Aurumite¶
"Titan's Blood." — the Marshford notes' gloss on Aurumite (S359)
Aurumite is the Mithis isotope of gold, called Blood Gold, the Blood of Kalar and Malderil: a deep blood-red metal formed where the blood of Titans seeps into gold. It is attuned to fire, glows red, and is found in only two known deposits, both of them lost to fire or to demons. Its place among the other isotopes is described under Mithis Metals and Gemstones; Aurumite Steel, Blood Gold jewellery and the metal's price are Life & Culture's.
Appearance and nature¶
"A Mithis isotope of Gold. In it's purest form it has the appearance of deep blood-red gold" (S417, S419), with a Mithis saturation of seven (S417). The 2016 summary gives it an affinity for Fire (S418). Worked into Blood Gold it "often has a passive reddish glow, with active glow spikes (sparkling effect) caused by interactions with other Mithis-energy radiating objects", and however it is coloured "the giveaway red glow and reddish-gold metal base colors will still be apparent with close inspection" (S419).1
Origin¶
"It is believed that Aurumite forms under the following extraordinary conditions: Native Gold Deposits; Titan Blood Leaches into the Deposits; Geological time and pressure are applied" (S417). Since most Titans sleep deep in the earth, it might be thought common, "except that in practice, the titan's blood needs to seep from its corpse into gold deposits", so that it forms most often "in places with considerable seismic or volcanic activity. This allows for a distribution of the titan's blood. In fact, since most volcanoes are formed from Fire titan corpses, the lava they produce is very often heavily laced with the titan's blood" (S417).
Ores¶
Aurumite comes in two ores (S417):
- Diaurumite Sulphide, an "orange-gold colored mineral. These deposits tend to be deep, located at magma vertexes (fire titan remains)."
- Diaurumite Trioxide, a "red-gold colored mineral, often found near non-volcanic related sites closer to the surface. The best known example being the deposit located near the Living Titan (an Earth-Water Titan) remains among the Isles of Sorrow. It's blood flowed into a river whose waters flowed over and through a gold deposit."
The sulphide must be roasted into the trioxide before the long, perilous smelting at heats only legendary forges reach (S417). The Isles of Sorrow are among the Shattered Isles.
Known deposits¶
- The Thessoli Mine, on Mount Gartholn "near the ancient Aquitanian city of Ptolemaris", a sulphide deposit of unknown status: "The area around Ptolemaris was buried in a series of volcanic eruptions that left the entire area a desolate volcanic wasteland known as the Dragon Wastes" (S417). The mine and the ruined city are landmarks of the Drakkani Wastes.
- The Pits of Turin, "attached to the dwarf-hold of Thar'koresk in a plains caldera, ancestral home of the Bryn'Grong Clan (Golden Anvils)", a trioxide deposit; "Mines and hold overrun with demons and sealed" (S417). The Marshford notes call it the Pits of Turis (S362). It is described under Vaal'Dunak; the Bryn'Grong Clan is Factions'.
The dwarves of the White Towers "have sent several expeditions into the wastes, mostly after precious ores, such as Aurumite. However, none have lasted. They built the fortress of Thorm'Mald, but it was attacked by basically every denizen of the wastes, including the Red Dragon and now lies in ruins" (S546, S469).
Aurumite in the Fifth Age¶
Like adamantium, aurumite seemed to resist the corruption of Mithis: in a dark elven outpost of the Underdark "Cuprium & Adamantine & Aurumite are NOT CORRUPTED", and among the treasures were Aurumite vambraces worked with "spider eating a dwarf" and "filled with the fragments of a drow warrior", an Aurumite elven helmet and a kite shield (S165).
The Marshford prize¶
In the Fourth Age the Marshford party went down into the Pits of Turis, a "Dark, Volcanic Stone Pit", and came out with sixty-nine ten-pound rocks of Aurumite ore, which refined to sixty-two ounces of the metal (S359, S362). One bar was sold at the Amarin Towers (S361). What the party did there is told in the Marshford Campaign.
Earlier accounts¶
The 2014 compendium calls it "Aurumite, Blood Gold, Blood of Kalar": "Looks like gold, with a strong reddish tint to it. Much harder than steel and extremely resistant to heat. Magical glows tend to be a strong red. Difficult and dangerous to smelt. Requires extremely high temperatures, not able to be produced in any kind of normal fire. Either magical fire or volcanic forges are required for smelting", with a "moderate concentration of Mithius (0.001%)" (S384, S372; "1,000-20,000 ppu" in S429). The 2016 summary gives it a Mithis value of eight (S418).
Gap
No source says how the Bryn'Grong lost the Pits of Turin to demons, or when, or whether the Thessoli Mine was ever reopened.
Smelting procedure from the archive: Mithis Metals Table.