Ve'laan
"Ve'laan rust!" - Sailor slang, meaning "nonsense"
A metal with unique properties, ve'laan is prized by seafaring folk and admired by jewelers.
Ve’laan is a unique metal, completely waterproof. It occurs naturally only on the seafloor around hydrothermal vents; thus mining is limited to merfolk and the like. Smelting the ore into metal is difficult, done in submerged forges with heat and steam. Producing a dark silvery blue used in jewelry, it also keeps a hard, sharp edge. Ve’laan must be kept constantly wet; left dry for more than a day, the metal will weaken and crack. Weapons from it are popular with pirates and some explorers, with custom sheathes of soaked cloth. Jewelry can often be worn in water-filled glass globes.
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? Responses (10)
I like it.
Useful for Merpeople.
Is this like some 'reverse rust', a material only usefull in oxydized form, useless otherwise? It is easy to see how terrestial civilazations mighy have overseen such an material; trying to melt it like other metals woult only produce a worthless dust. Though maybe deserts that were once seas might have deposits of it in dust-form. It seems like the ideal material for submarine life, but if your campaign does not take to the seas...
I like it. Especially so for a 100. For some reason I had pictured the jewelry worn in some extravagant outside ball of sorts...in the rain. Not sure where to go from that or what affect I think the metal should have but I like the visual. Any rain event has added flair of these kind of weapons are broke out for battle. Stored in tanks and pulled out in proper conditions. England, Washington State/Oregon, rain forests?
I know its a 100 word challenge sub, but i yearn to know more of this aquatic metal. Its fascinating really, a reverse-rust substance as Phaidros said. Can start, alter, or grow an entire campaign with this stuff! I just love the little fact that it needs to stay wet, and if it dries it cracks. Very evocative for a 100 word sub.
Agreed with the above, complete as a 100 word but also beyond the normal quality of a lot of the 100s.
Does any moisture work, or must it be clear water? I can see one of these weapons used regularly by a warrior or a cultist, kept potent by the daily bathing in blood.
Ooh, that hadn't occurred to me. My presumption was only water - fresh or salt - would keep it from 'rusting', but I don't see why other fluids wouldn't work.
A most excellent 100 word submission. This is well done.
