Adamantine

Adamantine was the name of five jet-black alloys of adamant. Usually black in color, adamantine had a green sheen when viewed by candlelight or a purple-white sheen when viewed by magical light.

Production
The main component of adamantine alloy was either pure adamant, or a mixed ferrous ore known as adamantite, found only in veins of ore in volcanic zones,  near earth nodes, and areas of faerzress in the Underdark. Occasionally, small meteorites consisting of some adamantite would fall to Abeir-Toril as well. It could also be found in earthmotes. Adamantite ores came in brown-gold, blue-silver and green-silver hues; drow mostly mined black ores. All such ores were rare in the extreme, and found mostly quite deep in the earth.

Per primary sources, adamantine was produced out of alloying its ores with mithral. Adamantine was extremely difficult to produce, requiring high forging temperatures and a very delicate procedure. Per other sources, it was composed of five parts adamant, two parts silver, and one part electrum. Most smiths that specialized in producing adamantine were dwarves. By, electrum alloys had fallen out of favor with them, and only high-purity alloys circulated, favored for their ability to break most other metals. While sages such as Elminster attested to other processes that created adamantine out of mithral and steel through complex and cooperative sorcery, those processes were likely not metallurgical in nature: the mention of them elicited little but laughter out of dwarves, and later sages were skeptical of them. In total, there were five alloy compositions that shared the name of adamantine.

Properties
Per some sources, adamantine melted at an estimated 3410ºC, requiring exceptionally hot magical fires, and boiled at 5900ºC. Per other sources closer to dwarven practices, adamantite melted at 2280ºC. The alloy was largely unaffected by seawater; in fact, dwarves brined it to give it a good shine. The alloy conducted magic rather well, making it excel at compatibility with most enchantment.

Cost
During the Era of Upheaval, an adamantine drill could be had for 200 gp, a hacksaw for 600 gp, and a set of adamantine manacles sold for 2,000 gp. A good set of adamantine shackles cost 400 gp in Tu'Narath. After the Spellplague, a set of adamantine manacles was worth about 650 gp.

After the Second Sundering, a 10-pound adamantine bar could be had in Waterdeep for the low, low price of 1,000 gp.

Applications
Adamantine was the most durable adamantite alloy. When smelted, was ultra-hard but this was a costly procedure. Adamantine weapons made with the most common formulation around were useful for damaging the weapons and armor of opponents clad in just about any other material, while a set of adamantine armor absorbed a significant amount of energy from most physical blows. More importantly, many creatures, such as for instance golems, were very difficult to damage effectively with a weapon not made of adamantine. Beyond that, adamantine was used whenever the weapon would be brought to strike against objects. It was also generally used for weapons and armor of superior enchantment. Magic staves could be made with adamantine.

Manacles made of adamantine were nigh-impossible to burst by anything less strong than a cloud giant.

Dwarven Use
Dwarves knew how to mine for adamantite. They called adamantine ohloro, and its adamantite ore as oro. Another dwarven name for adamantine was grumdek. As far back as, the gates of Alatorin were adamantine. In ancient times, Ammarindlar was famous for its adamantine works,p and Xothaerin had been also named as "thee adamant kingdom"; some ancient adamantine crafts included the Hammer of Amuimon, the Adamantine Golemcloak, the Living Axe, and the pickaxe of piercing that was in the Oremaster's grave. A commemorative plaque in Mholor Durinhal had also been made of adamantine.

As of the 14 century DR, gold dwarves manufactured adamantine weapons in large amounts in the Great Rift, where they could be had slightly cheaper. Some anvils in Gauntlgrym were made of significant amounts of adamantine in the 15 century DR. Small amounts of adamantine were also used to make Forge of Moradin medals amongst the Delzoun dwarves and special holy symbols of Moradin.

The Hammer of Thunderbolts was made of mithral and adamantine.

Drow Use
Drow were known to base special alloys on adamantine: these were powered by special radiations, which they allowed to soak for a year or so, but lost their powers in sunlight. They favored areas rich in adamantine and faerzress for precisely this reason.

