Raw Goods. Raw goods are those things, including agricultural products, minerals, and metals, that are often still in a raw, unsettled format. They require refinement, often, or have to be placed into some form that is usable.

Finished Goods. Finished goods are things ready for market as they are, such as flour, livestock, or prepared goods.

Luxury Goods. There are some things that are not mined, not found, not reclaimed, not grown. They are the product of artistry and skill, of craft and cunning; they are the manufactured things, and their value and worth as goods is always worth knowing and considering.

There are a lot of goods that are traded throughout Wyrlde, and it would be a challenge to effectively list them all, but a significant number of important and common ones can be assembled and described.

Textiles

Fabric is expensive, bulky, and always in high demand, especially those that have been dyed. Most people have a single set of work clothes, a more formal set of clothing they take care of for celebrations, and if they are lucky a spare. Fashion is important in the Cities among the wealthier people, who may have as many as five possible outfits, but the typical person will have one set of clothing that includes sturdy material, such as denim. Linen is the man fabric of Sibola and Aztlan, but it can vary among the others. Dorado is fond of denim, apparently.

That clothing will be decorated – laces, bows, trims, and other fine work are very popular and in great demand. They are also pricey.

A standard bolt is 1 yard tall and 25 yards long. Some mills in Lyonese will make bolts that are 3 yards wide and 125 yards long.

Silk is made from a few different kinds of threads – from strange worms to spiders to creatures from the Fairywilde, large, small, and in between. It is especially popular among nobility and those with the money for it, as it is always in short supply. The most sought-after silk is that of large spiders who weave complex braided webs. The spiders are about 12 to 16 inches across, with a body about the size of a man’s fist. They are prized because their silk is not sticky, takes dye well, and they produce a great deal of it. The problem is they feed on small rodents and other small animals.

Another form of silk that is prized is that of Giant Silkworms, who are carnivorous and fungi eating creatures, about three feet long each, and they spin a constant stream of silk from shortly after hatching until they emerge from the eventual cocoons as predatory Bloodmoths (a hazard in the wilds and jungles).

Wool is more common in the northern Empire, shipped out and traded widely.

Cotton is more likely to be found in the western Empire and is popular – both in bulk and raw form but more so if woven into any kind of textile.

Linen is popular among the eastern Empire, and tends to be found often in the south, where it competes with Jute and Hemp fabrics. Bamboo is carefully treated and shredded for a kind of threadlike strip and woven into a special fabric used broadly.

Leather is rarely used among the wealthy but is quite common among the poorer peoples; this conflict is notable as well because the wealthy have a fondness for Fur, but not such furs as squirrel, rabbit, or bear, preferring the minks, beavers, and other more luxurious furs, especially in the north.

Paper is made in small batches, and typically will be set up on a sheet that is one yard square, then cut down to the size needed. It is made from bamboo, rice, and wood pulp, mostly sawdust.

Common Fabrics

Fabrics include Brocade, a woven style using contrasting colors of thread to create patterns; Taffeta, a treated woven silk; Satin, a weave in which the threads of the warp are caught and looped by the weft at certain intervals; Velvet, a tightly woven material with a short dense pile, giving it a soft feel; Woolsey, a tough weave with a linen warp and a woolen weft; Fusty, a linen weft and cotton warp; Kamber, a cotton weave with threads of silk or linen, cross woven on a special loom; Muslin, a basic cotton fabric; Sindlin, a linen version of muslin; Serjlin, a wool form of muslin; Canvas, a thick fabric made from hemp; Hesslin, made from jute fibers and used often in waxed fabrics for waterproofing; Wooless, a wool and jute wefted twill weave fabric treated for a waterproof uses that is warp faced; Denim, a sturdy cotton warp-faced twill weave textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. Qivira has Deslin, a bamboo weft and hemp warped twill weave that is very tight and is often treated with lacquer to create a strong, dense material used in place of or alongside leather.

Critter Parts

There is one kind of item that many folks will speak about, but few will have the ability to acquire, and this is a major source of revenue for many. This is the gruesome and often disturbing trade in the parts and pieces of abominations, monstrosities, horrors, and other assorted creatures.

