ICE materials

The metals and woods of GemStone III mostly had I.C.E. Age analogs in Rolemaster, M.E.R.P., or Shadow World specifically. However, these sometimes had differences in detail with the modern lore, such as whether it was an alloy or other historical contexts. The Rolemaster "Bonus" has the same meaning as our modern materials enchant bonus, and "Resistance" is warding bonus while ST/BF = ST/DU. The listed conversion value is 20 silver pieces for 1 gold piece in the Shadow World Master Atlas 3rd Ed. (page 57), but there is no need for a high degree of consistency between it and the Rolemaster books.

Metals

The word "metals" is used loosely. This includes special minerals, crystals, and volcanic glasses, but leaves out generic real-world materials such as obsidian. There are some SHIFT verb terms that do not exist in the I.C.E. source books, and it is unclear if some of these ever actually existed in the game. This list also does not include I.C.E. materials that never existed in GemStone.

Arinyark

Modern: Ahnver

Arinyark is a luminous bluish-green mineral that absorbs raw Essence radiation. It is extremely difficult to make into weapons and armors, and with armor it would typically be a laminate on something else to act as a mana battery. There is no modern lore for this material, though "ahnver" does exist in the game. It was one of the words that was changed but was not included in the SHIFT verb. If a confined space were subjected to a large enough concentration of arinyark, it would have the effect of severely dampening the local flows of essence, imposing steep penalties (say 90%) on Essence realm spells.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	-5
Resistance:	+30
ST/BF:	?
Cost Multiplier:	1000x
RM Value:	200 gold/ounce
SW Value:	200 silver/ounce

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	Arinyark stores essence radiation like a battery which can then be tapped to renew power points (mana). When coating a full suit of armor with arinyark, it provides +30 to Essence realm resistance rolls (warding) or applies -30 to elemental attacks such as bolts. (Source: Alchemy Companion (1992); Chapter 2.2.7: Enchanted Materials, page 15)
Shadow World:	Same as Rolemaster. Arinyark is an ingredient of the alloy Xenium. (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas, 2nd Edition (1992); Chapter 1.3: Special Elements, page 17) In the Third Edition it is a "metallic element" and those modifiers are +/-50 rather than +/-30. There is a silver-blue metal called Taurith near arinyark deposits which is extremely easy for imbedding Essence realm spells. (2001, page 58)
I.C.E. Age:	Arinyark strips are used as a lighting method in the old part of the Crypt of The Graveyard, likely symbolic of The Unlife because it devours the Essence. The extension with the torches is unrelated to the original story. This might have been inspired by the arinyark pillared Great Hall of an Unlife mummy king in the Egyptian themed "Kingdom of the Desert Jewel" source book (1989), which was located on the Bay of Throk in the western continent of Gethyra. The design of the Graveyard is influenced by the Egyptian death religion, and the invoking phrase used to be "Kadaena Throk Farok" rather than "Shadow bind my soul." The deeper part of the necropolis is lit with luminescent fungus.

Black Alloy

Modern: Black alloy

It is an alloy of iron, titanium, and "meteoric metals." It ranges from steel grey to black in color, and does not require special forging equipment. For this reason the "meteoric metal" component presumably does not refer to star iron. While it is not all that uncommon in Rolemaster, it is extremely rare in modern GemStone IV. It was included along with white alloy on a late 1990s table before the modern metals lore was written, along with the lower carbon low and high steel, but its properties were left undefined. In the modern game it is most notably used for ShadowDeath weapons and vambraces.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	+20
Resistance:	+10
ST/BF:	?
Cost Multiplier:	500x
RM Value:	100 gold/ounce
SW Value:	?

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	As described above. (Source: Alchemy Companion (1992); Chapter 2.2.7: Enchanted Materials, page 15) In the Treasure Companion (1996) it asserts that "black alloys" are "very hard" and incredibly difficult to forge because of their very high carbon content, and that they contain either nickel or molbydenum, but with large fractions of tungsten and vanadium. (Treasure Companion Chapter 3.4.2: Carbon Steel; pages 26, 38)
Shadow World:	It is called "Krelin" after its creator, the Iylari smith Krelij who fashioned the dragonhelms with the Dragonlord Oran Jatar, the brother of the famous artificer Tethior who invented white alloy. It is a non-magical alloy of iron, carbon, and other materials. Dull grey. +50 BF ("breakage factor"). (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas, 3rd Edition (2001); Chapter 5.4: Special Weapon Alloys, page 57)
I.C.E. Age:	The I.C.E. Age of GemStone III ended prior to the publication of Treasure Companion and the Third Edition of the Shadow World Master Atlas.

