Adamantine - A Metal for the Future!
Being a report presented to the Technology Division of the Mercykillers
Adamantine is a dark grey, almost black metal, whose ores, solarine and baloran, are only found at great depths. The cause of this is unknown, but it may have a magical structure that relies on subterranean radiances like much drow technology does. To mine it requires tools of mithral, adamant or enchanted steel (green steel would work, but is so rare on the prime that it's unknown if anyone's tried). The extraction of the metal from its ore requires the heat of lava, or something similar (spelljamming mages have been known to use fire bodies to forge asteroidal adamantine) to break down the resilient ore. Adamantine is seldom if ever found native (not in an ore). Once extracted, adamantine is usually moulded at lava temperature into weapons, mainly by drow. It is almost impossible to forge, although some heat-resistant creatures have been known to make the odd thing out of it in this way. It is the rarity of forging which gives most adamantine weapons their crude, harsh appearance, which the drow think is aesthetically charming. However, occasional rumours tell of a cold-forged adamantine sabre, made by using the psionic skill of molecular dampening to the limits of the psi's physical strength (molecular dampening is found in the Complete Net Psionics Handbook, but is essentially the reverse of molecular agitation. A complete turn of use may soften adamantine) and hammered into shape by a fiend or celestial. Such a weapon would be of considerable value, as there would be almost no magical defence that could stand against it. Only marginally less rare is coronite, a mithral-adamant alloy made by some duergar tribes. The secret of its preparation is closely guarded, and its uses unknown. On the planes, adamantine ores are found in the following places:
Solarine: Mt. Celestia (2nd-5th layers), Arcadia (all remaining layers), Bytopia (Shurrock only) and Ysgard (Nidavellir only)
Baloran: Gehenna (All accessible areas), The Grey Waste (Niflheim only), Carceri (Colothys only), Acheron (Thuldanin only, and rare there) and randomly in the Abyss.
Both ores are found on the Outlands, in isolated spots. There are said to be wheels in Mechanus made of solid adamant.