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...
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."
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!