Black Eog

Modern: Black ora

Black eog is an unholy metal that inhibits light magic in the same way that white eog does for dark magic. Mechanically, most if not all player spells in GemStone III were technically "light" magic (even if they were violent) in that they used what we call "mana", so this anti-magical property is significantly weaker in the game than in Shadow World. Modernly there is "pure" and "impure" black ora, but in the I.C.E. Age context all ora weapons are alloys. Black eog does not have the mana regeneration and wisdom bonuses of pure black ora, or the spirit regeneration penalty, though this would not be inconsistent. In Shadow World the price per ingot of white and black ora is the same, they are exceptionally rare. In the modern metals lore black ora is much more rare than white ora and they are both pure forms.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	+30
Resistance:	+30
ST/BF:	+15/+30?
Cost Multiplier:	10,000x
RM Value:	2,000? gold/ounce
SW Value:	5,000 silver/ounce

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	Black eog is only mentioned as a color variation of normal dully silver-grey eog, which is described as an Elven magical alloy made from mithril, titanium ("durang"), and other unknown materials. It is not described as having special properties of its own as a color variation. (Source: Alchemy Companion (1992); Chapter 2.2.7: Enchanted Materials, page 15) In the Treasure Companion (1996) eog is only described in its gray form as "true steel" or "true iron." (Treasure Companion Chapter 3.5.3: Enchanted Substances, page 27)
Shadow World:	Eog varieties are pure metals in Shadow World, but the weapons are always alloys because it is brittle. Black and white eog have anti-magical properties, unlike ordinary eog. Black eog is unholy in that it can inhibit or even nullify ordinary magic, as opposed to the Dark Essence realms where the power originates in sources such the Unlife or dark gods. In a room covered in 1 inch panels of black eog, most ordinary magic users would not be able to cast spells, but they would still have their power points (unlike kregora which actually drains them.) (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas, 3rd Edition (2001); Chapter 5.4: Magical Materials & Alloys, page 58)
I.C.E. Age:	Black eog is an unholy metal which uses the game's curse mechanics. There were black eog signet rings that supposedly augmented Council of Light powers in the past, which is surely based on the signet rings of the Priests Arnak. The Spider Temple originally inhibited some of the spell-casting of (light) Channeling users. When it opened spells such as Unstun did not work inside the building. White ora is naturally sanctified in the hands of a cleric, while black ora is naturally cursed. These properties are not mentioned in Shadow World. In general the Eog variants in Rolemaster and Shadow World are more powerful and valuable than the Ora that exists in GemStone.

Boernerine

Modern: Zorchar

There does not appear to be any I.C.E. origin for this material. It is unclear to what extent it existed in the I.C.E. Age.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	Unknown
Resistance:	Unknown
ST/BF:	Unknown
Cost Multiplier:	Unknown
RM Value:	Unknown
SW Value:	Unknown

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	There does not appear to be any basis for "boernerine" in the Rolemaster source books. There are no intrinsic flaring materials. Its properties do not seem to resemble any other material, so it is likely unique to the game. The word is not obviously based on other existing words.
Shadow World:	There do not appear to be any metals corresponding to the properties of "boernerine" in the Shadow World source books. There is a metal called "electrium" which can be easily imbedded with elemental spells, creating something effectively equivalent to zorchar and all of the others. However, this was not mentioned in early enough sources, and other materials can be imbedded. It would be like using Magic Item Creation (420) on a sword instead of Elemental Blade (411). (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas 3rd Edition (2001); Chapter 5.4: Magical Materials & Alloys, page 58) The ease of imbedding property is not specific to elemental spells. It is a very expensive magical alloy of gold, silver, and iron. 10,000 silver/ounce.
I.C.E. Age:	The drake falchion is one of the oldest item drops in the treasure system. It is unclear when exactly feras items first existed as crumbly electric flares instead of flames, and it is unclear to what extent the non-crumbly boernerine ever actually existed or if zorchar was first introduced later.

Catoetine

Modern: Coraesine

There does not appear to be any I.C.E. origin for this material. It is unclear to what extent it existed in the I.C.E. Age. Its properties were undefined on a table of materials properties from the late 1990s before the modern materials document, suggesting that if they exist at all, old old coraesine might not even have the double strike or air flare properties. So-called "old coraesine" weapons have those properties and a fixed stat bonus based backlash hazard on the wielder, while newer coraesine has "pure" and "impure" forms with more properties, and attunes to the wielder becoming less hazardous.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	Unknown
Resistance:	Unknown
ST/BF:	Unknown
Cost Multiplier:	Unknown
RM Value:	Unknown
SW Value:	Unknown

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	There does not appear to be any basis for "catoetine" in the Rolemaster source books. Its properties do not seem to resemble any other material, so it is likely unique to the game. The word is not obviously based on other existing words.
Shadow World:	There do not appear to be any Elven metals resembling the properties of coraesine. The association of the metal with Elves, particularly the Faendryl in the modern lore, was probably invented for modern GemStone. There is no reason to suspect it is a Dyari metal.
I.C.E. Age:	It is unclear if catoetine actually existed in the game, or what its properties might have been originally.

Dwarven Steel

Modern: Invar

It is unclear which steel variety should refer to "dwarven steel." White alloy is the Dwarven "adacer" in the Treasures of Middle Earth book, which is likely too potent. Low steel or enclantine ("enchanted iron") from Shadow World are closer to the bonus of invar, but are not markedly Dwarven in any way. It is likely supposed to be an iron and carbon alloy with a relatively significant amount of carbon, possibly with trace amounts of something more valuable to Dwaves, the most logical candidate being mithril. Invar is a processed metal in the modern lore but it is a dwarven secret.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	+5
Resistance:	+5
ST/BF:	?
Cost Multiplier:	10x
RM Value:	2 gold/ounce
SW Value:	?

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	The "Enchanted Iron" is refined and magically worked, giving the stat bonuses on the right. (Source: Alchemy Companion (1992); Chapter 2.2.7: Enchanted Materials, page 15) "Adacer" is Dwarven "white alloy" made with coal and titanium (Source: Treasures of Middle Earth), which is a separate entry on the archaic materials table along with low and high steel, and likely too potent to be the basis of invar.
Shadow World:	Enclatine is a magically worked "Enchanted Iron" with only a +5 bonus, as opposed to the non-magical "low steel" with the same bonus. However, Enclatine has +50 BF, the breakage factor. Invar does not seem to be that strong.
I.C.E. Age:	Dwarven steel may be a descriptor with a minor bonus that was formalized. There is no obvious reason why the term had to be changed.

Elrodnite

Modern: rhimar

There does not appear to be any I.C.E. origin for this material. It is unclear to what extent it existed in the I.C.E. Age. There was a material named Illinar that was a rare enchanted form of ice that inflicted cold criticals in weapon and golem forms, but the earliest reference to it seems to be after the I.C.E. Age ended. The Treasure Companion (p. 27, 110) was 1996 or possibly even 2000, and the Construct Companion (p.47) for golems was 2003. The actual page numbers for Treasure Companion references on this page are actually from the 2000 printing. Rhimar is a metal, not magical ice.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	Unknown
Resistance:	Unknown
ST/BF:	Unknown
Cost Multiplier:	Unknown
RM Value:	Unknown
SW Value:	Unknown

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	There does not appear to be any basis for "elrodnite" in the Rolemaster source books. There are no intrinsic flaring materials. Its properties do not seem to resemble any other material, so it is likely unique to the game. The word is not obviously based on other existing words. However, there is a rare enchanted "true ice" material, called Illinar. (Source: Treasure Companion; Chapter 3.5.1: Enchanted Substances, page 27) Its bonus is +20, which is more powerful than rhimar, and there is a sample "staff of illinar" item which describes inflicting an "additional cold critical."
Shadow World:	There do not appear to be any metals corresponding to the properties of "elrodnite" in the Shadow World source books. There is a metal called "electrium" which can be easily imbedded with elemental spells, creating something effectively equivalent to rhimar and all of the others. However, this was not mentioned in early enough sources, and other materials can be imbedded. It would be like using Magic Item Creation (420) on a sword instead of Elemental Blade (411). (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas 3rd Edition (2001); Chapter 5.4: Magical Materials & Alloys, page 58) The ease of imbedding property is not specific to elemental spells. It is a very expensive magical alloy of gold, silver, and iron. 10,000 silver/ounce.
I.C.E. Age:	The drake falchion is one of the oldest item drops in the treasure system. It is unclear when exactly feras items first existed as crumbly electric flares instead of flames, and it is unclear to what extent the non-crumbly elrodnite ever actually existed or if rhimar was first introduced later.

Eog

Modern: Ora

Common Eog is an extremely hard but brittle metal that is incredibly rare, and only becomes used for weapons and armor in alloy forms. It is a dull silvery-grey in appearance, but comes in other forms, including blue and red. White and black eog are somewhat anti-magical in that that they locally inhibit the flows of essence. When used in combination they would act similar to kregora, though not to the same severity and without power draining. (Including significant amounts of arinyark would come closer.) Eog is more powerful and rare in Rolemaster and Shadow World than ora is in GemStone.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	+30
Resistance:	+30
ST/BF:	+15/+30
Cost Multiplier:	10,000x
RM Value:	2,000 gold/ounce
SW Value:	2,000 silver/ounce

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	Eog is described as an Elven magical alloy made from mithril, titanium ("durang" for "dark iron"), and other unknown materials. The color variations other than common grey are red, blue, white, and black, but Rolemaster does not specify any special properties for these varieties. (Source: Alchemy Companion (1992); Chapter 2.2.7: Enchanted Materials, page 15) In the Treasure Companion (1996) eog is only described in its gray form as "true steel" or "true iron." (Treasure Companion Chapter 3.5.3: Enchanted Substances, page 27)
Shadow World:	Eog varieties are pure metals in Shadow World, but the weapons are always alloys because it is brittle. Black and white eog have anti-magical properties, unlike ordinary eog. Black eog is unholy in that it can inhibit or even nullify ordinary magic, as opposed to the Dark Essence realms where the power originates in sources such the Unlife or dark gods. In a room covered in 1 inch panels of black eog, most ordinary magic users would not be able to cast spells, but they would still have their power points (unlike kregora which actually drains them.) (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas, 3rd Edition (2001); Chapter 5.4: Magical Materials & Alloys, page 58) The same would be true in reverse for white eog and Dark Essence users, including unholy creatures such as the undead. Common Eog is also called Grey Eog.
I.C.E. Age:	Black and white eog existed as metals in the I.C.E. Age. Their cursed and sanctified properties are specific to GemStone.

Fabrinine

Modern: Drakar

There does not appear to be any I.C.E. origin for this material. It is unclear to what extent it existed in the I.C.E. Age.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	Unknown
Resistance:	Unknown
ST/BF:	Unknown
Cost Multiplier:	Unknown
RM Value:	Unknown
SW Value:	Unknown

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	There does not appear to be any basis for "fabrinine" in the Rolemaster source books. There are no intrinsic flaring materials. Its properties do not seem to resemble any other material, so it is likely unique to the game. The word is not obviously based on other existing words.
Shadow World:	There do not appear to be any metals corresponding to the properties of "fabrinine" in the Shadow World source books. There is a metal called "electrium" which can be easily imbedded with elemental spells, creating something effectively equivalent to drakar and all of the others. However, this was not mentioned in early enough sources, and other materials can be imbedded. It would be like using Magic Item Creation (420) on a sword instead of Elemental Blade (411). (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas 3rd Edition (2001); Chapter 5.4: Magical Materials & Alloys, page 58) The ease of imbedding property is not specific to elemental spells. It is a very expensive magical alloy of gold, silver, and iron. 10,000 silver/ounce.
I.C.E. Age:	The drake falchion is one of the oldest item drops in the treasure system, and they are not crumbly in the first place. It is unclear to what extent fabrinine ever actually existed in the I.C.E. Age, effectively just a +5 version of drake, or if drakar was first introduced later.

Galvorn

Modern: Golvern

Galvorn is an alloy with unspecified color in Rolemaster made from "meteoric iron" and other substances known only to a few smithing guilds. It is extremely malleable but puncture and cut resistant. When forged with "specific elements" it becomes the hardest material known to exist. It is only worked in extremely hot forges. In the I.C.E. Middle Earth system its color is implied to be black, but in GemStone it is now defined to look gold or red-gold. Galvorn has a higher enchantment bonus in Rolemaster than golvern does in GemStone, where it is considered dwarven, but they are both extremely hard metals.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	+40
Resistance:	+40
ST/BF:	+24/+99
Cost Multiplier:	90,000x
RM Value:	18,000 gold/ounce
SW Value:	Unknown

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	In Rolemaster galvorn is an extremely rare alloy that is the hardest material known to exist when forged with the right elements. (Source: Alchemy Companion (1990); Chapter 2.2.7: Enchanted Materials, page 15) In the M.E.R.P. system it is called "Shining Black" with the same properties and is the rarest metal, with only two smiths possibly having rediscovered how to make it. (Source: Treasures of Middle Earth; Chapter 6.3: Metals, page 130) Breakage statistics are given in Character Law/Campaign Law, Chapter 7.3.6 (Catalog #1300).
Shadow World:	It is not mentioned in the Shadow World Master Atlas, though an NPC item of galvorn does exist in The Iron Wind source book.
I.C.E. Age:	Galvorn existed in the I.C.E. Age and had the highest breakage factor statistic with an ST/BF of +24/+99, identical to the modern ST/DU values of +24/+99. Golvern is implied to be a pure metal. There is no implied relationship with Dwaves in the I.C.E. sources.

Inniculmoid

Modern: Gornar

There does not appear to be any I.C.E. origin for this material. It is unclear to what extent it existed in the I.C.E. Age.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	Unknown
Resistance:	Unknown
ST/BF:	Unknown
Cost Multiplier:	Unknown
RM Value:	Unknown
SW Value:	Unknown

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	There does not appear to be any basis for "inniculmoid" in the Rolemaster source books. There are no intrinsic flaring materials. Its properties do not seem to resemble any other material, so it is likely unique to the game. The word is not obviously based on other existing words.
Shadow World:	There do not appear to be any metals corresponding to the properties of "inniculmoid" in the Shadow World source books. There is a metal called "electrium" which can be easily imbedded with elemental spells, creating something effectively equivalent to gornar and all of the others. However, this was not mentioned in early enough sources, and other materials can be imbedded. It would be like using Magic Item Creation (420) on a sword instead of Elemental Blade (411). (Source: Shadow World Master Atlas 3rd Edition (2001); Chapter 5.4: Magical Materials & Alloys, page 58) The ease of imbedding property is not specific to elemental spells. It is a very expensive magical alloy of gold, silver, and iron. 10,000 silver/ounce.
I.C.E. Age:	The drake falchion is one of the oldest item drops in the treasure system. It is unclear when exactly feras items first existed as crumbly electric flares instead of flames, and it is unclear to what extent the non-crumbly inniculmoid ever actually existed or if gornar was first introduced later.

Iorake

Modern: Eonake

Iorake was named after the Shadow World deity Iorak, who is the Eonak of modern GemStone religion. It is a unique metal to the game that does not exist in the Shadow World source books, nor does it exist in more general Rolemaster books. It is inherently sanctified in weapon form. It is quite strong and difficult to break while being lighter than steel. It is unclear if it was a Dwarven metal.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	+20
Resistance:	Unknown
ST/BF:	+20/+55
Cost Multiplier:	Unknown
RM Value:	Unknown
SW Value:	Unknown

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	Iorake does not exist in the Rolemaster source books. It is based on a deity of the Shadow World setting, but was apparently invented for GemStone III. There does not seem to be anything with analogous properties. The importance of the undead is greatly exaggerated in GemStone for historical development reasons, so there is little need for an inherently holy metal, and arguably some sound world system reasons to be against it.
Shadow World:	The metal is named after Iorak, the Lord of Orhan of artificing. It is not mentioned in the Shadow World source books. White eog (ora) itself is not mentioned as being holy for undead purposes, so there is no basis for iorake. Eonake happens to be white now, possibly consistent with prior use.
I.C.E. Age:	Iorake weapons existed in the I.C.E. Age, they are holy and harm the undead. Some of these notably have descriptions of glowing, while the modern lore says it "holds a perfect shine when polished." There were custom iorake claidhmores made by the Hobbit merchant Effefavelopa.

Ithilnaur

Modern: Vaalorn

Ithilnaur is an Elven metal also known as "moon-fire", which is supposed to be incredibly hard and keeps a "superbly keen edge." It is an alloy of mithril, titanium, and other metals forged under extreme heat, with the appearance of pure silver. Weapons of Ithilnaur are refolded dozens of times, forming "extremely strong laminates." In the late 1990s materials table "vaalorn" had a bonus of only +18, but remained an Elven metal. In the modern documentation it was explicitly attributed to the Vaalor elves. It is no longer silver in color, and it is not an alloy. The Vaalor secret is in the ability to dye it.

Rolemaster Statistics
Bonus:	+20
Resistance:	+20
ST/BF:	?
Cost Multiplier:	1,000x
RM Value:	200 gold/ounce
SW Value:	?

Game	Details
Rolemaster:	The description of Ithilnaur above is from the Alchemy Companion, Chapter 2.2.7 page 16. In the Middle Earth setting it is also used by the Dwarves of Moria for armaments. (Source: Treasures of Middle Earth; Chapter 6.3: Metals, page 130)
Shadow World:	Ithilnaur does not appear to be used the Shadow World setting.
I.C.E. Age:	It is unclear to what extent Ithilnaur actually existed in the I.C.E. Age. Its enchantment bonus is slightly weaker than it would be in Rolemaster, and its breakage factor is probably higher there than its modern ST/DU statistics given its original lore and alloy components.

External Links

• Rolemaster Alchemy Companion (see Chapter 2.2.7: Enchanted Materials, page 15)
• Rolemaster Creatures & Treasures II (see Chapter 15.0: Magic Items, page 67)
• Shadow World Materials
• Treasures of Middle Earth (see Chapter 6.3: Metals, page 129, least relevant to GemStone)