For example, Dragon’s blood is often worth several Crowns – one year Akadia’s entire tribute was derived from it. Troll bone is used to fashion hinges and flexible but strong tools. Beholder jelly is a potent tool for fashioning managems. The list is extensive and is talked about to a degree in Sheroo’s Bestiary.

Common Resources

One of the more interesting qualities to Wyrlde is that there are a variety of very common staples and core resources that are located and shared via trade and extraction throughout the Bright Lands, and that are often the target of Dread Land efforts to obtain.

Staples

There are several staple crops that make up the bulk of the available foodstuffs on Wyrlde. These crops do not always grow well across all regions, due to assorted mechanics, but are grown enough that they have an impact and are valuable trade goods.

Those mentioned are because of their value, importance, or impact. Agriculture within the Bright Lands has a complex structure to it that requires crop rotations, soil amending using composting, cultivation of particular crops both together and in a certain sequence. Nearly every farmer will have at least some strong idea of all of the plants mentioned here, and most will grow several of them over time, with a rotation on their fields that is different from the rotation in their neighbor fields. These rotations are tracked over long periods both by the farmers and by the local authority over them, and in some cases in Sibola can be traced back to before the formal founding of the city itself.

Almond	Apple	Apricot	Bamboo	Banana
Barley	Bean	Beetroot	Blueberry	Cabbage
Cacao	Carrot	Cassava	Celery	Cherry
Chick-Pea	Chicory	Citrus	Coconut	Coffee
Cucumber	Eggplant	Fava Bean	Fig	French Bean
Grape	Grapefruit	Groundout	Hops	Lentil
Lettuce	Lima Bean	Macadamia Nut	Maize	Mango
Melon	Millet	Mustard	Oats	Oil Palm
Okra	Olive	Onion	Orange	Papaya
Pea	Peach	Pear	Pepper/Chile	Pineapple
Pistachio	Plum	Potato	Potato	Radish
Rice	Rye	Sorghum	Soybean	Spinach
Squash	Sugar Cane	Sunflower	Sweet Potato	Tea
Teff	Tomato	Walnut	Wheat	Yam

Cereals

Perhaps the single most important form of these trade staples are cereals. They form a significant chunk of all agricultural effort within the Bright Lands, and represent the most basic blocks of keeping people fed.

There are five principal grain crops, each of which has a long and often storied history in and of itself. Each of these crops, in turn, has between three and a dozen different strains, varieties, and lines that all trace back to the core five that are noted in historic documents saved from the Ancient Land.

Tritia

The first of these is Tritia, which is used for a broad range of foodstuffs, but most notably bread. Hardy, comparatively easy to grow, Tritia has the position of pride as the major grain. It is used for bread, noodles, porridge, and more.

Baykern

The second one is Baykern. The oldest available records suggest that it is two things, but our actual knowledge of it shows it is just one. It produces larger kernels than Tritia’s finer style but has both a sweetness and a richness that triticale often lacks – however it does not make great bread. It is used in several different ways, including soups, roasted (it pops with an earthy scent), boiled, and ground for assorted flatbreads. It is also used as additional stock feed, in addition to the falfal and hay. Of note is that a single War Ration always includes Baykern. The grains are round, large, and grow in tight clumps within a sheath that must be peeled back.

Ris

The next one is Ris. Large grains, almost seedlike, that are used in much the same way as Tritia is, but with a sweetness and a lightness. It also does not form a strong dough, but flours from it blend well with the other two mentioned previously. Ryce is usually a light brown in color, and is often eaten just as it is, steamed.

Milgha

The fourth staple is Milgha, which grows like a grass to a height of around five feet, with each stalk topped by a massive forearm length cluster of small, hexagonal seeds that birds absolutely love but that is also extremely valuable and tasty. Milgha has some fifteen different varieties, bred over the years for different locations, and Qiviran Milgha is considered the richest, sweetest of all (often simply roasted lightly and then snacked on with a bit of salt).

