| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| TheIriaeban |
Posted - 20 Oct 2021 : 15:45:46
Besides Forham in the White Peaks, north of the Border Forest, is there another location listed in canon as a place where arandur is found? As a reminder, arandur is a gnomish-mined metal that keeps it's edge and is commonly used to create swords of sharpness. It also has some other properties that would make it a metal of choice for armor and shields.
The elves of Evereska are known to work with the metal. |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 22 Oct 2021 : 00:15:51
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
reprinting the whole entry(ies), just because that would probably help the conversation
From VGtatM
[b]Arandur: {/b]Once the exclusive secret of the gnomes, this legendary metal has since been worked by elven smiths of Evereska and Evermeet. Many gnomish locks and hooks, as well as some fabled elven warblades, have been forged of arandur, though new forgings "and folk who know how to work the ore" are both rarer than ever today.
Arandur is a rare natural metal found in igneous rock, usually as streaks of blue-green ore amid vitreous glass. So that it does not become as brittle as the glass it is found in, it must be tempered with the blood of a red or blue dragon in its forging. Because of this, working it is not a task for the roadside village smith. The finished forged metal is silver-blue with a green reflective shine. Arandur bonds with other metals so well that Merald's meld and crown meld spells are not necessary when enchanting an item made of it and other metals. It is famous for holding a sharp edge even when abused and was the favored material of old for making swords of sharpness and vorpal weapons.
Items made primarily of arandur automatically succeed in all item saving throws vs. fall, normal fire, cold, and electricity. They receive a +3 bonus to all item saving throws vs. acid, crushing blow, disintegration, magical fire, and lightning. Arandur also partially absorbs magic missile energy pulses; folk who wield a sword or shield made of arandur or wear arandan armor take ld2 (to a minimum of 1) fewer points of damage per magic missile bolt directed at them.
From Magic of Faerun
Arandur: Arandur is a rare natural metal found in igneous rock, usually as streaks of blue-green ore amid vitreous glass. When refined and forged, the metal is silver-blue with a green reflective shine. It is famous for holding a sharp edge even when abused and is the favored material for making keen weapons. Armor made from arandur grants sonic resistance 2. Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected. (A suit of chainmail is affected, while a suit of studded leather is not.)
Arandur weighs the same as steel, has hardness 12, and has 30 hit points per inch of thickness.
Market Price Modifier: Armor +2,000 gp.
So, it bonds with other metals, but its known to be extremely "energy absorbent" (one edition it absorbs force, another it absorbs sonic energy). Its very resistant to fire and lightning damage, and it must be quenched in the blood of a red dragon and a blue dragon (fire and lightning sources). In addition its unaffected by extreme cold either.
It's an igneous material, which would possibly fit in with well with the idea that its extremely energy resistant, and probably that it might need to be harvested near volcanic activity, hot springs etc.... Hmmm, actually sounds like a great material for me to stick down in Lopango, Land of Fire. Maybe there they might use phoenix blood and the blood of another bird/flying beasty who is tied to storms and lightning.
So, WotC policy, when they actually cared about canon, was that newer lore trumps older lore... But in this case, I'd stick with the earlier material. Volo's Guide to All Things Magical comes to us from Ed and Eric L Boyd -- the guy that created the setting and another guy known for doing his best to maintain continuity.
No disrespect intended to SKR and the team that did Magic of Faerūn (I'm a fan of a lot of SKR's stuff), but the pedigree for the first book is far more impressive to me than the pedigree for the second. Volo's Guide to All Things Magical remains my primary go-to for all things magical in the Realms, and for me, at least, its lore will trump all other FR magic lore, unless that other lore comes from Ed's pen.
Yeah, I feel the same way, especially for the metals that they redid in Magic of Faerun. They tried to make them "fit" 3e's models, and it was early on when their models were still being built. For this one, there's not much difference. Hizagkuur though was just mangled. I will say for arandur though, the change from 2e to 3e makes it easy to get but less useful. The 2e version is definitely more evocative of something where its hard to find, and even after you find it, finding someone who knows how to make it is next to impossible... then the person who makes it hopefully has the blood of 2 specific types of dragons. |
| TheIriaeban |
Posted - 21 Oct 2021 : 21:31:02
Thanks all. For my own purpose, I will add Giant's Run Mountains as another location besides just Blingdenstone and Forham. That is for the Kingdom of the Wailing Caves (which was founded about the same time as Quarrelshigh in the Troll Mountains by a splinter group of gnomes). Of course, it had a different name then and only became called the Kingdom of the Wailing Caves after the Spellplague. The Second Sundering and some associated events led to another name change (hope is a marvelous thing). |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 21 Oct 2021 : 15:39:35
There are some veins around the North (West).
Which was one of the reasons for Blingdenstone being founded where it was, despite obvious risks of having neighbours like Menzoberranzan and Gracklstugh. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 21 Oct 2021 : 15:06:10
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
reprinting the whole entry(ies), just because that would probably help the conversation
From VGtatM
[b]Arandur: {/b]Once the exclusive secret of the gnomes, this legendary metal has since been worked by elven smiths of Evereska and Evermeet. Many gnomish locks and hooks, as well as some fabled elven warblades, have been forged of arandur, though new forgings "and folk who know how to work the ore" are both rarer than ever today.
