Fantastic Metal and Stones of Greyhawk

Greetings Greyhawk scholars! Today's topic is one that has been eluding me for several years. I would get a glimmer to write about, then forget, or I'd take some notes and lose them. But it's always been popping up taunting me. The topic is fantastic metal and stones of Greyhawk! Most of these entries are from Greyhawk lore, some are unique or perhaps sentient formations, and others are general D&D tropes. Also, given the research on this topic is insanely time intensive, I am sure I'll overlook some examples, so if you know a rare metal or stone in Greyhawk that I missed, let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

ADAMANTITE & MITHRAL

Both these fantasy metals are commonly found in Greyhawk as well as D&D lore, owing to fantasy fiction like Lord of the Rings. Adamantine objects are generally harder, Mithral items are also durable but lighter. 

"Adamantine is an alloy created from a glossy black metal known as adamant. Adamant is the pure metal form of a jet-black, ferromagnetic ore known as adamantite. In its pure form, adamant is a lustrous, gleaming black color with rainbow edges. It is one of the hardest substances known (save obdurium), but also brittle. A stylus made from adamant will shatter if dropped.

The alloy adamantine is also black, but it has a clear green sheen in candlelight. This sheen turns purple-white under most magical radiances. Adamantine is pliable but very difficult to work with. It must be forged at very high temperatures by master smiths with special oils to slake and temper the hot metal. Adamantine features the strength of adamant without the brittleness.

Adamantite ore is found only in meteorites and the rarest of veins in magical areas deep beneath the earth beyond where human miners go, sometimes found in spherical pockets in volcanic areas. The drow are rumored to have an abundance of it. A few clans of deep-delving dwarves have also come across it, and most adamantine items found on the surface are of dwarven make. Adamantite has been discovered in the Pits of Azak-Zil."

"Mithral, also spelled mithril and known as truemetal among the dwarves, is a precious metal produced from ore found in the underoerth as well as mountain ranges in certain areas of the Flanaess. Mithral ore is an exceedingly rare silver-and-black mineral in its natural form. It becomes a glistening silvery-blue when it is forged."

OBDURIUM

Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk by Jason Bulmahn, James Jacobs and Erik Mona.

Stronghold Builders Guidebook by Matt Forbeck and David Noonan

This fantasy metal is less well known than the previous two materials. It goes to show there is always a stronger substance somewhere out there. Indeed, there is more to come...

"A fantastically rare metal that is even harder than adamantine. Obdurium is a pale violet metal which is harder than adamantine. This incredibly rare metal represents the pinnacle of nonmagical metal strength. It is also nearly prohibitively expensive, building with it costs ten times as much as carving stone walls and sixty times what a normal wooden wall would cost to build.
The doors leading to the Godtrap in Zagig's Prison beneath Castle Greyhawk are made of obdurium."

TUMKEOITE & LACOFSITE

D3: Vault of the Drow by Gary Gygax

Dragon #298 Vault of the Drow: Dark Elf Metropolis by Frederick Weining

"The true splendor of the Vault can be appreciated only by those with infravision, or by use of the roseate lenses or a gem of seeing. The Vault is a strange anomaly, a hemispherical cyst in the crust of the earth, an incredibly huge domed fault over 6 miles long and nearly as broad. The dome overhead is a hundred feet high at the walls, arching to several thousand feet height in the center. When properly viewed, the radiation from certain unique minerals give the visual effect of a starry heaven, while near the zenith of this black stone bowl is a huge mass of tumkeoite — which in its slow decay and transformation to lacofcite sheds a lurid gleam, a ghostly plum-colored light to human eyes, but with ultravision a wholly different sight. The small "star" nodes glow in radiant hues of mauve, lake, violet, puce, lilac, and deep blue. The large "moon" of tumkeoite casts beams of shimmering amethyst which touch the crystalline formations with colors unknown to any other visual experience."

"Deep beneath the mighty Hellfurnace Mountains lies the Vault of the Drow, an immense hemispherical cyst in Oerth’s crust over six miles long and nearly as broad. Its mineral-veined ceiling rises more than 1000 fathoms above its crystal-strewn floor; near the zenith of the dome is a huge mass of tumkeoite, which as it slowly decays and transforms into lacofcite glows like a ghostly, plum-colored moon in the firmament of the Vault, while other phosphorescent nodes dimly gleam like stars in the same stony heaven."