Soya

The fifth staple is called Soya and forms small pea-like pods within which are five to seven small beans per pod. These are used in a variety of ways, even fermented, and used as an additive (soya juice) or treated to make a fine paste that is often mixed with dried fish to make a portable soup stock. Antelle says that she misses “the real thing” and claims that Soya is a hybrid plant between something called korn and a plant much like what we have, called soibein.

Tubers

There are many plants that are grown for their tubers, corms, or roots. They are, like cereals, consumed during nearly every meal, and fill many different purposes.

Taters

Taters are the most common of them, with a stunning 60 different kinds that have different growing needs and ultimately work together for a year-round yield while also functioning to help balance and stabilize the soils.

Kasiv

Kasiv is the second most common, and the one most often used for feedstock. Kasiv is often said to be bland and is one of the most common of the forms also founding the wild. It is a shallow, semispherical tuber, usually a gold with purple stripes, and grows a cluster of tall, broad leaves (usually a handspan in size) that reach about two and half feet to three feet high. A single tuber can be well over a foot in diameter at the widest part, with a rind or skin that is usually durable but not thick. They are peeled and then treated. Antelle calls them Turnavas.

Yam

The third major Tuber is the Yam. Many varieties, all of them are very sweet, and frequently are simply roasted on their own and then eaten. They grow in clumps beneath a small plant that has striking purple flowers when it prepares to go dormant for the season. The last major tuber grown is called Taroe. It is similar to Yams, but not as sweet.

Kathen

It is said that in the Dread Lands, there is a root called Kathen that is a major focus and serves as the principal crop for Agarthans and is used to feed slaves. In Akadia, they call it Bloodroot, because it requires blood to germinate properly, and it must be freshly spilled, and usually more than a person can spare.

Berries

The next major agricultural crop is sometimes called the largest, most important one. Berries are grown to serve an incredible array of purposes. Antelle says that all the Berries were intentional, that the Powers That Be chose and created them.

Wyrlde Berries can range from the fingertip sized ones to ones as large as two fists held together. Berries generally have a thin outer rind, a core, with seeds in each berry, ranging from 3 to 5 seeds per.

The plants themselves come in a huge variety of shapes and growth patterns, but the berries are always found growing in clusters of 15 to 50 small fruits. They grow year-round, adapting to all climates, and are found pretty much everywhere on the planet.

Paria tells a tale of how Berries were once many different kinds of plants and made to work more efficiently for the peoples of the world. Some used to grow on trees, with huge single pits, all green throughout, and people would take the flesh of the berry and spread it on toast.

Antelle says that it was intended that a balanced meal, meaning a meal that would truly help keep someone healthy and taste good, would be comprised of a cereal, a tuber or vejei, a few berries, and sometimes meat from the herds.

Other Crops

Other key crops are well known, but more restricted in where they can be grown. Stonefruit, Appas, Vadoes, Berries of different sorts, Seedfruit, Leafruit of course are all there.

Coffee is grown mostly in the mountain areas, and tea can be found in many different locations, with different strains of the plant producing different flavors that are then changed again by soil conditions.

Cereals are, of course, used heavily in the brewing of beer in homes, but there are Graphez which grow on enormous vines and form large clusters of berries that are often used in making wine and other beverages.

According to Antelle, the Powers That Be selected the edible plants that the world would possess, then seeded the whole planet with all the possibilities, having made sure the plants would work not only for the planet, but with each other, and be good and healthy for people.

There are no edible plants that have any kind of risk associated with eating them.

The most common “group” of plants are Berries, like Tomatoes, followed by Stalks and then Vejees, which are flowers that are eaten.

Livestock

It is hard to address staple foods within the Bright Lands without including the three kinds of livestock usually found in great numbers. Legend says they came with the Powers That Be, and it is more than one who occasionally mutters about changes. Chicory is famous for her complaints about the livestock.

Common Staple Meats Include:

Beef	Dormice	Mutton	Capybara	Elk
Pork	Chicken	Fish	Rabbit	Deer
Goat	Shellfish

Cheeses: Cow, Goat, Sheep, Aruk, Weg.