Arandur is a rare natural metal found in igneous rock, usually as streaks of blue-green ore amid vitreous glass. So that it does not become as brittle as the glass it is found in, it must be tempered with the blood of a red or blue dragon in its forging. Because of this, working it is not a task for the roadside village smith. The finished forged metal is silver-blue with a green reflective shine. Arandur bonds with other metals so well that Merald's meld and crown meld spells are not necessary when enchanting an item made of it and other metals. It is famous for holding a sharp edge even when abused and was the favored material of old for making swords of sharpness and vorpal weapons.
Items made primarily of arandur automatically succeed in all item saving throws vs. fall, normal fire, cold, and electricity. They receive a +3 bonus to all item saving throws vs. acid, crushing blow, disintegration, magical fire, and lightning. Arandur also partially absorbs magic missile energy pulses; folk who wield a sword or shield made of arandur or wear arandan armor take ld2 (to a minimum of 1) fewer points of damage per magic missile bolt directed at them.
From Magic of Faerun
Arandur: Arandur is a rare natural metal found in igneous rock, usually as streaks of blue-green ore amid vitreous glass. When refined and forged, the metal is silver-blue with a green reflective shine. It is famous for holding a sharp edge even when abused and is the favored material for making keen weapons. Armor made from arandur grants sonic resistance 2. Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected. (A suit of chainmail is affected, while a suit of studded leather is not.)
Arandur weighs the same as steel, has hardness 12, and has 30 hit points per inch of thickness.
Market Price Modifier: Armor +2,000 gp.
So, it bonds with other metals, but its known to be extremely "energy absorbent" (one edition it absorbs force, another it absorbs sonic energy). Its very resistant to fire and lightning damage, and it must be quenched in the blood of a red dragon and a blue dragon (fire and lightning sources). In addition its unaffected by extreme cold either.
It's an igneous material, which would possibly fit in with well with the idea that its extremely energy resistant, and probably that it might need to be harvested near volcanic activity, hot springs etc.... Hmmm, actually sounds like a great material for me to stick down in Lopango, Land of Fire. Maybe there they might use phoenix blood and the blood of another bird/flying beasty who is tied to storms and lightning.
So, WotC policy, when they actually cared about canon, was that newer lore trumps older lore... But in this case, I'd stick with the earlier material. Volo's Guide to All Things Magical comes to us from Ed and Eric L Boyd -- the guy that created the setting and another guy known for doing his best to maintain continuity.
No disrespect intended to SKR and the team that did Magic of Faerūn (I'm a fan of a lot of SKR's stuff), but the pedigree for the first book is far more impressive to me than the pedigree for the second. Volo's Guide to All Things Magical remains my primary go-to for all things magical in the Realms, and for me, at least, its lore will trump all other FR magic lore, unless that other lore comes from Ed's pen. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 21 Oct 2021 : 13:15:32
reprinting the whole entry(ies), just because that would probably help the conversation
From VGtatM
[b]Arandur: {/b]Once the exclusive secret of the gnomes, this legendary metal has since been worked by elven smiths of Evereska and Evermeet. Many gnomish locks and hooks, as well as some fabled elven warblades, have been forged of arandur, though new forgings "and folk who know how to work the ore" are both rarer than ever today.
Arandur is a rare natural metal found in igneous rock, usually as streaks of blue-green ore amid vitreous glass. So that it does not become as brittle as the glass it is found in, it must be tempered with the blood of a red or blue dragon in its forging. Because of this, working it is not a task for the roadside village smith. The finished forged metal is silver-blue with a green reflective shine. Arandur bonds with other metals so well that Merald's meld and crown meld spells are not necessary when enchanting an item made of it and other metals. It is famous for holding a sharp edge even when abused and was the favored material of old for making swords of sharpness and vorpal weapons.
Items made primarily of arandur automatically succeed in all item saving throws vs. fall, normal fire, cold, and electricity. They receive a +3 bonus to all item saving throws vs. acid, crushing blow, disintegration, magical fire, and lightning. Arandur also partially absorbs magic missile energy pulses; folk who wield a sword or shield made of arandur or wear arandan armor take ld2 (to a minimum of 1) fewer points of damage per magic missile bolt directed at them.
From Magic of Faerun
Arandur: Arandur is a rare natural metal found in igneous rock, usually as streaks of blue-green ore amid vitreous glass. When refined and forged, the metal is silver-blue with a green reflective shine. It is famous for holding a sharp edge even when abused and is the favored material for making keen weapons. Armor made from arandur grants sonic resistance 2. Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected. (A suit of chainmail is affected, while a suit of studded leather is not.)
Arandur weighs the same as steel, has hardness 12, and has 30 hit points per inch of thickness.
Market Price Modifier: Armor +2,000 gp.
So, it bonds with other metals, but its known to be extremely "energy absorbent" (one edition it absorbs force, another it absorbs sonic energy). Its very resistant to fire and lightning damage, and it must be quenched in the blood of a red dragon and a blue dragon (fire and lightning sources). In addition its unaffected by extreme cold either.
It's an igneous material, which would possibly fit in with well with the idea that its extremely energy resistant, and probably that it might need to be harvested near volcanic activity, hot springs etc.... Hmmm, actually sounds like a great material for me to stick down in Lopango, Land of Fire. Maybe there they might use phoenix blood and the blood of another bird/flying beasty who is tied to storms and lightning. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 20 Oct 2021 : 16:50:46
I don't think so. Like mithril and adamant, arandur is a deep rock ore that is very rare but can show up wherever the DM would like it to. Volo's Guide mentions it's found amid "vitreous glass," which I assume is meant to be something like obsidian. So an area with a history of vulcanism would probably have a higher likelihood of arandur. But the Underdark is so (deliberately) weird and funky that it could be found pretty much wherever, as long as you're deep enough. |
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