Tumkeoite and Lacofsite (lack of sight) is two more of Gygax's usual anagram/pun creations that he name-drops throughout the setting. Taken literally though, Tumkeoite is a very rare radioactive substance that, depending on your ability to see different spectrums, sheds a light that is not harmful to normally light-sensitive Drow. Surely the dark elves picked the Vault because of this substance and the area it covers. One can also assume that give the radioactive nature of Tumkeoite, this is what gives some Drow gear their special properties and causes their decay when away from the Underdark. There is no mention of these unique minerals appearing anywhere else besides the Vault of the Drow, so I would ask, are these natural formations, or is Tumkeoite something that fell to Oerth in prehistory?

THE BLUE ELLIPSOID

Speaking of meteorites, the Pits of Azak-Zil in the Abbor-Alz hills is a famous impact site where everything from gold to adamantite have been dug up, but one odd piece of ore has caused a lot of trouble at the mine... 

Greyhawk Adventures by James Ward

"For five years (dwarvish clan) Highforge swelled with wealth...Then abruptly the flow was cut off...a few suppose that the mine was visited by a curse, either by something imported from the heavens or by something wakened by the shooting star or the activities of the miners."

"There will be unusual numbers of undead, especially ghouls and ghasts, many of dwarven origin...The cause of this horrible transformation is an ellipsoid of bluish metal about 2 feet long and one foot diameter. All who die within five miles of it raise at the next full moon as undead creatures...The stone also causes consuming greed and transformation to a lichlike state in its possessor."

THE PURPLE STONE

Think the Blue Ellipsoid was weird? Well, there is a sentient Purple Stone that was actually worshipped by a cult...

Mordenkainen’s Fantastic Adventure by Robert J Kuntz

Dungeon #112 Maure Castle by Robert J Kuntz and Erik Mona

"Ancient Suel migrants fleeing the Rain of Colorless Fire carried the Purple Stone from its temple and installed it here...The cults came to a tragic end many decades ago when the Purple Stone tried to subvert them all along with the nearby masters of Maure Castle. The Maures responded by sealing the Purple Stone and all the cultists within the dungeon and raising the Unopenable Doors to prevent anyone from coming to their rescue."

"...a single oblong purple stone. The stone is ten feet long, four feet high, and three feet wide, its surface smooth and polished. The stone seems partially translucent and pulsates dimply with an inner violet light...The Purple Stone is not wholly disembodied spirit, not wholly magic artifact, but somewhere in between."

THE BLACK OBELISK & OERTH STONE

The Purple Stone wants others' attention, but two even more powerful sentient rocks, the Black Obelisk and the Oerth Stone just want to be left alone. The Obelisk's sole purpose is to hide the more important Oerth Stone, and it would still be hidden itself if not for a certain pesky archmage and his outrageous plan to capture nine deities...

Greyhawk Ruins by Blake Mobley and Timothy B Brown

"One of the main reasons Zagig chose this area to build his castle on was the great magical obelisk he discovered...Unable to move it, he sought to use it in other ways..."

"Within lies the obelisk which drew Zagig to this area. The obelisk is a large 9’ diameter stone which looks as if made from obsidian. One large shield-sized chip is missing from it as well as four smaller such chips...The obelisk is actually frozen in space in relation to Oerth. It can only be moved or scratched by powers equivalent to multiple deities under the careful guidance of a brilliant mind. Any magic used in this room will strip that item or PC of all magical powers...Zagig placed several of his original creations in this room as a tribute to the obelisk. These items have been so exposed to the obelisk that they have gamed several special properties. They have been filled with the obelisk’s powers of existence (thus they are as difficult to break or destroy as an artifact)."

"The obelisk also blankets everything in a cloak through which deities (except Boccob) simply will not see. Priests won’t immediately realize they are being ignored. Thus a priest can cast spells here, but no new spells will be granted in this area..."

"In his search for the great obelisk, Zagig happened upon this chamber. It is filled with intense powers of earth and rock. Yet, he could never determine the source (he never realized how close he came). Finally, he assumed it had to be a side effect of the obelisk somewhere below. Located at the center of the main rock column is a huge chip of brown smoky quartz...It is actually a fragment of the shattered Earth (Oerth) Stone, which was a relic of immense power used long ago by the creators to fill the Prime Material Plane with the heavenly bodies of earth and rock. The creators themselves decided that this relic was too powerful to allow any one of their numbers to guard, thus it was shattered, and a single fragment given to each to hide or guard as they desired. Then, only with their combined knowledge could the item easily be reformed. This sliver was placed here by one of the ancients and has gone unnoticed over the eons."

