[✗] [World Lore] [Wood] Frostwood

[LeopardMan 48]

Frostwood

(Tier 4 Material Node)

 

 

Bitter Origins:

Within the dark, frozen, tundra's of the north, two entrepreneurs searching for riches went to daring lengths to find something that would make them rich beyond comparison. Exploring this frozen wasteland, they would cross a not so frozen lake, causing one of the two entrepreneurs to plunge beneath the ice and finding themselves unable to break through the ice. His partner dived down to save them, only to find themselves trapped beneath the ice, unable to surface or locate his partner. But in an ironic and seemingly cruel turn of fate, had managed to find himself in a place with the very thing they were looking for, at the cost of a dear friend.

 

Description and Properties:

Frostwood slabs take the form of a discolored frozen bark slab with the chilling touch of ice and a spotted wave pattern of grey, charcoal, dark blue and lapis lazuli.

When exposed to light, it would reflect parts of the light as specs of blue, grey, and black particles as if emanating from the wood. Impacts from sharpened or pointed objects would damage the Frostwood slabs, regardless of whether it is in the rock surrounding it or to the Frostwood slab itself. Strikes like these can split and break the Frostwood slabs into unusable splinters, effectively rendering them worthless. It is also combustible at temperatures of 2372 degrees Fahrenheit (1300 degrees Celsius), rendering the material unsalvageable. This combustion will not happen if the Frostwood slab is in a location where combustion is impossible, such as underwater or where there is no air.

 

Frostwood Location and Harvesting:

Found embedded into the walls of underwater caves and air pockets, the slabs would often be accessible in small pockets of air deep beneath the watery depths, requiring proper diving equipment to prevent hypothermia for the would-be harvesters of the Frostwood slabs.
Frostwood is most commonly found embedded within the walls of the underwater caves within enclosed air-pockets, oftentimes resembling routes or veins that have been retracted into the walls themselves. These air pockets are just as cold as the water which one must enter through, and are commonly laced with frost and thin sheets of ice both on the walls, and blocking the way into the air pocket. Though this sheet is easily broken with a firm kick or strike of the hand.

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Due to the location of the Frostwood slabs, one person must remain at the surface where it was initially discovered, ready to pull on a rope at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, one to three divers dawned in protective swimming gear made of insulated leather, or metal cloth would dive towards the Frostwood slabs, standardly with a form of prying rod, and a rope tied to them. Once they have reached the Frostwood slabs, they would insert ferrum rods into the grooves around the Frostwood slab, and slowly pry them loose from the rock. Standardly, this will cause a large, semi-flat slab to disconnect from the wooden mass, revealing blued and grey tree rings beneath. The grooves that form around the slabs of Frostwood for a decently sized pole or hook to slide in and pry it off without bringing harm to the Frostwood itself, assuming the pole is not sharp or edged at the end that is being inserted into the wood.

The use of hammers to insert the rod deeper into the groove by force is not recommended as it could damage the Frostwood during extraction, this advice is allow applied to the use of crowbars, pickaxes, chisels, saws, and other conventional mining tools for the same or similar reasons. When the pole is levered, the Frostwood slabs would separate from the stone, or further remaining-log base and can then be removed by hand. Extraction is now as simple as tying it to the rope and navigating its way back to the surface.

Once the Frostwood slabs have been secured to the rope within the cave, the person standing by at the surface would slowly pull the wooden slab to the surface, aided by one or more divers to ensure that the walls of the cave do not clip or snag its sides, or risk of having it fall loose. It is highly advised that one person does not make more than two trips at any time, as the risk of hypothermia would be too great for anyone to pursue any more dives.

Spoiler

Red Lines:

• Frostwood slabs must be harvested from a node with ST oversight.

• When starting at the surface of the water, divers retrieving the Frostwood slabs are required to wear protective fur or wool packed leather gear designed for travel in below zero temperatures. Divers that fail to meet this requirement will result in hypothermia, and thus will not be able to harvest it without lethal risk to themself. This is also true inside the node location is just as cold, as is the node itself.

• If a diver has an innate ability or item to neglect the freezing temperature, they are still at risk of drowning. Likewise, if someone can dive unimpeded by their need for air for similar reasons, they are still subject to freezing temperatures. Ignoring both of these factors under the reasoning that only one of the two factors does not apply to them is considered Powergaming.

