“And they’ve got all the Allhammer implements. And bloodsteel. A whole blade edge of it. I’d reckon not even the big landowner up the way’s got any steel in that villa of his.”
-Alba in The House of Regimen, “What Happened Downstairs”
Bloodsteel, called rargither by the Patrin, is a precious alloy highly prized for its great strength and resilience. It is an alloy made of iron and carbon; however, due to the scarcity of iron on Nīmlad, it is both difficult and costly to acquire enough of the metal to produce any meaningful quantities of steel.
Through the use of magic and alchemy, it is possible to extract iron from blood. Therefore, cadaveries have been established in major cities to extract as much blood as possible from the bodies of the dead before they are interred in their graves. Most steel on Nīmlad is forged out of iron from such sources, hence the name bloodsteel.
Notable Bloodsteel Works
- Daemar’s Triumph: a grand archway in the city of Summarch made entirely of bloodsteel.
- The crown Līzednīs had many multi-colored jewels set in a bloodsteel fillet.
- The Kraken-Axe of Thobrauk, made for him by the Dwarves, has a bloodsteel bit.
- Gram and Drear: the twin blades of Rennick; they have many enchantments on them.
- Keenest: an enchanted dagger and ancient heirloom of the House of Regimen.
- Trueling: Eol Firenze’s hand axe that flies back to his hand when thrown.
- Daybreak: the war hammer of Leon Mallister; it can create its own sunlight.
- Stake: Frösted Flækes’ bloodsteel dagger, which glows when hostile intent is near.
Etymology
The Paternic word for bloodsteel, rargither, is derived from older forms of the words adar (“blood”) and gither (“iron”). The original word in Khezite (from which Classical Paternic evolved) would have been adargithra.