Warlock Silver
The common name for the ancient alloy of silver and other metals and minerals unique to the Neptultchi is warlock silver. It is also called black silver or witch silver, the substance develops a dull, protective patina over time, but never truly succumbs to the forces of nature. Its properties are praised by dwarves and modern metallurgists have not successfully duplicated it. For this reason, all specimens of warlock silver are necessarily artifacts of their long since passed manufacturers.
Warlock silver was used for the ornamentation of temples and palaces and the creation of elaborate devices. It was polished to an extraordinarily high degree and its naturally black color shined with silvery highlights. It is often described as metallic hematite in appearance. Warlock silver is known for high magical resonance, light weight, and resistance to metal-working. It can be melted, but must be done so at high temperature and exacting conditions or its special properties are lost.
Today few examples of warlock silver can be found in situ, that is, in the places where the Neptultchi left them. Treasure-seekers, collectors, and scholars have ensured that little remains except the smallest remnants in the most out-of-the-way places. Nonetheless, the promise of a horde of warlock silver has tempted treasure hunters into the depths of crumbling Neptultchi necropolises.
A small piece of warlock silver is worth much more than its own weight in gold. A genuine artifact largely unscathed can be worth ten times as much. Lavish treasures have been spent in the exchange of Neptultchi Staff Heads or Hauchtziltza and nearly as much, it is joked, in their forging.
See Also
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