Tighmaevril

[irdeggman]

I think "Blood Silver" is the original name of the alloy used to make
these weapons because at some (or every) point in the refinement,
processing, forging or finishing of the weapons actual blood was
used. It`s not at all unheard of for warriors to be bled so their
blood can be used to quench weapons as they are being forged, or that
materials (blood, poison) will be actually forged into the weapon as
it is shaped. It also explains why tighmaevril works the way it does
when committing bloodtheft since it could create sort of standard,
sympathetic magic kind of relationship.

Gary

I like this explanation quite a lot.

[ryancaveney]

Ah! Here's the other thread I was looking for: http://www.birthright.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4020. My own contribution is http://www.birthright.net/forums/showthread.php?p=43011, in which I said

I have always believed that tighmaevril is capable of enhancing bloodtheft because it is inherently part of the magic of the land: I think it is *solid* mebhaighl. I do not think it is possible to alter their original enchantment, nor even to reforge them, because they are not metal (it looks like silver, but never tarnishes and cannot be damaged by any normal physical object) and cannot melt or be reworked in any way except by now-unknown magic of immense (realm-spell-style) power. I think Ghoigwnnwd was able to accomplish this artifact-creation feat only because he was one of the *original* elves, who was still around from before there were dragons.

I think it became called "bloodsilver" long after it was created, because it looks like silver but both draws blood very easily (because it is extremely sharp) and enhances bloodtheft. I haven't decided what it used to be called, in part because I have yet to buy a Welsh-English dictionary. =)

[Rowan]

Top-class discussion yet again! Thanks for porting quotes over, Kgauck!

I do still like the idea of tighmaevril being created against the undead, originally. Ryan, I like your idea quite a bit. If mebhaigl is opposed to the corrupted version of the Seeming known as awnmebhaigl (I believe they are separate, and prefer to have the Seeming not be opposed to elves or mebhaigl), then forging tighmaevril out of condensed mebhaigl would thematically be very appropriate as a direct weapon against undead.

If awnmebhaigl is corrupted mebhaigl or corrupted Seeming ("awn" is the prefix meaning "Shadow," and was not presumably used to describe the Seeming before the taint of the Cold Rider or other influences of evil, including possibly the undead and Unseelie), then we can easily see how the Lost can be undead and still control sources. They actually corrupt the sources, Tainting them and making them awnmebhaigl. Also, the elves' greatest defense against undead (which seem thematically to be very much their antithesis and thus should warrant some potent opposing effect) is their control of mebhaigl.

The gods essentially are incredibly powerful masters of the Seeming, the force of Creation, and can give their clerics the ability to channel positive energy to Turn Undead. This would fit with the Seeming and mebhaigl being different but not opposing things. However, Azrai was a master of the Spirit World and tainted it in death; his clerics and those of his successor gods can rebuke undead. This fits with Azrai essentially being the corrupting influence that was the source of awnmebhaigl.

So the elven manipulation of mebhaigl into tighmaevril does strengthen the Evanescence, accounts for these weapons being tremendously magically powerful (at least +5), and served a very worthy purpose before the existence of bloodlines.

I agree that tighmaevril seems not to be an elven term. "Blood" seems to be translated "shegh" in elven (awnsheghlien, ehrsheghlien, sielshegh). So the elven term for "blood silver" would probably be something more along the lines of "sheghril" or "mithshegh" (I have no basis for the term "silver" except perhaps the word "mithril").

However, to further infuse their weapons against the undead, the use of blood--specifically immortal elven blood--in their forging could imbue the weapon with vitality, unite them more with the concrete world of Aebrynis, and imbue them with a sympathy to life, thus further enhancing their powers against undeath, as well as enhancing their ability to commit bloodtheft.

At this point, IMC, I would make all tighmaevril weapons forged with a base metal of mithril, summoned from the earth and purified, forged, and imbued intensely with mebhaigl, and quenched with the blood and tears of the Sidhe. Because of the intense magic and all of this, each weapon (even edged weapons) would be Disrupting, +5 or greater, count as Silver weapons and mebhaigl stones, be intelligent items, and have all the normal properties of tighmaevril.

Perhaps having them all in one place strengthens the Evanescence (the Gorgon doesn't want any Shadow World Lost popping in on him as some of the only beings truly capable of challenging him--or Belinik or Kriesha, either), operate similarly to mebhaigl stones, and could give the bearer immortality (bearing so much mebhaigl and living elven blood). The Lost (inc Magian) would want them to twist them to awnmebhaigl and commit bloodtheft to strengthen them; the Gorgon would want them as protection, for their usefulness as weapons of bloodtheft, and perhaps as the only weapons that will let him harm or destroy divine beings should they challenge him.

The elves have other, more efficient means of carrying out that for which tighmaevril weapons were created, and so don't find it worth their energy to recover them (they're not interested in bloodtheft, warring with gods, don't need the mebhaigl, and can cast Shadow Block; sure, they'd love to have them back, but they know if even they can retrieve them, there are many who will always be hunting them to get them back).