The three forms of livestock all have a multiplicity of importance. Although there are such wild animals as boars, deer, horses and more, it is these three that are tamed – Antelle says domesticated – and that exist to serve people.

Aruks

Aruks are large ruminants that survive on feedstock or graze the grasslands of the world. They provide milk, leather, meat, haul carts, pull plows, wool, and more. Standing about four feet high at the top of their shoulders, with broad heads capped by round tipped horns that grow down, they are huge animals that weigh several hundred pounds each. Shearing season is early autumn, and a typical Aruk will provide around 100 pounds of stiff wool that is prized for the lanolin that is in each fiber.

Milking Aruks are far more common, and the black and white patterns that are both part of their hides and match exactly the colors of their wool are often used to suggest something that is related to them. Most small families will have an Aruk as one of the most important provisions, especially when children are present, as the milk is easily tolerated and makes outstanding cheese and butter.

Aruks in mating season have a temper, however.

Fesan

Fesan are a kind of large bird, usually weighing as much as 40 pounds when full grown. They can fly, but usually not higher than a couple stories, never fast, and not for long. The record for distance for a Fesan is something along the lines of 120 yards. Fesan are brown, gray, and black in plumage, with hints of white. They have extremely strong upper leg muscles that they use to drive themselves into flight and stand two to three feet tall at the top of their head (taller for hens, shorter for cockerels).

Fesan have three layers of feathers that are shockingly easy to lose, and they grow rapidly and constantly so that they have to be groomed frequently. They do very poorly when caged, dying fast. They lay 3 to 7 eggs every three days, with any given group of ten hens laying eggs on different days. Eggs are about four inches tall, and one egg is enough for most people. The eggs have a yolk, a white, and a cren (like a secondary yolk for feeding an embryo), Cockerels are males and known to respond to the rising sun with a cry every day as a way to mark their territory, and they are territorial, each cockerel having 10 to 20 hens in a harem. The eggs are typically speckled, multicolored in browns, blues, whites, and yellows,

Fesan are seed and feedstock eaters, usually cereals, but can eat grains that people cannot and adore falfal seeds as well as millen (a feedstock grain).

Wegs

Wegs are a large, omnivorous, hoofed animal with a thick, bristly fur and extremely well-developed sense of smell. A fully grown adult Weg can weigh as much as 1500 pounds, stand three and a half feet tall, with strong teeth and powerful jaws set in a short snout, stretching out as long as five feet. They have long, curly tails that indicate their overall mood. Bacon is made from them, and their rendered fat is used in cooking alongside oilberry oil. Their meat is much lighter in color compared to the dark red of Aruk but is still deeper colored and far fattier than that of Fesen. Wegs will eat anything. Including people – but tend to want to eat at very specific times and they eat a large amount. They are often used to dispose of garden scraps, food scraps, and more.

All of these livestock are friendly to humans and comprise the majority of livestock. There are some small places that keep goats, fowl, and other animals, but they tend to be more specialized, and these are what is seen most commonly.

Minerals

Wyrlde has many metals and minerals that are of value.

Most Common Metals

Aluminum	Antimony	Arsenic	Copper	Gold
Iron	Lead	Nickel	Silver	Tin
Titanium	Zinc	Chrome	Cadmium	Vanadium

There are five alloys that each combine five of the above in equal parts.

Other Key Minerals

Limestone	Ash	Coal	Chalk	Bitumen
Gypsum	Oyster Shells	Clay	Magnesium	Phosphorous

At some point in its past, Wyrlde has an immense amount of mollusk and related sea life, several thousand times the size of that place from which current ones came, and it is common to find their remnants pretty much anywhere. Imps are known to favor them and can be bought off by offering them.

Artisans from the Mason’s Guild in Lyonese are said to be engaged in some strange new effort around the use of certain clays, limestone, lye, volcanic ash, chalk, and coal that involves burning rocks.

Bitumen

Used for waterproofing (scabbards, armor plates, clothing, fabric, etc.), shipbuilding, building and construction adhesive, embalming, mosquito repellent, lining cisterns, varnish, ink, paint, patent leather, and more.