In the late 14 century DR. within Menzoberranzan alone, House Faen Tlabbar's walls were reinforced with adamantite. Xorlarrin's Spelltower was also reinforced in the same way, as was the Agrach Dyrr residence and that of Feybranche. House Mizzrym used adamantite doors for the entrance to their caves. House Milithor made extensive use of adamantine. The Lichdrow of house Agrach Dyrr had Dyrr's impervious vestment amongst his possessions; the vestment may have been threaded with darksteel or adamantine. His crown of sorcerous terror was made of adamantine too. Other items used by drow included drow house insignia: if they transmitted messages, they were made of adamantine. Drow prosthetics were another uniquely drow-created item that made extensive use of adamantine. Rings, for use as jewelry, were sometimes adamantite. Some drow spellbooks, such as the one belonging to Tanthalyn, could transform into small unholy symbols made of adamantite. Other drow-made items including adamantine included a survivor's belt and the powerful sword, Khazid'hea.

Drow (un-)holy items were often made of adamantite-related alloys: altars to Ghaunadaur were made of adamantium, the name for forged adamant, while the dagger of venom issued to powerful clerics of Vhaeraun required adamantine or mithral to construct. Objects related to the worship of Lolth, such as any whip of fangs    could be made of adamantine; the Eye of Yuthla, an artifact of hers, was made out of adamantite. Spacefaring drow depended just as strongly on adamantite-based technologies: they made darkboxes, and sometimes scroll cases, unholy symbols, and religious icons out of adamantite.

Spell Use
The adamantite mace spell converted a mace to adamantite. Priests of Geb could cast hammer arms to convert their arms to adamantite. Priests of Gond had access to two spells that consumed the metal instead: the fantastic machine spell required a flake of adamantine to cast. while the fist of Gond spell called for a cube of adamantine.

A number of arcane spells consumed adamantine as a material component: the ironguard spell called for a nugget of it, the bladethirst spell called for a pinch, the invulnerability spell called for adamantine, the standfast spell required piece of granite, a lump of adamantite ore, or a few shavings of adamantine, and the bladethirst spell could use a pinch of silver, mithral, or this metal. Some versions of Nybor's stern reproof required an adamantine rod as a focus.

In Constructs
Only the rarest clockwork horrors were in fact made of adamantine, with perhaps one per crystal sphere. Pure adamantine was too scarce to make a whole golem out of it otherwise; drow sometimes made adamantine spider, but adamantine golems were instead made of iron, transmuted into the material through magic such as a wish. This was normally beyond the power of the spell, and so, only a mage well beyond the conventional levels of what was considered largely possible could think of achieving it. It was more common for constructs to incorporate only adamatine armor, such as hammer golems, or even use subtle amounts of adamantine, such as the fine wire used in flesh golems and the small bits of clockwork inside an iron cobra. Less integrally, each tomb tapper was created with an adamantine hammer.

In the Planes
Some primal beings and powerful elementals made use of adamantine. Ygorl wielded an adamantine scythe, the efreet sultan Marrake al-Sidan al-Hariq ben Lazan possessed at least one set of pantaloons made of tiny adamantine links, and Nehusta's body was said to contain meteoric adamantine. The Primordials, such as Cryonax, on the other hand, were said to be chained in adamantine. Erek-Hus was said to have split Io in half with an axe of adamantine.

In the astral plane, adamantine could also be found in godhulks, the bodies of dead gods. Vlaakith CLVII's phylactery, held in the same plane, was made of adamantine.

The dwarven pantheon possessed a number of adamantine tools, such as Sharindlar's whip, and Thard Harr's gauntlets Dumathoin was said to supply nondwarven gods with adamantite, and Laduguer was said to show his favor through the discovery of adamant. Conversely, adamantine was seen as a fit sacrifice for Laduguer For nondwarven gods, Siamorphe's scepter, Noble Might, was made of adamantine.