• Harvesting of Frostwood slab through the use of pickaxes, chisels, saws, or any tool that applies a piercing or slashing effect of any kind to either the Frostwood slab itself or the surrounding rocks will cause irreplaceable damage to the slab, making it impossible to salvage, and is considered a failed harvest.

• Once harvested, the person assigned at the surface must use the rope to pull the Frostwood slab to the surface. Though how this is achieved is not of significant importance, when pulled, at least one individual must assist in the maneuvering of the Frostwood slab until it reaches the surface. This is achieved by one or more people taking at minimum one Frostwood slab to the surface. Multiple people can do this task, as long as they are only carrying one chuck between the group.

• If the ST on sight rules that one or more people are at risk of hypothermia or drowning, failure or refusal to RP this is considered Powergaming.

• During the extraction of Frostwood, if someone is unconscious or dies from hypothermia or drowning, the other members can retrieve their items. But any Frostwood they had on hand at the time cannot be retrieved and is considered lost.

 

Frostwood Slab Application:

It is a wooden slab of blue and grey coloration and when exposed to light, it would reflect parts of the light as specs of blue, grey, and black particles as if emanating from the wood. It is vulnerable to slashing and piercing items such as swords, spears, and arrows, and temperatures above 2372 degrees Fahrenheit (1300 degrees Celsius) will cause it to combust. This form is not very practical, but improvements can be made to it for a more effective material.

Spoiler

Redlines:

• It is effectively just a crusty Maplewood at this point, that won’t ignite.

 

Frostwood Block Creation and Molding:

When introduced into boiling salt water, over an hour, the Frostwood will become incredibly malleable, able to be bent, stretched, and shaped freely without snapping. However, it will condense and its size would decrease to half its original size. Once this process has been completed, a slab or multiple slabs may be layered over itself or each other to laminate and mold it into any given shape. Alternatively, the now malleable slab/slabs can be divided into blocks via the use of a cutting tool, with two blocks being sourced for each Frostwood slab treated. These blocks can be pressed together with other blocks using the same methods to create larger objects. In addition, it can be bent, layered, stretched and thinned out to create intricate or practical shapes such as handles, tool heads, shields, and even intricate objects such as chairs and armor parts with enough blocks. The splitting is optional, but one standard Frostwood Slab is equivalent to two Frostwood blocks when fully treated.

During this process, tools (though most applicably pliers, tongs, and mallets) can be used to shape the material into whatever the wielder desires, with a minimum volume of one cubic inch being workable. Its shaping is not unlike shaping hardened leather, requiring a decent amount of effort to pull and pressing into shape. When shaping, creating points and sharp edges are doable but are forbidden in practice as this will cause problems for the item during and proceeding the shaping process.

Spoiler

Red Lines:

• The shaping of Frostwood requires ST oversight.

• One Frostwood ‘block’ is equal to one ingot in the material compendium.

• One Frostwood slab produces two Frostwood blocks.

• The saltwater needed for Frostwood block creation and moulding must contain a minimum of 4.5 ounces per gallon of water and only works when at a boiling point. Unfiltered seawater will also work for this process.

• The use of saltwater to create work with Frostwood is accessible in the public domain. Additionally, the tools and methods of shaping Frostwood would also be public knowledge. No RP discovery or learning is required to work with Frostwood.

• When moulding Frostwood blocks into shape via the boiling process, they can be cut, pierced, pressed, folded, and moulded back together using Frostwood blocks. This rule does not apply to Frostwood slabs or Frostwood that has foregone the shaping process. Use of either or in this process will fail and is deemed unsalvageable.

• Temperatures above 2372°F (1300°C) will cause the Frostwood to combust and burn until destroyed, making it unsalvageable. 

• Frostwood blocks retain the same material properties as Frostwood Slabs. Refer to Frostwood Slab Applications for material properties.

 

Purified Frostwood:

Following the creation of a Frostwood block and the molding of it into a given item via the shaping process, the Frostwood can be solidified permanently by bringing the item to a boil within pure water before being removed and submerged in pure salt to cool. Once it has been brought to a cool, the molded Frostwood would become solidified and can no longer be worked on using other Frostwood.

Unlike Frostwood slabs or blocks, fully formed Frostwood would lack the vulnerability of piercing and slashing items that its slab and block forms had, any points or edges intentionally or unintentionally made during the solidifying process would deform and break upon first use. The breaking of these points and edges would make it a blunt object, and any attempts to create sharpened edges or points post-solidifying will cause similar results. This is why the creation of points of edges during the molding process is forbidden, as it wastes both materials and runs the risk of destroying the newly created Frostwood.