Bluegleam

Sought by the Syndicates in Dorado, Bluegleam is of high value.

Like its similar cousin, this only appeared after the God’s War, and is a highly prized, very rare material found in the general wilds. Crystalline and flexible, it grows to about two feet long in small clumps, a fully formed crystal being for inches in diameter. Note that it reacts poorly with diamond and is very durable.

Electrum

Of the two gold mines outside of Qivira, the Arcadian mines include electrum as a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver within the dedicated mines being one of the more common ores available on Wyrlde.

Greenschine

A strange crystalline substance that has faint glowing properties (about 3 feet in a dim light around it), greenschine is used to alloy metals, improve health, provide for magical rites, and generally improve things. It is found in the wild and has great value. Crystals grow up to two feet long, with a diameter of about four inches. It is rumored to be a part of the birth of magic in Wyrlde. It reacts poorly with diamond. The Skyewards are always interested in finds of greenschine, but, like the Posse of Eld, never really explain why.

Starstone

Another crystalline material, Starstone is sought after by many smiths and wrights because it is used in the making of both Vitredur and Crystalium, which are extremely valuable and often used materials loved for their durability. Starstone has a strange dark color in its natural form, with tiny, bright specks of white, yellow, blue, red, and green throughout the dark mass – hence the name: it looks like stars within the night sky.

Precious Stones

There are not nearly as many kinds of precious stones on Wyrlde as one might expect – not all stones are as valued here. The following table shows the particular stones (all of which can come in a variety of colors) that are given additional value and are sought after and sought for.

An exception, of course, is Pearls. Pearls are extremely valuable – even more so if they are Giant Pearls, for they can be used to fashion all manner of magical devices. Giant Pearls, however, come from Giant Oysters and their close kin, and their close kin can be, well, a bit hesitant about releasing their pearls. One might even say deadly. Of note is that while Giant Abalone shell is liked, it is not considered a precious stone – it is more a valuable mineral and while used in jewelry, has other value (such as serving places for Triton homes).

Metals

Aluminum

One of the more abundant resources, and the primary metal resources of Aztlan, aluminum is more widely used here, often alloyed with titanium or other hard metal (but very rarely iron). It surprises some of the Powers that titanium is worked with here, but when you have magic involved, the creation of malleability is much easier.

Brass & Bronze

Iron being a comparatively rare thing, the ability to create alternative alloys and materials is of immense importance. Brass and Bronze are often used and tend to be a standard structure. They are slightly lighter and stronger, some incarnates have said, in comparison to where they came from.

These are mined on Wyrlde, coming mostly from Durango and its broad open face mines. Brass is mined and smelted pretty much as is, but sometimes separated into its components. Bronze is a unique and light metal here, mined as it is. Brass shines brightly, and is composed of copper, zinc, titanium, and tin. Bronze is copper, nickel, tin, phosphorous, and silicone.

Copper

Copper is a valuable metal used for several things, all of them pricey. The most common way that people will see it is in the form of coinage or Bars. Bars are pure, coins are alloyed, usually with electrum. Qivira’s mint mines much of this and the mines of Qivira are well known for their production of not just copper, but also gold and platinum.

Gold

There are five mines, three of which are in Qivira, for gold. Considered the most noble of metals, it is a malleable, magically reactive metal available in coinage and bars.

Iron

Iron is rare on Wyrlde, seemingly as a whole. As a result, it is often alloyed with assorted other metals and refined in surprisingly complex ways. It is believed that the alloys are critical for it to reduce the impact on magic. Wyrlde has a shortage of iron of a quality decent enough to make anything. Nearly all the steel and silver in weapons and gear found today is patched and reused or derived from recycled materials. The mines continue to dig for it, so the supply is increasing, but the sources are rarer and more difficult to find. Often, people will dig in ruins and abandoned places for it – scrap iron has high value.

Fae and Fell creatures are commonly allergic to unalloyed iron, to the point that it causes them greater pain and poisons them. The specific kind is called Cold Iron, which is forged without being smelted, from raw ore, the impurities beaten out of it. Extremely expensive. Steel hurts more but isn’t poisonous. Cold Iron does not keep an edge well, rusts easily, and needs frequent repairs. As a result, it is usually confined to manacles, daggers, and arrowheads.

