Fantasy Metallurgy: Dwarven Steel

Or, a selection from a folio of Monographs on subjects of exotic and uncommon nature

If one is to take the word of the common dwarf at face value, this is the commonest of all the exotic metals.  After all, no true dwarf would be caught dead using anything BUT dwarven steel, yes?

Actually... no. While all the myriad dwarves I have spoken to have praised the virtues of the stuff, often they are referring to simple dwarven craftsmanship. Furthermore, as an eminently practical people they will use whatever tools are at hand, or even the best tools for the job, regardless of their notorious racial pride.  While a dwarf may snort and sneer at using 'fairy metal', he'll happily wear that mithril chain shirt to war over common iron chain.  

But that said, there is, in fact, a 'Dwarven Steel', and while it is hardly commonplace, acquiring a sample proved as remarkably simple as heading down to the local dwarven smith and asking... though to be sure I asked for some proof of its providence.  It would not be the first time a canny merchant sold common items to some rube asking for things they knew nothing of under the guise of selling a more exotic item.

To the untrained eye there is little to distinguish Dwarf Steel from common steel. In fact, I was surprised to note that the small dagger I had purchased at a somewhat extortive price seemed rather plain, even dull... lacking the luster of normal steel.  This, I was assured, was due to the lack of alloyed metals common to most steels.  

To the trained Metalurgist, the dagger revealed a few of its secrets after but a trivial inspection. The hardness of the blade was notable, as was the exceptional keenness of the edge it held. Despite that hardness it proved more flexible than I had anticipated, yet it did not easily deform, springing back quickly.  I had to admit that it seemed to be superior to common steels in almost every way, and those ways that it was not it was identical. Same weight, insulative properties, reactivity... which is to say that, yes, Dwarven steel will rust if left unattended... something I learned to my dismay some weeks later, and much to the scorn of my traveling companions.

What then is Dwarven steel? Is it a miraculous ore or simply the product of a superior crafting technique, as Damasked Steel is?   For this I was forced to travel to a local clanhold to speak to the masters of the smeltery, calling in a few favors along the way.  This particular hold was known for its ironworks, having several mines that they worked, and exported a goodly amount of finished product, including a share of Dwarven Steel goods of various stripes.

It was lucky I sent a letter ahead, explaining my intent, as my hosts were gracious enough to set out a simple lesson in the metallurgy of Iron that I, for all my knowledge and expirence, had never before heard.  Of course, first there was a long round of drinking, feasting and the sharing of names, deeds and, most importantly, family.  But the cultural habits of Dwarves is sadly, beyond the scope of this document.

Gord Hukkarron, an elderly fellow, a whitebeard, and the current master of the Hukkarron family smeltery laid before me a simple wooden tray with several lumps of alternatively reddish or blackish earth.  He invited me to lift, to feel each in turn. Some were heavy, hardish clays, another was spongy and soft, a few were hard as rocks.

This, he explained, was Iron Ore, the raw stuff that a master smelter must work with to produce iron bars for the forges. While, ultimately, all Iron was the same, the properties of the ore  could never truly be shed, regardless of how fine the smelter's technique, the soul of the ore was carried into the finished metal.  He then explained how each of the ore samples, some from far distant lands that had been imported for some unknown reason, were transformed by the smelting process, and in so doing showing me several small bars of finished product that corresponded to each ore.  I think I pleased the elder when I was able to note the different properties of the various bars he had shown me.

I had, of course, known for years of hard and soft irons.  Not being involved in the smelting or forging process, I had simply assumed that it was simple impurities or alloys, such as a higher ash content.  While there was some truth to this, in that impure irons, such as the pig iron pulled from the top of the smelting are softer, it had never occurred to me that the ore itself played a significant factor.  It was, to be short, a fascinating lesson.

From thence he showed me the very ore that would, eventually, become 'Dwarven steel', a purer and harder ore with a very clear connection to the iron that would be extracted from it, different than the spongy clay. He explained that a small amount of ore pulled from any given mine might prove to be extremely pure and hard, having the right properties. This ore was refined using only the best, most time consuming techniques, and even then a great deal of it was relegated to more common fates. This process of refinement continued at every step along the chain, all the way to the forges of certified smiths who were qualified and trained to turn that finest of irons into true Dwarven Steel, and even then the fruits of their labor could be deemed inferior, and thus fail to qualify, from time to time.  

Accordingly, the dagger I purchased was not... quite... dwarven steel at all.  Certainly, Gord acknowledged the smith was good, perhaps even good enough to be certified, and the metal used was of the appropriate quality, but it would not pass the muster of a certification process, though for the purposes of lay-dwarves it was 'good enough'.  Despite the fact I had already spent a goodly sum of gold, both on the dagger itself and on the journey to research all of this, I acceded to the demands of my research and allowed that the Hukkarron dwarves could make me a new, properly certified dagger so that I might be able to witness the process.

To be sure, the process itself seemed less akin to a simple forging and more like an extended religious ceremony, taking several days, if not weeks.  Quite a few techniques I had never observed were employed, along with many many ceremonies and rituals to request the intercession of the Dwarven Forge-Gods, and the 'soul of the Iron', requesting it accept its new shape.

I was, however, forced to recognize that the process.. obviously too detailed for this simple monograph, worked. I could recognize that while the dagger I already owned was a superior sample of both craftsmanship and steel, the dagger presented to me, while somewhat simple looking, was far superior, even feeling more comfortable to the hand, if such a thing makes sense.

I can only conclude that the secret of Dwarven Steel is not entirely a matter of the metal itself, or the process of creation, but both.  True Dwarven Steel, rather than the more common stuff more freely available, is blessed by the gods themselves, and if the Dwarves are to be believed, by the very metal used in its creation.  The more common stuff is far more accurately said to be simply a superior species of iron coupled with excellent, but otherwise conventional, craftsmanship.

Again, some good stuff. Perhaps you could have a master post that links to all of your articles.

I've actually been considering that, complete with an explanation of intent/methology, as the format chosen is essentially restricted to 'in character' discussion, removing the meta-discussion impossible in the actual post.  This might also provoke more discussion than the posts themselves. Like my original racial analysis that preceeded these, they appear reasonably popular, but are not viewed as open for discussion beyond the idle and occasional moment of praise/encouragement... whereas I, for one, prefer a lively discussion to allow for greater evolution of ideas.

I am not planning on running a fantasy setting any time soon but these have been some interesting and fun reads. Keep it up.

Agreed.  These are great reads. I'd like to see them collected into a pdf.