Fiends from the lower planes constructed great structures of adamantine, such as the pillars in Malbolge, the Gates of Erebus, and the adamantine walls of Fraz-Urb'luu's castle; Dispater's armor,, the Staff of Fraz-Urb'luu. and the solar insidiator locks were made of adamantine. Vorkehan in Acheron, the home of the Mercykillers, had adamantite spikes. Zariel might have sought adamantine to create a weapon, the Blade of Avernus.

The githzerai used their knowledge of Limbo to bring a shard of it when they traveled to the Prime Material plane. A group of anarchs then molded that essence of Limbo into large adamantine citadels that served as remote bases from which to observe enemies or to launch attacks.

In biology
Per some sources, adamantine was digestible to rust monsters, and in fact it activated their mating phase. It could definitely be digested by xavers. Gibbering mouthers could not digest adamantine.

Ferrous dragons could detect its scent at a distance that went from to, depending on age.

Other Notable Users

 * The Church of Waukeen outfitted its ceremonial guards with adamantine chainmail. These sentinels were assigned to guarding private chambers of the Church's high-ranking members.
 * In the Tomb of the Nine Gods, Acererak the demilich used three adamantine suspensions to hold up the Soulmonger above a pit of lava.
 * Fire giants preferred ransom paid in adamantine.
 * Balic of the Rock of Bral had occassionally worked it.
 * An ancient race had placed adamantine cores in the stalactites of Underspires long before its foundation.

Mines
Natural adamantine was mined in the following places in the Realms:
 * Greypeak Mountains
 * Tuern was the site of some adamantite mining, but it could not refine it.
 * Desertsmouth Mountains, once known as Teshan.
 * The area around Menzoberranzan, the Dark Dominion, was rich in adamantine-laden rocks.

Notable Crafts

 * Some traps consisted of a single taut adamantine wire, capable of slicing into the limbs of those who stumbled upon it.
 * Whip of Amatar
 * Belkram's Fall had some adamantine spikes holding up a mithral frame.
 * The Crown Adamant.
 * Arrows meant to bite into hard materials were made of adamantine.
 * The Argyr
 * Nightwatcher
 * The Netherese axe Separator
 * The blades of Ochiir Naal
 * The Monocle of Bagthalos
 * The Hooded Crown
 * The Arm of Valor
 * Justlance
 * Any Staff of Portals
 * Valorstar awards for civic service in Waterdeep.
 * The portal key to the Tomb Tapper Tomb was an adamantine rod.
 * Muiral's Decapitator
 * The fist was made of adamantine.
 * Any Mace of the Darkchildren was made of adamantine.
 * Warding holy symbols were made of adamantine.
 * The rooks in the Chessmen of Ultham-Urre created an adamantine fortress when deployed.
 * A number of doors in the Vault of Dragons were made of adamantine.
 * The adamantine binding was presumably made of adamantine.
 * Stavrala Naezerlith's chakram was made of adamantine.
 * The staff of raging battle
 * Ice Claw's grip was woven with black adamantine.
 * The sword Illuminator was made of adamantine.

Customs
The people of Amn used "adamantine" as an adjective to imply a person of self-made excellence was still not the best, referencing the fact that adamantine was still an alloy.

Some years were named after this metal in the Roll of Years, such as the. and the.

History
There were rumors in that a mining company in Keczulla had found a vein of adamantite, and was smuggling it out to Athkatla.

The city of Raven's Bluff suffered a severe adamantine shortage at some point. The city of Mirabar had, as of the mid-14 century DR, hired a number of alchemists to try and improve on adamantine.

By, in Chessenta, an eruption in the Smoking Mountains had revealed gates of adamantine tall. In the same year, Ironmaster had grown rich in adamantine from trade with Tuern.

At some point, Mordenkainen related that a group of Thayans joined githyanki in removing an adamantine box from the caves around Tu'Narath.

Trivia
Adamantine would fetch a rather random price in London.

Rumors
A moonstone dragon's heart was said to turn into a lump of adamantite when it died well.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Ruby Guardian
 * Video Games
 * Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation