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[top]Silver in Birthright

Silver, second in value only to Gold but far more common is a symbol of wealth and purity but also as a sovereign against evil. This page gives a brief over-view on the metal, where it may be found and how it may be used.
The so-called Silver Prince, Ruornil himself, is said to favor silver and is thought by many scholars to be responsible for the uses of the metal against certain evils of the Shadow World. A significant minority reverse this argument and claim that Ruornil favors the metal because of its uses against certain evils of the Shadow. A much smaller group claims the connections between Ruornil and silver are allegorical and not connected in any causal way with specific properties of the metal.

[top]History

Silver is relatively easy to work (it is only slightly harder than gold) and has a low melting point making it easy to refine, this makes it available to even primitive cultures.
Silver is typically valuable due to its beauty - it forms the whitest color of any metal, and is used in making utensils or jewelery, to keep water and other perishables fresh, dwarves use it to make fine mirrors, and it has a number of mystic properties. Silver tarnishes to black over time in sea-water or in the presence of brimstone and certain other pollutants.

[top]Use

  • Silver resists ill spirits that corrupt food and pollute water, making it the metal of choice for eating utensils amongst the wealthy. Similarly silver thread is woven into clothing not merely to provide an attractive contrast to the cloth but to protect against illness and corruption - and reduce odour.

  • Wine, vinegar and water may be stored in silver bottles to prevent them spoiling, and many sailors drop a silver coin in a barrel of water before a long voyage for a similar purpose.

  • Silver may be used in primitive dentistry as it is both malleable (meaning it is easily shaped to fit the tooth) and does not corrode / poison the wearer or flavor food. It is even more popular than gold in this for not only is it cheaper but it is said to protect against ill health.

  • Tools such as the scalpels of a surgeon or barber to the nobility are sometimes made or chased with of silver. Some healers use tinctures of silver to treat wounds, and potions containing silver are drunk by the wealthy as wards against certain illnesses, although a strange argue can come on those who do so to excess for their eyes and skin take on an unseemly blue-gray tint.

  • Silver is a sovereign against spirits and fiends forged into weapons - generally as an alloy as silver alone is not strong enough for such use.

  • Silver is often used to adorn musical instruments as it is believed to add purity to the note, some flutes and other small horns are made of pure silver.

  • Silver is considered attractive when polished by most races and so finds common use in currency and jewelery.

  • In some decadent areas silver dust may be used to garnish foods (which does nothing for flavor but wonders to the price)

  • The Dwarves have learned to to apply silver to glass in such a way as to make mirrors of exceptional clarity. These mirrors are vastly superior to mirrors of copper of beaten iron and command appropriately higher prices despite their fragility.

  • Silver leaf is used to cover the surface of utensils, walls, etc either as adornment or to inscribe runes. (This process is known as gilding).

[top]Mystical properties

Silver has been judged by the learned of many cities to be efficacious against spirits - both the minor ones which corrupt foodstuffs and cause illness and physical spirits which threaten the folk of the tribes.
Silver is associated with Ruornil and the moon, its beauty and association with purity makes it considered a remedy against any number of curses and other sorcery.

[top]Finding silver

The principal sources of silver are copper, copper-nickel, gold, lead and lead-zinc ores, with the silver mined or at least found as a by-product of the mining of the more common metal. In about a quarter to a third of cases silver is found alone in veins or with only minor amounts of other precious metals, in these cases silver generally forms long thin veins, although on occasion large discrete chambers of high purity can be found.
The original content on this page was partially based on documents from Wikipedia and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.


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