Alter Aeon The Great Library

Welcome to the Alter Aeon Historical Archive!

Note - as with any topic, researchers should question the reliability
and veracity of these texts.  The library's aim is to preserve
documents, not verify accuracy.

AABN:  48898
Title: a scroll titled "Treasure from the Heavens"

Blessed with knowledge by the gods, reserved by the Dragon Emperor to be
employed only at his command, I, Luse Jinshu, the Royal Smith, at the
behest of the Emperor, do scribe upon this scroll the secrets of the rare
metal known as sky iron.

Falling stars have been reported since ancient times. Symbols representing
them are scratched into cave walls. Most of these burn up before touching
the ground. A handful make to the ground, often leaving a crater lined with
vitreous material melted by the force of the impact.

Many of these meteorites, as they are known, can be smelted down to yield a
marvellous metal. The purest of these meteorites can be cold-worked even
with crude implements. Many primitive tribes have legends of mighty weapons
pounded from fragments of meteorites.

And with good reason! This sky iron, as it has come to be called, in all
ways appears to be iron, though it is both harder and more flexible. It
resists magic like iron, though, most marvellously, weapons made from it
can strike ethereal creatures! This alone makes is one of the most valuable
metals known.

It is not known why sky iron has this ability. Some believe that the harsh
conditions of space and the strange energies there permeate the metal.
Other speculations believe it may not be iron at all, but an exotic alloy,
and that sky iron is in fact remnants from the shattered hull of a wrecked
space-faring vessel that sails high in the heavens like in the ancient
stories, and that bits of it fall from time to time as its orbit degrades. 
Less eccentric versions of this theory suppose that such an alloy is
naturally occuring on other heavenly bodies such as Gothos. Sometimes
smelted meteorites leave a residue of platinum slag behind, lending some
credit to the alloy theory.

Though its true nature is unknown, sky iron's properties are well
understood. It is the recommendation of this humble servant of his majesty
that any meteorites that fall in Suboria or nearby lands be taken as
property of the Dragon Emperor, to be used at his discretion.