Part 22: Metals
Narsham posted:
Given that Gloranthan bronze is at least iron quality, the world's technically capable of medieval technology and western culture features some extremely well-designed armor for their knights. The main issue (beyond the dwarf issue we'll be hearing about soon) is that magic is so common and widespread in its various forms that there's little need for many technological advances.
Well, western warriors tend to be clad in scale or lamellar, resulting in riders who resemble cataphracts.
Gloranthan Metals
For those who don't know, here's an important note about Gloranthan metals.
Although usually given earthly names, they're not the same minerals, and usually just named something similar for reference. This isn't as noticable with bronze, but some other metals, in their pure state, exhibit some unusual properties.
Hu-Metal, the metal of storm. Usually called Bronze or Brass. A heavy dependable metal, and the most common on Glorantha, it's found either as ore (or godsbone) in the ground, but can be produced by redsmiths smelting tin and copper.
Ga-Metal, the metal of earth. Usually called copper. A shiny brown mineral, it's the second most common metal after bronze (earth gods died almost as much as storm gods did). The Elves use special trees to leech it out from the earth, and then make their weapons from those trees.
Ze-Metal, the metal of sky. Usually called tin. Silvery-blue in colour, it's mostly used to smelt copper into bronze.
Na-Metal, the metal of darkness. Usually called Lead. Ranging in colour from black to grey, pure lead doesn't reflect light and muffles sound, making it an excellent metal for stealthy armour. It is commonly used by Trolls.
El-Metal, the metal of light. Usually called Gold. Yellow, in colour, pure gold actually glows. Gold is twice as heavy as the equivilent ammount of bronze, so most gold is used to gild bronze armour.
Ul-Metal, the metal of the old gods. Usually called Silver. White in colour, it's soft and pliable unless purified, making it useless to make weapons out of. Although the evil Lunar Empire to the north belive it to be a holy metal, and enchant it for use in their weaponry.
Lo-Metal, the metal of water. Usually called Aluminium/Aluminum. A red metal, pure aluminium does not sink in water, and has an unusual trait.
Sa-Metal, the metal of water. Usually called quicksilver. A green, liquid metal, pure Sa-Metal doesn't sink in water. It is actually the same metal as aluminium, just in a liquid state.
And finally:
Ur-Metal, the metal of Death. Usually called Iron. Even when not pure, Iron displays supernatural properties, resisting magic, and dampening the user's magic as well. It is especially deadly to the Elves and Trolls, who this metal was designed to kill by its maker, the Dwarves. It's rarely found outside the hands of a dwarf, and even rarer to be found in the ground. It holds an edge better than bronze, and is wanted by everyone.
Also, Allow the hunt, sacrifice to Humakt.