The most well-known source of iron is found in the mines of Lyonese, which is also where the artisans are said to produce the finest weapons and best steel. However, they tend to export most of it through the Miner’s guild, and so the supply of this steel is still rare and considered to be unique.

One odd thing is that the Smiths of Qivira make a very potent form of steel called “teal iron” and guard the secret of its make closely; as of last known count, only three people knew the secret of it. It is believed to be a highly advanced alloy, incorporating both Bluegleam and greenschine into it.

Platinum

Used exclusively for coins, platinum is considered the property of the Empire, and tribute must be delivered in this form. All the cities have mines for it, and these shipments inevitably make their way to Qivira for use in the Mint.

Silver

The primary source for Silver is Dorado.

Vitredur

This is a composite substance, a form of flexible ceramic that is able to take an extremely fine edge and require little upkeep or be used in plates that are set within different garments to add protection. It is a strange and useful material, used by those in Qivira to make many things, including strips used in armor. As a ceramic, it goes through a process of curing but once cooled and finished, polished, and edged, the thing it is most famous for is how it is used in making deadly weapons that can outlast anything else.

Steelglass

Antilian merchants have been finding a market for the peculiar material they are famous for creating. It is a transparent, clear material that looks like glass, and yet is as hard as steel and takes an edge like vitredur. It looks like glass, and rumor says that the wealthiest of Antilian leadership can be found sporting armor of it. This is striking, because one thing remains true about Steelglass – it is heavier than and less flexible than steel.

Daengeld

A peculiar metal found growing in a crystalline pattern, it is brittle when discovered, easily turned into a powder, but when smelted becomes an extremely strong, magically potent metal. The dust is used in wand making and rituals, and the metal has occasionally been forged into startling forms and uses. It is unknown where it comes from, but it is something that the Posse of Eld is always on the lookout for, without ever saying why.

Crystalium

Another material made using the highly sought after combinations of Skystone and certain metals, it is stronger than the steel that is hard to find, and difficult to fashion. It is a slightly transparent material, and warms rapidly to the body, so it liked for armor, and is sometimes called rainbow hued, because the surface reflects in many different colors, like a rainbow.

Whiteshine

A more common stronger metal is called Whiteshine, crafted through a process that the folks in Lyonese keep as quiet and to themselves as the farmers of Aztlan, the Skyewards in Akadia, the Posse of Rails in Dorado, and the Syndicate does about their carriages in Dorado. It is, by all accounts, very hard to make. It uses a blend of Nickel and other metals. It gains its name from the white appearance of the metal, that can be polished to a luster.

An odd feature of it is that once it is alloyed, it never unalloys.

Tealiron

A material very much like steel that does use iron among its parts, it is the special creation of Qiviran specialists. It is a teal-colored metal, somewhat less flexible than steel, but durable and light. Like Glassteel, it is still exceedingly rare in the larger markets.

Magical Materials

There are certain materials on Wyrlde that are often used to support, improve, store, and influence magic and the effects of magic. As a result, it should be noted that the value of these materials is exceptionally high. A small ring with but a chip of Orikal might cost several thousand shillings. A Calcifer may be worth hundreds of crowns or sovereigns.

Skystone

A pearlescent crystalline stone with metallic properties that glows with an internal light. Mined in Sibola, it is a widely sought after stone because it allows for light without heat and does not seem to scar like Radiant light (such as the Sun) can cause.

The veins also are home to a species of snake-like entity, that can and will defend the ore. The veins move. Typically, it is shaped into crystals, polished and honed, faceted to provide light. A tiny fragment of it, about the same size as a candle flame burning on a wick, casts around 3 times the light of a single candle (3 candlepower, or around 36 lumens).

It should be noted that skystone also comes from meteors, and is often intertwined with meteoric iron, to which it can bond in some circumstances, used to make a very fine, extremely durable, and extremely flexible, glowing form of steel called Katanis.

