Orcslayer, or blood-metal, was an alloy of steel that was poisonous to orcs.[1][2] [note 1]
Description
Orcslayer was a dull gray metal. [2]
History
In the late 6th and early 7th centuries DR, dwarves were determinedly expanding into the orcish kingdom of Vastar in the lands later known as the Vast, and attacking the orcs. Working secretly with a few humans and elves, they sought to develop a steel toxic to orcs, and succeeded with the metal they called "orcslayer".[1] Deep King Tuir Stonebeard requested over a thousand orcslayer weapons and, working hard over several years, Master Smith Fyrfar Smokebeard forged them and High Old One Turbaern, aided by the human mage Beldossan the Short and the elven sorceress Aleratha Ilnatar, enchanted them. Among these was the short sword Sarghathuld, forged in the Year of the Many Serpents, 605 DR.[2]
In the Year of the Spellfire, 610 DR, armed with their new orcslayer blades, the dwarves surged out of the mountains to slaughter the orcs of Vastar, quickly toppling the kingdom and driving the survivors into the mountains.
The sage Fairin Icemantle expressed great reservations about orcslayer metal, and wrote the Treatise Against Blood-Metal to protest its use. He feared that it would lead to the development of other alloys toxic to many races, and spread death and destruction.
Fortunately, the art of making orcslayer metals was long lost by 1370 DR.[1]
Appendix
Notes
- ↑ The only known example of an orcslayer blade is Sarghathuld, which is simply an orc bane weapon, suggesting orcslayer is simply the orc bane weapon property. However, the ability to make bane weapons is apparently not lost in the 14th century. Sargathuld had additional enhancements, so its orc bane ability may be a much stronger version of orcslayer.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 144. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 George Krashos (November 2000). “Bazaar of the Bizarre: Soargar's Legacy”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #277 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 90.