"This was once the holding cell of the (Oerth) Stone. Its location was hidden from Zagig by the obelisk until after the Stone escaped this area. When Zagig summoned the nine deities, the obelisk had to exert a tremendous amount of energy so that they would not notice the presence of the Oerth Stone."

OERTHBLOOD

As we've already seen, the central Flanaess is a hot bed of fantastic materials. Some are extremely hard and dangerous to get, like Oerthblood, found primarily below Tenser's castle and also the rich city of Irongate. This substance has nonetheless seen much use in the creation of famous artifacts.

Return of the Eight by Roger Moore

Dragon #351 Irongate: City of Stairs by Gary Holian & Denis Tetreault

"Oerthblood seeps into The Endless Well from deep beneath the Fortress of Unknown Depths, the dwelling place of the archmage Tenser, His ancient keep was built by migrating Oeridians to guard and harvest this rich magical ore. Few know Oerthblood exists—Tenser has been studying the substance in seclusion for decades- and no one knows exactly what it is. Tenser recently reactivated his keep’s mining operations (which had been shut down after his death during the Greyhawk Wars), and minor earthquakes and strange grinding vibrations occasionally rumble into the surrounding area from deep beneath the citadel, hinting at the immense golems currently at work harvesting the world's magical essence."

"The Endless Well can draw up molten, dark red, ferrous metal there, when cooled, is black, dense, easily enchanted and nearly impervious to damage. This substance is called oerthblood and from it several famous artifacts were made, such as Heward’s Mystical Organ and parts for the infamous Machine of Lum the Mad."

"Oerthblood is dangerous to handle, and much of the work involved in tapping it, pouring it into sheets of molds, working it and finishing it is done by golems and automatons that can withstand the molten substance’s unpredictable radiation, as well as the local heat and poisonous gases."

"Oerthblood weapons and armor must be made of a specific alloy of Oerthblood, known mostly to the artificers and smiths of Irongate, to gain the following benefits. Only primarily metallic objects gain these bonuses."

Oerthblooded iron, so-called "blood-iron," is an exceedingly rare and precious material, created from an amalgam of iron and oerthblood. Discovered as early as the age of Queen Ehlissa, oerthblood is a highly magical element found only on Oerth and thought by some to be the residue of creation. Oerthblood is extremely rare even on Oerth, and Irongate is one of the few locations where it can he found and forged. By reputation, it’s as strong as adamantine and just as effective. Shimmering black flecks on their surface distinguishes Oerth-blooded items."

DWEORNITE & DWEOMERSTONE

Some say the World of Greyhawk is not high magic, but those sages have never researched the depth of magical mysteries on Oerth, from strange weather phenomena to innately magical minerals such as these last two entries...

Iuz the Evil by Carl Sargent

From the Ashes by Carl Sargent

"Dweomerstones: A small clan of gnomes have discovered a few score small, utterly smooth, black, pebblelike stones which, if held in the hand of a wizard, can grant extra spellcasting power. Each stone has one use only...The gnomes selling the stones are fearful and eager to sell at reasonable prices."

"The Horned Lands are unique in having very rare deposits of a unique magical gem: dweornite. Small clusters of dweornite gems, tear-shaped, semi-opaque, blue-white stones, are found in totally unpredictable subterranean locations. The gems have diverse magical powers. Those which have been documented include spell gems, gems which yield magical potions when crushed and dissolved, gems with empathic effects, gems with teleport, dimension door or extraplanar travel properties, and gems of a divinatory nature. These are similar to the dweomerstones of the Cairn Hills; and some sages suggest a common origin for both these and the reputed ioun stones Rary seeks in the Bright Desert."

In closing, I haven't found any specific lore yet that shows Ioun Stones are naturally produced on Oerth besides the aforementioned hook by Sargent, that Rary seeks them in the Bright Desert. In other D&D lore, Ioun stones are enchanted from specific expensive gems, or in 4E are the creation of a new deity of knowledge, Ioun. Either way, Ioun stones could be rare gems that have innate floating properties, and either come with magical powers or are later imbued with them. To each their own. Lastly, D&D also mentions the material, Cold Iron, but I'm unsure that's regular iron found in a special situation or if its a new metal? Someone fill me in on that lore. Until next time!