Franz’s guide to the ores, alloys, and exotic metals that shape the arms, armor, and wonders of Nirn.
The most abundant and widely used metal in Tamriel. Iron is simple to work: heat it, hammer it, and shape it into the tools or armor needed. Its strength is modest, but its ubiquity makes it the foundation of smithing across cultures. Iron armor and weapons require large amounts of ingots, making them heavy but serviceable for common soldiers.
An alloy of iron mixed with trace elements such as corundum, steel represents a great leap in durability and strength over raw iron. It is easy enough for any competent smith to make and has become the standard for professional militaries. Steel armor often combines steel with some iron for bulk, balancing availability and strength.
A finicky material, corundum requires precise forge temperatures and a steady hand. When smelted alone, it produces ingots suitable for scaled or plated armor. When alloyed with steel, it forms the basis of steel plate mail, an armor prized for its resilience. Corundum is harder than iron but demands patience and exacting technique.
Among the Dunmer, Mithril is a @Clockwork Canton refinement based on Sotha Sil’s experiments, imitating Dwemer alloys. While it lacks the tonal sensitivity of true Dwemer craft, it serves as the backbone for Factotums, Canton Guards, and other mechanized marvels.
A soft, malleable, and highly decorative metal. Rarely used for weapons or armor, but prized in jewelry, ornamentation, and coinage. Gold reflects status and wealth more than martial strength, though in some cases it is used in gilding or as a component in ceremonial armor.
A noble metal lighter than ebony and highly workable. Silver is most often used in jewelry, ornamentation, and religious artifacts. However, it has special value in weaponry against supernatural creatures—vampires, werewolves, and certain daedra. Silver swords are prized not for their durability, but for their spiritual resonance.
Favored by Orcish smiths, orichalcum is a strong but temperamental metal. It is alloyed with a touch of iron, but over-tempering makes it brittle and prone to cracking. Properly worked, it yields powerful weapons and armor superior to steel but less stable than ebony. The Orcs are masters of orichalcum smithing, though others can learn the craft with skill and patience.
A peculiar silver-white metal with a low melting point, making it difficult to combine with other materials. In Elven smithing, it is alloyed with Moonstone to create Gilded Elven Armor, requiring precise timing and temperature control. Quicksilver is often used to lighten weapons and armor, or to impart an unusual responsiveness to enchantments.
A pale, luminous mineral central to Elven smithing. For centuries, its secrets were held by the Altmer of Summerset Isle until betrayed and revealed to the wider world. Moonstone is the core material for Elven Armor, which must be quenched in salt water to properly temper the metal. When alloyed with quicksilver, it creates Gilded Elven designs.
A green crystalline mineral used in forging Glass Armor. Though called “glass,” this material is in fact a magically tempered crystal-metal composite that gleams with an emerald sheen. Working malachite is dangerous: hammer blows must fall with precision, as striking across its crystalline grain risks shattering the piece. Malachite is often combined with Moonstone to grant additional strength and flexibility.
While sometimes dismissed as decorative, brass is critical to the Clockwork Canton and similar artificer traditions. In mechanical devices, brass is strong enough to carry stress yet soft enough to be shaped into gears and fittings. Enchanters prize it for its arcane conductivity, making it ideal for constructs, devices, and ornaments that blend engineering with sorcery.
Ebony is a dense, black volcanic glass-like substance prized for its strength and mystical properties. It can only be worked under great heat; if hammered cold, it cracks and shatters. Unlike many metals, ebony resists alloying—it must be used pure. Ebony forms the foundation of the most powerful weapons and armors, and in rare cases becomes the material base for Daedric artifacts.
Voidsteel (sometimes called Daedric Metal) is ebony infused with the essence of a Daedra. To forge it, a Daedra heart must be cast into the fire while working molten ebony, traditionally at night under an auspicious moon. The result is an impossibly strong material, dark and cruel in appearance, bound with Daedric power. Few mortal smiths dare attempt its creation, and fewer succeed.
A rare and eerie metal linked to Nocturnal’s realm. Gloamium is perpetually cold, resists heating, and shimmers strangely in shadow. It is sometimes described as neither iron nor silver, but something between. Artifacts made from gloamium are used to manipulate darkness, illusion, and shadow, and the material is almost never found outside the hands of Daedric cults.
Metals in Tamriel are more than materials—they are symbols of culture, craft, and conflict. Iron and steel form the bedrock of everyday life; ebony and orichalcum embody mastery and tradition; while Daedric alloys, gloamium, and Dwemer metals blur the line between mortal craft and divine or forbidden power. When introducing these materials into a story, consider not only their physical qualities but their cultural weight, the secrets tied to their forging, and the ambitions of those who seek to claim them.