object that would be under sudden amounts of kinetic stress would be ideal objects to craft of Songsteel, but objects such as chains that would be put under long term kinetic pressure would eventually shatter under the inability to blow off excess stress.

 

Tempered and hardened Songsteel is the most durable form of the metal, though the process to fold and strengthen the steel is strenuous and not well known. If done properly, the Songsteel would produce fine hard slabs capable of crafting blow resistant armor, powerful weapons with an extra kick, and any object that the crafter wishes to retain the kinetic force of what is applied to it-- such as battering rams, bells, or gates. It would give a dull low hum both upon the skin and as a slight sound resounding through the air. Any objects that strike hardened Songsteel would be pushed back stronger and stronger with each strike, but with enough force and duration applied to the material it will eventually shatter under the continued applied pressure without a chance to dissipate its stored energy.



 

Songsteel Red Lines

 

Spoiler
  • The kinetic rebounding of Songsteel is never enough to shatter anything other than an already broken weapon. 

  • The power of the reverberation is comparable to the strength of the strike dependent on the hardness of metal. Mild objects being able to return ~20lb of pressure, cast weapons ~200lbs of pressure, hardened steel being able to return past ~2000lbs of pressure depending upon the density of the steel.

  • Armour, weapons, and tools created from Songsteel must be mechanically represented by their iron counterparts.

  • Jewelry or other small goods containing Songsteel should ideally convey the black color of the metal with flecks of purple and green and gold and blue, but some deviation is allowed.

  • Songsteel is roughly equal to ferrum/steel in terms of its strength, durability, toughness, etc, aside from their kinetic and audible qualities. Armour, weapons, and tools created from Songsteel are not immune to damage, wear, etc.

  • All Songsteel items must be signed by the ST team.

  • Songsteel vibrations do not vibrate fast enough to vibrate through weapons or armor or any OP things like that.

  • Refined Songsteel is heavily magnetic and susceptible to strong fields of magnetite.



 

Purpose



 

Songsteel is to be a high fantasy influenced metal with strong rules to its qualities to prevent those from becoming overpowered. It is to serve as a twin to lunarite, whose audible and vibratory qualities are to be the opposite of lunarites luminous and visible nature. Many different types of objects such as weapons, tools, armor, and artisan goods could be crafted of the material. I hope it also provides more mining and smithing RP, creating specialties in the craft, and fills a niche in the deep cavern environment which often feels empty.

Edited by AlaricGrimgold
Link to post
Share on other sites

No. No! Take a moment to think about making something that is not the be-all end for metals. Take a moment.

 

If ya' want to make something with multiple uses- power to ya. I understand. If you want to make something pretty, go for it.

If you want to develop RP technology for a version of records or sound-catchers that allow for proper record players, go for it.

If you want to write out a special metal or alloy for your character’s family, go for it- or HECK- make an alloy in character of existing metals. It’ be badass.

If you want to write out something flavorful and special with limited capacity and uses meant to be cloistered/special- all good, go for it..

All these things are fine and dandy, there is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. So why am I so vastly opposed to this lore?

 

This lore is almost the epitome of poorly written. It is vague in many areas of its exact uses, levels, harvesting, refining, separations, etc.

Its limits are so vastly insane in capabilities that it is comparable with something like vibranium or adamantine from Marvel. The means

of balance are ill-defined and allow a massive amount of room for powergaming.

 

Mining, blacksmithing, crafting, caverns- are some of the most rich and interesting types of things to interact with, so the idea that this is

made to fill those ‘niches’ sounds laughable. Its extreme beauty, extreme power, technological prowess, alongside being specifically being

associated with your specific dwarven clan seems almost moreso as if its a specific metal to curate respect/power for your group. Im more

than fine if you’re wanting to try and make some cultural, or clan based interesting materials, but this is the worst way physically possible.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I entirely disagree with everything Quavinir stated.

 

First and foremost, our clan was mentioned twice of all things-- once that we were the first to start whispering of it, which seeing as how I am writing the lore that would plausibly ring true, and second that we make some bowls out of them. It was never mentioned we were the only ones who knew about the material, nor that we help all the secrets to crafting it. Furthermore, by giving other names for the metal, it is heavily implied others have found and began to work with it.

 

Secondly, it specifically states in the guide that material submissions should be of broad use, and not specific niche products to be used for one thing and one thing only. I have no interest in turning the metal into recording discs, but it is a metal that absorbs and retains kinetic energy upon it in the form of sound. Some resourceful craftsman would find a purpose in the product technologically the same someone would attempt with boomsteel.

 

Thirdly, the balance is very clearly defined, with large, dense objects such as gates or bells being able to withstand, retain, and slowly exude 2,000lbs of force placed upon it. In a fantasy world, that is not very overwhelming considering that same amount of force can be placed upon a gate by four ologs with a fallen tree for a ram. In fact 2,000lbs of pressure is roughly the equivalent that modern stainless steel pipes can withstand, thus placing it well within the realm of feasibility and restraint. Thus adding to their rough comparison to the strength high carbon steel, and representation by iron weapons.

