Mithril
War is a furnace that forges only blood and tears. Fueled by wealth, it consumes it utterly. The only thing it creates is destitution.
Emperor GiovanniOverview
Mithril is a highly precious lightweight, durable metal particularly valued in making armour and weapons for the Imperial Armies. It is one of the key materials used by the Senate to raise and resupply armies or to commission new buildings and is a vital component of many opportunities.
Mithril is bought and sold in Imperial wains. These weigh about 500kg, with a volume of half a cubic metre. Due to the vast weight, trading is done in Bourse Certificates provided by the civil service.
Bourse Certificate
Mithril is too bulky to easily transport to Anvil. To help facilitate trade across the Empire, the Imperial civil service provide Bourse certificates for every wain. Citizens can trade these certificates safe in the knowledge that they can be exchanged for a wain of mithril when the need arises.
Uses of Mithril
Commissions
Mithril is primarily useful for building and expanding armies. The Senate can commission a range of military commissions and buildings that fortify, enrich or uplift the Empire. Mithril is usually required for:
- Imperial Army - mithril can also be used to raise new armies, or to expand or Emergency Resupply an army.
- Ministry - a ministry built with mithril allows the purchase of mine materials or mana crystals.
- Sinecure - a sinecure built with mithril generates mine materials or mana crystals.
- Great work - a great work built with mithril generates mine material or mana crystals.
- Runeforge
- College of Magic
- Folly
Upgrading Personal Resources
Mithril can be used to upgrade:
- Mana site - each upgrade alternates between 1 and 2 additional crystals per season
- Mine - each upgrade gives 2 addition ingots per season
- Military Unit - each upgrade gives 20 additional soldiers.
To upgrade a resource requires Imperial wains of mithril equal to the level the resource is being upgraded to. So the first upgrade of a starting level 1 military unit costs 2 Imperial wains of mithril, from 2 to 3 costs 3 Imperial wains, etc.
Mithril Seats
There are few places in the Empire that produce mithril. A mithril seat can be a source of great wealth and prestige to whoever holds it. Elections for mithril seats are held at the Autumn Equinox each year.
Imperial Bourse Seats
| Resource | Location | Output | Occupant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundindelve | Clisearn, Mareave | 22 wains of mithril | Iarovit Nowak |
| Sunless Depths | Galath Fields, Ossium | 16 wains of mithril | Moraža |
| The Fortress of Salt | Metri, Temeschwar | 25 wains of mithril | Claude Deeds |
| The Great Mine of Briante | Serra Briante, Kahraman | 22 wains of mithril | Guy Grimbold-Antenucci |
| The Great Pits of Ennerlund | Ennerlund, Holberg | 27 wains of mithril | Torven Krigerson |
National Bourse Seats
| Resource | Location | Output | Occupant | Eligiblity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brilliant Star | Tomari, Redoubt | 28 wains of mithril and 3 wains of mithril | Rhode | Urizeni Position |
| Pride of Ikka's Tears | Suaq Fount, Sermersuaq | 22 wains of mithril | Æðelric Dagursson | Wintermark Position |
| Red Depths | Serra Damata, Kahraman | 19 wains of mithril | Sagremar I Zayden I Guerra | Freeborn Position |
| The Eternal Shafts of Time | Wieliczka, Karov | 29 wains of mithril | Dorys Delgorokov | Varushkan Position |
| The Legacy | Ossuary, Spiral | 22 wains of mithril | Otmar van Holberg | League Position |
| The Singing Caves | Greensward, Mournwold | 28 wains of mithril | James Forrester | Marcher Position |
Ministries
| Resource | Location | Potential Purchase | Occupant | Eligibility | Election |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boar's Market | Winterbourne, Astolat | 6 wains of mithril | Maryc | Dawnish Position | Autumn |
| Iron Tower | Duzekani, Karov | 15 wains of mithril | Vladimir Sasha Volkov | Varushkan Position | Autumn |
| Meade Mithril Market | Meade March, Mitwold | 21 wains of mithril | Aubrey Shaw | Marcher Position | Autumn |
| Mines of Gulhule | Estermark, Skarsind | 1 wain of mithril | Irontide Flax | Imperial Orc Position | Winter |
| Overseer of the Gloaming Road | Yellow Chase, Segura | 6 wains of mithril | Owain Farkas | Imperial Position | Autumn |
| Parador of Dust | Jade Range, Kahraman | 15 wains of mithril | Nemi i Riqueza | Freeborn Position | Autumn |
| Temeschwar University Department of Architecture | Hanuri, Temeschwar | 6 wains of mithril | Laughlan Vi Temeschwar | League Position | Winter |
| The Singing Caves | Greensward, Mournwold | 12 wains of mithril | James Forrester | Marcher Position | Autumn |
Recent History
The Great Pits of Ennerlund were lost when Holberg was overrun and the mine - and its bounty of mithril - served the Druj instead. When the Empire began its triumphant liberation of Holberg, the barbarian orcs destroyed the pumps and collapsed the pits during the Winter Solstice 378YE.
Work restoring the Great Pits of Ennerlund began in late Spring 379YE ... and almost immediately halted. The Druj destruction of the Great Pits had been a calculated act, and one with a tragic and horrific consequence. Following dozens of reports of the unquiet dead haunting the pits, the Dawnish priest Ozren de Orzel of Dawn was dispatched by the Imperial Synod to exorcise the cleansing of the haunting spirits from the mines as work could not continue until the ghosts were laid to rest. With the ghosts dealt with, it still took several seasons to restore the pits to working order.
The Legacy was lost to the Grendel in Summer 379YE.
The Pride of Ikka's Tears was discovered in Winter 379YE by chance by a civil servant exploring the Face of Ikka. The Senate paid to develop the mine and also to commission a ministry to encourage human miners to work the rich mines of Gulhule in Skarsind, for the benefit of the Imperial Orcs.
The Legacy was eventually liberated by a heroic assault via the Sentinel Gate during Summer 380YE. Despite some concern however that the Senate might choose to allocate it as an Imperial resource, they instead chose to reaffirm it as a national resource in control of Urizen. Less than a year later, the Legacy was again captured.
In Autumn 380YE, a pernicious blight laid waste to the iridescent butterfly population of the forests of northern Faraden. Brightly coloured fabrics are vital to Faraden culture, and iridescent gloaming is key to their production. They brokered a trade deal with the Freeborn, exchanging precious mithril for vast amounts of Iridescent Gloaming from the Empire.
In late 380YE, the Singing Caves were taken by the Jotun orcs. A Marcher lobby persuaded the Senate to allocate them to the Marches as a national position, but the motion was immediately vetoed by Empress Lisabetta, leaving the mines unallocated. They would not be eligible to be allocated again until Winter 380YE summit. They were eventually allocated as a National Bourse position during the Spring Equinox 382YE, by which time a significant bounty of mithril had built up
Then, shortly before the Spring Equinox 382YE, the Legacy was again liberated by the Empire. It was duly allocated as an Urizen National Bourse position during the Spring Equinox summit. Due to the malign effects on Spiral, the upkeep of the Legacy has been doubled for the foreseeable future.
During the Spring Equinox 382YE, the Imperial Senate dispatched prospectors to the Pride of Ikka's Tears and determine if it would be possible to expand the production.