Planar Iron

When the night sky shattered, its fragments plummeted to the earth for us to use, as compensation from the divine.

— Teni Prelitan, Skarhan blacksmith

Planar iron, also known as star metal, is a dark and iridescent metal found throughout Tiyu Amara and Tiyu Noha. Admired for its starry appearance and its unique property of reacting to Planar Magic, it has both decorative and functional uses.

Properties

Planar iron can be found anywhere in Tiyu Amara, but most commonly in places where the effects of the Collision are most visible, such as Fovenis Lake in Abravost and Wanbarum Crater in Thurásin. In its unrefined form it resembles jagged dark rocks with an iridescent sheen.

Once refined, it maintains a dark greyish purple hue, but with brighter iridescence that resembles the night sky or innumerable galaxies. It has a similar malleability to standard iron, but is less brittle, and can alloyed with many other metals to suit various needs. It also lacks iron's magic nullifying properties.

A necromancer with an Inhibitor by Isaac Thompson

Its most unique property is its ability to react to planar magic, such as Necromancy and Portals. This reaction involves some vibrations, an audible hum, and a slightly static sensation to the touch. These reactions are harnessed in multiple ways, such as "enhancing" the casting of spells, or the creation of Inhibitors that react to cast magic by activating stored spells.

History

No known sighting of Planar Iron predates the Collision, which brought the worlds of Tiyu Amara and Tiyu Noha together. It is widely assumed that the metal was either generated as the two worlds collided, or was trapped between the two worlds and spread throughout the land.

Many initial uses of the metal focused on its aesthetic properties, being common in jewellery from this time. It also found its way into weapons for rich mages, taking advantage of its iron-like strength without the downside of being unable to use magic. Its reaction to rarer forms of magic saw it increasingly used in wands and staffs during the second century AC.

In Abravost, planar iron became associated with Portal magic, often being used in the sturdy frames the spells were anchored to for regular use. These portals, successfully developed during the third century AC, also allowed quantities of planar iron to come to Tiyu Amara from Tiyu Noha, and cemented its status as a magical material for the wealthy. This reputation persisted after the destruction of the portals during the Separation.

In Thurásin, no such portal association exists, with the metal largely finding use among mages like those in Üükabwi-adh. It has also found recent use in the Steam Engines developed by Dilash Ulhuzwi'yu, taking advantage of their reactive properties to provide alternate methods of temperature regulation.

Steam Engine by Gege

Type

Metal

Rarity

Rare

Color

Dark grey-purple, almost black, with swirling iridescent patterns

Common State

Solid

The Planar Sea by Mariamichelle, Free-Photos

Ocean Scraps

Many theorise as to what planar iron "really is". Some suggest that it is fragments of the Planar Sea itself, the vast ocean of the Divinities the stretches between worlds. Others instead believe it is the fabric that separates the living from the dead, the body from the soul.

Others still say those are the exact same thing, and that planar iron is something different - a unique thing generated at the blurry edges of the worlds, like friction creates fire. The fact it does not appear to exist on Tiyu Shòbá lends credence to this.