 

pvc-pipes-pressure.png

 

Finally, having traversed the under deeps from the ruins of the Onyx Sanctum in the northern deeps filled with Lurkers, through all the caverns of fire and lava fields, through Thumrilgrad and all the deep roads-- our group found one thing mildly interesting and it was mainly in the sense of what the bridge was supposed to be at one point. I don’t know where all this ‘deep cavern niche filling stuff is’, but the Dwarven Worker’s Guild isn’t finding it.

Edited by AlaricGrimgold
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, AlaricGrimgold said:

-snip-

Allow me to dismantle this piece by piece.

 

Firstly, it is noted that any means of working such a metal is both difficult to find out, yet known by a select few who know how to work it, alongside it being very difficult to find. The fact a group would already have any knowledge on it puts them significantly higher in the rungs with this metal. The implication that they can even make fancy specially made bowls with the stuff displays that they both know how to both work, and find it, again, lending credency to the ideathat this is a piece made to give legitimacy to your new clan, especially given the lack of existence of the clan (and the metl) untill recently

 

As for the 2nd rebuttal: As stated initially, I’m fine with something being broadly used. However, you do explicitly mention in the lore its specific ability for making discs with pre-recorded sounds on such, as such, it can only be understood that that is something specifically you wish for such to be done with this.

 

As for the 3rd point, I am going to be plain here and ask that you actually look into what you’re saying. The image you linked is for CPVC pipes, and is strictly being used with relation to PSI and water pressure and their adjustments in different temperature. For the love of God please actually click the link before you start using something from google images as reference. Though even so, it is listing those in terms of /thickness for a pipe and the contained water pressure. If the limits set for this lore are mainly in relation to piping and water pressure- that link graph might actually be applicable.

Heck, on the same website, there is actually a table of the types of steel piping and their capabilities.

4acd98528b849c146ed21ba5aff2ac8c.png

Pretty dang high numbers, yeah? Certainly higher than what you linked. The issue is that these numbers are not for ‘external’ force, but internal PSI, or ‘pound force per square inch’, specifically in the context of piping, given instead of dealing with a object hitting an object by force, it is dealing with its ability to stay together through inward pressure pushing outward. Though one can say this is used as a testament of strength, much of it has to do more with the bindings of the metal than its physical ‘strength’ persay. Heck, just take a look at the numbers for this copper piping.

563e2cde4f3cee58138b0876df5617bb.png


Though now that this is cleared up- lets take a look at the lore. The lore piece isnt concerned about how much force these can take, but how much they can return. As in- transmit the force back into the one striking it.
 

e5d262e7dc6d93f919f9f5632319ca56.png
215d26d2c848695284222a5e0190c924.png

The 2,000 pounds is not listed as a limit for the steel, it is listed as a baseline, noting it can go past such. A defined thickness isn’t given, implying such abilities could be used for things such as armor, weapons, shields, at any thickness. To put this into perspective, the image you have linked is in relation to pipes bursting at 2,000 pounds of force while having an internal radius of 1/2 inches. However, most of the pipes we’ve both linked themselves are usually arround 5/8ths of an inch thick What this means is roughly ½ an inch cylinder of water is pressing outward at a single section with 2,000 pounds of force on a 5/8ths of an inch thick wall of metal around it. Most plate armor in medieval times was between 1-3 millimeters, less a 3rd of the thickness at the absolute maximum. Given its being used in the context of arms and armor, something like that not just absorbing- but returning 2,000 lbs of force, no less absorb, or block more than 2,000 lbs or more is insane. Likewise, the point by which the reverberation can damage the tool/weapon being used is not defined, making such very wishy washy. Now, if any of this was defined- sure, I might not be so worried about it.  Likewise, dissipation of the energy isn’t defined, leaving me worried either that such has an alternative use, such has not been thought of, or that a specific means has been through of yet not divulged.

 

As for the 4th point: Make it. Theres so much you can do. Everything in any expansive cave is deep caverns. But you can do lods of stuff, start underground horticulture, solve issues of ventilation/overuse of underground flame. Make some hidden mines or winding tunnels. Develope breeds of common animals exclusive to underground lifestyle and get sunsickness whenever above ground. Saying that adding a harvestable node will somehow assuage a lack of something underground is just silly.

As a side note, the concept of being able to fold a metal that physically resists and returns the force by which that is applied to it would make it seem that once it is refined it is nigh unworkable, given it would simply take to returning a great deal of the force applied in shaping it, such as hammering or prying it into place.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guys I did tell you that having a ‘really strong’ metal which also had all these other properties was going to get ripped apart. I’m glad you dropped the comparison to Carbarum, but this needs to be better defined.

 

Really you should do one of the following:

 

Make refined Songsteel comparable to decent sword steel in all material properties. Give it a soft musical hum and its colouration for aesthetic. Let the soft/impure version be experimented on for your fancy instrument pieces and bells, gongs etc.

 

Or

 

Remove its properties which make it fit for weaponry and armour, and just make it a neat metal with various cool applications for artisans and Mages etc.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I had something in mind for a metal like this, but not this

Link to post
Share on other sites

i think just a record metal was pretty cool i liked that please stop upsetting quavinir and luci its making me not wanna think ab metal again

Link to post
Share on other sites

Very epic, perfect for Mynebor. But then again, also too OP. Try again. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

This lore has been denied. You will be sent a forum PM regarding the reasons for denial within the next 24 hours.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...