Skystones are traded broadly and are one of the major light sources among the wealthy. The light of a Skystone never goes out, you see. They can be inherited and passed down among families.

Gaulaun

This is a gray, sand-like mineral, the tiny grains of which constantly move as if impelled by some living force. It is thought to be found in Durango’s Sand Sea. When a small amount of gaulaun is burned and directed by the correct spells (such as the hypothesized Mechanical Engine), it can provide significant motive force capable of powering magical machinery.

Orikal

An exceptionally heavy, hard, impervious, pinkish or reddish crystalline metal with the unusual property of being able to absorb and store all kinds of magic. Many mages wear Orikal jewelry. A one-inch cube of the material is said to weigh 1 pound.

The most prized metal on Wyrlde, it is found primarily in Lyonese with a deposit known to be somewhere in Arcadia. It is very reactive magically, and much sought after, particularly by Mages who use weapons. It is a very rare metal, with the unusual property of being able to absorb and store all kinds of mana. Many folks wear jewelry made of Orikal and use it to contain bits and pieces of their power that they could use when needed. However, Orikal not only absorbs the magic—it hungers for it, as though the metal was hollow and eager, aching even, for power to fill it up and make it whole. You can feel the desire for more magic, for more power when using it.

It is said that the extremely rare and expensive metal has the capacity to absorb magic, to store it for use when needed, enabling it to become a kind of magical battery over time.

It is often said that this is deeper than it seems — that Orikal not only absorbs the magic, it hungers for it, as though the metal was hollow and eager, aching even, for magical power to fill it up and make it whole; some claim that they can sense this, can feel it, as an active desire on the part of the metal.

Once it is properly smelted, it can be used to store raw magical power. One Grain (0.5 grams) of it typically can take in a bit of mana each day and be available afterwards.

If the prepared metal absorbs too much mana, it melts, losing all the stored Mana, and it is the application of too much magic that causes it to melt and be able to be shaped. Melted Orikal does not have heat – it remains temperature neutral, but it is said that contact with it can drain a caster in a moment of their mana.

Orikal bonds readily and easily with assorted woods such as Rowan, Oak, Willow, Hazel, Hawthorn, and Ash, and becomes almost impossible to separate from them (one must burn the wood). For this reason, it is often used in rods, wands, staves, and similar items. Note that it must be bonded to something else in order to be ingrained or imbued. Otherwise, it just absorbs the mana.

Orikal can bond to starwood, and doing so creates a dangerous tool that not only dispels magic, it draws the mana out of the person holding it. This is often used in cuffs or collars to restrain Mages. Nulls lose their resistance when in contact.

It is found in small clusters of crystals in many different places, and legend says that there is a flowing pool of it near one of the places where magic erupted into the world, and that this pool keeps the magic in check.

Starwood

A tree that strongly resembles bamboo and grows in much the same way and the same places that has a startling property: it dispels magic. It is often treated much like bamboo and used to create a kind of woven material that is light, strong, and flexible. It is used in the creation of certain kinds of armor.

It is illegal to bring starwood into or possess it within Akadia.

Calcifers

Calcifers are strange crystals that are unpredictable in where they are found or how many or how effective they are, but one thing is said about all of them: they are solid magic. Different calcifers may contain the stored capacity for different kinds of magic. Most of the crown jewels of the assorted Realms contain at least one calcifer among them, and the imperial Crown Jewels are known to include five different ones that enable their use no matter what the affinity of the Emperor may be.

Calcifers grow smaller when they are tapped or drawn from. They have a known limit, and this makes them very difficult to set into jewelry, so will often be set up so that they can be tapped without being lost (such as in a globe).

Calcifers, however, are, like magic, sentient. And they will often have their own plans, purposes, ideas, and needs that are often detrimental to those who use them.

Calcifers were used in the creation of all the great Legendary Weapons. A calcifer can be melted into and combined with other materials, but it requires mastery of one’s craft to do it, as well as significant study into the nature of and qualities of this kind of work.

It is said that the use of a calcifer can enable a single person to perform any ritual.