Tools, armor and weapons reliant on wood such as shields, wooden mullets, swords, glaives, bows, and crossbows would be its most common application, though utensils, furniture and wood carving would be achievable. It should be noted that caving with Frostwood at this state is doable, but not advised unless skilled at carving.

It is important to remember that when working with Frostwood, that it cannot withstand extreme heat for prolonged periods. So it is not advised to be within areas or environments above 2372 degrees Fahrenheit (1300 degrees Celsius) such as in forge-furnaces or near lava.

Spoiler

Red Lines:

• The shaping of Frostwood requires ST oversight.

• Any points or sharp edges created during the shaping process of Frostwood will persist but instantly deform or break on first use. Additionally, if the item is thinner than one inch in length at any point, it will break at that point and become unsalvageable.

• Frostwood when broken or damaged cannot be reused for future Frostwood moulding processes. Damaged or broken Frostwood is unsalvageable.

• Frostwood can be broken with significant trauma over multiple periods of RP combat and training with it. Additionally, temperatures above 2372°F (1300°C) will cause the material to combust and burn until destroyed, making it unsalvageable. Unless you are in an environment where combustion is impossible, refusing to RP either circumstance is considered powergaming.

 

Frostwood Application:

It is a wooden slab of blue and grey coloration, and when exposed to light would give off small, iridescent particles akin to embers, shimmering and emitting shades of blue, grey, and black. However, they're only visible under light and do not glow. Temperatures above 2372 degrees Fahrenheit (1300 degrees Celsius) will cause it to combust, and any attempts to shape or create a point will result in its deformations upon the object with the risk of breaking. It can be used to create shields, bows, crossbows, wooden poles, wooden tools like mullets, and tool and weapon handles. This material would be very difficult to burn, with a unique aesthetic unmatched by regular wood or coating combination.

Though it is somewhat possible to hack apart, it is hardy, akin to hardwoods such as Maple. However, it is remarkably bendable, and though it will bend akin to hardwood, it has no point by which it will splinter or snap apart. This immunity to being overbent allows for extremely hardy hafts and backings for shields, and bows of all kinds able to store more power within its limbs.

Spoiler

Red Lines:

• Items made from Frostwood must be ST signed.

• Frostwood is only as strong as Maplewood, in regards to being cut or hacked apart, and bears similar weight.

• Bows made from Frostwood are not automatically stronger, or easier to use, however, they can never be overdrawn, and, given the strength of the wielder can draw it enough, fire arrows with the greater draw weight. For ease of balancing, short bows, flatbows, recurve bows, and longbows made from Frostwood may all be applied with the maximum draw weight of 200 lbs, and do equal damage as a longbow, and remain with their applicable advantages, disadvantages and ranges as described in the [Techlock - Armaments] post. It has no tangible effect on the various forms of crossbows.

• Frostwood does not nullify, nor have any dampening effect on the force applied against it, all it is immune to is the item in itself snapping from bending or blunt force. A helmet made of Frostwood would offer no further protection than a helmet made of Maplewood.

• Frostwood itself is immune to ignition up to 1300 degrees celsius, however, it by no means nullifies heat. It will heat up just as fast as any other wood would, but simply does not catch on fire or burn up until 1300 degrees celsius.

 

Purpose (OOC):

Frostwood would act as a wood alternative for shields, bows, weapon handles, and well as be able to be used in the creation of armor, hammers, and blunt tools like mallets. It would be a viable wood alternative to weapons that desperately need it. There are no wood-based ST nodes on the server and the two unique wood types that exist are not easily obtainable/well integrated with the world. This material would diversify the already existing and implemented ST nodes in a mostly underutilized part of the lore and possibly result in some outstanding lore items that aren’t just swords, axes and armor.

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(OOC Credit: Credit to ST Members EdenGlitched and Auric_Saint for assisting me in the creation of this material. Credit also goes to Oh_Ontario#4000 on discord for the creation of the Frostwood texture. Without their assistance and willingness to aid me in my goals, it would not have turned out the way it has, and I am grateful for what they’ve done for me.)

[Ryloth 4312]

i havent read it yet but yes please more wood lore

[ohbother1 546]

i likey +1

[squakhawk 7887]

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