Name: Glacium
Purpose: Glacium is a specialized metal sought after by skilled craftsmen and enchanters for its unique properties. It is primarily used in the crafting of magical weapons, armor, and artifacts that require exceptional resilience and adaptability in extreme environments.
Notable Abilities:
Inverted Hardening: Glacium exhibits an extraordinary ability to adapt to temperature fluctuations, becoming malleable when exposed to extreme cold and hardening to near-indestructible levels in high heat environments. This property allows for intricate shaping and detailing during the crafting process, while ensuring maximum durability and resilience in combat.
Subzero Melting Point: Glacium defies conventional metallurgical principles by melting when exposed to freezing temperatures. It requires temperatures equivalent to liquid nitrogen ( −210 °C (−346 °F; 63 K) to reach a malleable state, allowing skilled craftsmen to manipulate and shape it with precision in specialized forges.
Material Composition:
Naturally Occurring State: Glacium ore is found in remote and frigid regions of the world, typically deep within frozen caves, icy caverns, or beneath the permafrost of polar landscapes. It forms in crystalline formations embedded within the icy bedrock, shimmering like frozen stars amidst the frosty darkness. Glacium ore is often discovered near elementals associated with winter ice and cold as well.
Process of Rending Ingots from Glacium Ore:
Discovery and Extraction: The first step in obtaining Glacium ingots is the discovery and extraction of Glacium ore from its natural habitat. Adventurers and miners brave the treacherous conditions of icy caverns and frozen landscapes to locate veins of Glacium ore hidden deep within the earth.
Smelting Process: The smelting process for Glacium ore is a delicate and precise operation that requires specialized equipment and expertise. The ore is placed into a high-temperature furnace, where it is subjected to intense heat to melt away impurities and separate the pure Glacium metal from the surrounding rock and ice.
Cryogenic Forging: Once the Glacium metal has been extracted and purified, it is cooled to near-freezing temperatures using magical freezing techniques techniques often individual to the smith and closely guarded. This process transforms the molten Glacium into a malleable state, allowing skilled craftsmen to shape and manipulate it with precision in their specialized forges.
Ingot Formation: The malleable Glacium metal is then poured into ingot molds and allowed to warm and solidify. As the metal warms, it undergoes a remarkable transformation, hardening and taking on the radiant, icy-blue hue characteristic of Glacium steel.
Description: Glacium appears as a shimmering, silver-blue metal with a faint frost-like sheen. Its surface is smooth and polished, reflecting light in mesmerizing patterns that shift and dance with the ambient temperature. When exposed to extreme cold, Glacium begins to soften and take on a slightly translucent quality, reminiscent of melting ice. In contrast, when subjected to high heat, it emits a brilliant white glow as it hardens to a nearly unbreakable state.
Reasons to Interact:
Crafting Unique Artifacts: Artisans and enchanters seek out Glacium for its exceptional properties, using it to craft one-of-a-kind weapons, armor, and magical artifacts that defy conventional expectations. Its adaptability and resilience make it highly desirable for creating items of great power and utility.
Extreme Environment Applications: Adventurers and explorers seek out items crafted from Glacium for their unparalleled durability and adaptability in extreme environments. It is Hypothesized a vessel made from Glacium could traverse lakes of lava.
Recommended Stats for Interaction:
Smithing
Chemistry or magic to create a workable environment
