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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Dec 2012 : 14:56:58
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Hi fellow sages,
I was wondering whether anyone had any ideas regarding what animals and monsters (beyond the obvious real world mammals such as elephants, hippos, walruses etc.) might be used as a source of ivory in the Realms.
Furthermore, what unexpected uses might ivory be put to?
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 29 Dec 2012 : 15:41:47
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While Unicorn Horn comes imediately to mind, the next thing I think of are tusks. Not only do we have Smilodons (Saber-toothed cats) in the Realms, we also have loads and loads of ORCS. 
Think of how pissed an Orc would be to find a shop selling Orc-tusk scrimshaw.
EDIT: The Loxo also have tusks, and would probably be just as upset about finding their 'ivory' somewhere as an orc would.
There's also Fiend and dragon horn, although depending upon which sources you read both of those have a tendency to deteriorate rapidly. In the Riverworld series, Odysseus had a bow made from dragon bone that only he could pull (it wasn't a true dragon - just a massive fish native to that world). |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 29 Dec 2012 15:45:49 |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 29 Dec 2012 : 16:42:44
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I've always liked the idea of using dragon bone to make incredibly powerful bows. You would use one of the long bones like the femur, and the only real question is just how many you could get out of a single bone. Having seen and stood next to an brontosaurus femur, I know it would be a lot more than just one.
Dragon horn would also be good, and on the non-dragon front there's the fish that swim in the lakes of Icewind Dale. They apparently only live there, and their bones are very good for scrimshaw. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 29 Dec 2012 : 17:00:08
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A single unworked dragontooth can make a great Greatclub. Working on a large frontfang of a wyrm one could fashion a Greatsword, Greataxe or Scythe with a terrifying look.
Giants' teeth are neat sources of ivory, as are illithid fangs, leucrotta molars and kraken teeth.
Fiends discorporate when slain on the material plane, no? One could travel the Abyss or the Nine Hells to obtain some. Their ivory and bones could prove highly resistant to certain elements and good for bypassing fiendish resistance to normal weapons. |
My campaign sketches
Druidic Groves
Creature Feature: Giant Spiders |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 29 Dec 2012 : 17:08:24
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Illithids have fangs? 
I thought they just plain sucked. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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rjfras
Learned Scribe
261 Posts |
Posted - 29 Dec 2012 : 17:55:47
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From Volo's Guide to All Things Magical:
Hornbill Ivory: Hornbill ivory is not ivory at all, but rather material from the beak of the hornbill bird. This hardstone is carved into items such as combs and beads or used for inlay work in stone or wood items of furniture. This tough substance can be employed as a material component in spells and in the making of certain magical items and tokens concerned with flight.
Ivory (or Dentine): The substance that provides the teeth of all mammals is referred to as ivory or dentine when used for decorative purposes. Whenever the teeth or tusks are large enough, they can be used for carving: cachalot whale teeth, narwhal, boar, behemoths, umber hulks, Dragon teeth and fangs of other creatures such as displacer beast fangs.
From Volo's Guide to the North:
knucklehead trout, fish whose fist-sized heads and spiny body bones are akin to fine ivory in hue and appearance.
From Monstrous Compendium FR Appendix:
Some loxo are artisans and work with wood, metal, and ivory from the tusks of their dead. Loxoth make their own weapons, using their strong, clumsy hands to form dirk and blunt weapons. For finer work, they use their weaker, more dexterous trunks. Ivory is always carved into religious figurines and kept as family heirlooms,
From Sea of Fallen Stars:
merrow often bear ivory horns on their foreheads, though these do not grow in until well into adulthood. If a merrow exhibits black horns, he is considered to be blessed
In Power of Faerun, the ogre mage Sothillis had a pair of short, thick ivory horns protruding from his forehead
From Monsters of Faerun:
Cloaker Lords have ivory-clawed black wings
From Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Box Set it doesn't say what animals, but it does give two places where alot of the ivory worked in Suzail comes from:
hundreds of winters of ivory gleaned from the Unapproachable East and the hot jungles of the South has found its way across the Inner Sea in great shiploads of raw tusks and fragments to here and been fashioned into inlays and goods for Amn, the North, and the Sword Coast cities. |
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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 12:27:56
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| Thanks for your suggestions scribes! |
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Chosen of Asmodeus
Master of Realmslore
1221 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 12:48:41
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quote:
Think of how pissed an Orc would be to find a shop selling Orc-tusk scrimshaw.
