Mythalite
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MYTHALITE
"A staff made of solid Mythalite? Such a thing would create a Fireball with the effort we expend making a spark. Imagine!"
Nearly a decade after the cataclysm that engulfed Arabel at the close of 1383 DR, some brave few adventurers who delved deep into the cavernous underbelly of Arabel returned carrying a strange ore - mere iron, by the reckoning of most, yet bearing splinters of an exotic, crystalline substance throughout. It was not until a Wizard attempted to magically determine the nature of the contamination - and inadvertently found the shards reciprocating his humble divination into the ability to speak any language, however briefly - that its true potential was realised. The wards protecting the city, so arduously maintained by Archmage Aldek and Lord Hardcastle's Thayvian allies, were the first magics to be deliberately enhanced by Mythalite - and the results were astounding. The material's tremendous reserves of magical energy for its miniscule size quickly brought with it the greed of power-hungry wizards, whose deep pockets were ready and waiting to reward any significant quantities discovered.
Lord Malcolm Hardcastle's surveyors wasted no time in determining the availability of the resource - and over the course of the year identified vast reserves of the material trapped beneath the city and the surrounding lands. The danger inherent in mining expeditions to the deep ruins was flagrantly ignored as Arabellens, so long forced to make do with Survival rather than Prosperity, attempted to find their fortunes. Of the many prospecting companies that sprung up in that time, only a relative few still remain - enjoying the riches of a trade as perilous as it is profitable. All too many now lie forgotten in the deep, dark places of the world, although from time to time a mining expedition thought long-dead returns bearing corpses, Mythalite, or both.
All the while, the druids of the broken lands look on with growing alarm, calling the ore a Cancer, a Disease. Their paranoia was not helped when it became clear that the shards found may well have originated from the Mythallar that infamously burst over central Arabel hardly a day before calamity struck the land - which led many scholars to what is now its most widely accepted name, Mythalite. Its artificial origins, its contamination of the lands and - perhaps most importantly - Lord Hardcastle's growing attempts to industrialize its production has lead not a few druids to break their otherwise peaceful accord with the City of Arabel, and demand an immediate end to its obsession with Mythalite. Since 1394 Lord Hardcastle have enjoyed monopoly rights upon the trading and mining of mythalite, along with his appointment as Warden of the North by King Azoun V only deepening the rift between the Lord and the druids of the area.
Industrialists seeking wealth, Wizards seeking power and Druids seeking to contain this volatile, corrupted ore clash in the new age.
~:OOC:~
Mythalite is a new substance you can find in your adventures in the deep bowels of Arabel, and has a number of uses in the game. I'll not spoil much more than that, as you can find out for yourself what they might be!