The shop wouldn't be there for very long afterwards, I imagine. |
"Then I saw there was a way to Hell even from the gates of Heaven"
- John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
Fatum Iustum Stultorum. Righteous is the destiny of fools.
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2013 : 21:36:25
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I'd heard that many orc tribes use teeth as currency, and that at least one tribe is comparatively "rich" because their teeth regenerate.
Not all the descriptions and artwork portrays orcs with tusks. Although if it's all canon then we'd have to accept a highly variable appearance or numerous subtypes across the species, sometimes they're depicted with distinctly boarlike snouts and tusks, other times they're shown more like brutish thickbrowed Neanderthal sorts of humans. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Chosen of Asmodeus
Master of Realmslore
1221 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jan 2013 : 00:03:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
I'd heard that many orc tribes use teeth as currency, and that at least one tribe is comparatively "rich" because their teeth regenerate.
Not all the descriptions and artwork portrays orcs with tusks. Although if it's all canon then we'd have to accept a highly variable appearance or numerous subtypes across the species, sometimes they're depicted with distinctly boarlike snouts and tusks, other times they're shown more like brutish thickbrowed Neanderthal sorts of humans.
That's Warhammer. 40k, if I'm not mistaken. |
"Then I saw there was a way to Hell even from the gates of Heaven"
- John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
Fatum Iustum Stultorum. Righteous is the destiny of fools.
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http://theroleplayersgazebo.yuku.com/directory#.Ub4hvvlJOAY |
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Eilserus
Master of Realmslore
USA
1446 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jan 2013 : 19:43:34
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| I can't remember if its canon, but I've used umberhulk claws and teeth as a form of underdark ivory. Plus those claws can be used for head pieces of mining picks with increased excavation rates. :) |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jan 2013 : 23:29:00
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Dragon-horn and teeth I've always used as very expensive ivory (especially for carvings of dragons!)...
Giant teeth (and ogre teeth) I've said are well used by dwarves as well as other races for carvings...or even drinking mugs. I've had a player make bone rings out of giant teeth and enchant them too.
Just a couple things from my memory... |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jan 2013 : 23:47:57
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Some humanoids will pay good money for the elusive 'human horn'. Its said to have aphrodisiac properties.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2428 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2024 : 10:11:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Eilserus
I can't remember if its canon, but I've used umberhulk claws and teeth as a form of underdark ivory. Plus those claws can be used for head pieces of mining picks with increased excavation rates. :)
Those claws have their uses, including spell Claws of the Umber Hulk.
However, as to the rest… does a hulk even have bones? Or teeth, much less ivory?
Umber hulk, obviously, is supposed to be yet another magical hybrid monster, clearly including some arthropoda (perhaps a mole cricket). So this can turn many ways. It even has side mandibles, as the original description explicitly stated (IIRC this was one of the critters inspired by actual pre-existing toys, like rust monster). |
People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
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Edited by - TBeholder on 02 Oct 2024 10:18:06 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2024 : 17:50:34
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odd that this conversation gets resurrected right when I was thinking about a new creature... but hey, it works...
The Norcwhal
The norcwhal is similar to a narwhal in that it is a whale with a long, spiral horn extending from its forehead. In all other respects however, it appears to be an "orca" or "killer whale" with black and white coloration. It is referred to as "the black unicorn of the sea", for similar to a unicorn it possesses the ability to make short teleportative "jumps" while in water. Its primary use for the spiral horn extending from its forehead appears to be for spearing seals through ice, and or cracking ice to allow themselves to leap to the surface and snag a quick meal. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Unusual ivory
