>I'm no expert, but I'd be pretty sure they use it for forges.
Actually, that implies that you work Gloranthan "bronze" in forges. You can produce ordinary real world bronze swords without a forge, all you need is a sufficiently hot furnace heating the crucible you melt the ores (! - not necessarily the metals) and possibly a pre-heated cast (but then bell casters can do without, so why shouldn't sword-casters?).
>Here's a quote from my Irish research:
>A mruigfher (land man) [...] had [...] charcoal for iron-work when a smith >came around [...]
>It may be that working bronze doesn't require charcoal, though the >occasional iron work probably does (or lots of magic).
That's my problem. (I will make these questions part of my bids for the Convulsion Lore Auction.)
Given the nature of both hu-metal ("bronze") and ur-metal ("iron") I am far from certain whether we can apply any common knowledge about the real world parallels on the Gloranthan stuff.
(I do have some "professional" interest, too - as a chemist and part-time mineralogy student I am quite familiar with the properties of metals, and I am going to help forging my first scramasax this summer with a bladesmith aquaintance of mine.)
Part of the problem is the change of mind from RQ2's almost hermetic metal lore (Rune metals being pure, having to be attuned to be worn) to the somewhat less dramatic description in Elder Secrets. In the RQ2 mindset the impure (because alloyed) bronze was natural for everyday use because it did not disturb the magic of both the wearer and the world.
RQ2 rules, p.5:
: Glorantha is a Bronze Age world. Bronze is common, and can be mined directly
: from the bones of the gods who died in the Gods' War. These bones provide a
: ready source of the metal.
: Unalloyed, or pure, metals, such as iron, lead, tin, and copper, prevent a
: person from using magic unless he is "sealed" to the Rune connected with that
: metal. See Chapter X for a list of what metals are aligned to which Runes.
: Note that all coins are alloyed, as are gold and silver ornaments.
Chapter X yields the Rune identities (omitting Storm) of metals etc, giving an extra paragraph on metals (p.101):
: Metal - Rune Priests of a particular element have the ability to harden that
: element's metal into weapopns with strength to bronze. However, iron is
: preferred by these races which can handle it due to its greater durability
and
: absorption of damage.
Apart from this, there is a paragraph on enchanting iron and other rune metals for Rune Lords on p.56f.
Since the Glorantha descriptions in RQ3 supplements described these circumstances, the importance of Rune metals (other than iron) has shifted. Pure metals no longer are special, and only iron requires enchantments to avoid magic inhibition.
It is well possible that the shift away from the hermetic pure metals has removed the Bronze Age feeling of large parts of the world. A lot of people I have talked to treat bronze like real earth iron, both in general durability and production, and reserve superior steel properties (or something like Tolkien's "mithril") for enchanted Gloranthan iron. (Actually, most don't do so expressis verbis, but imply this.)
What is the general feeling about metalworking on Glorantha? What chores has a smith to undertake to make a superior weapon?
Note that things like the interesting description how Wayland/Volund produces superior steel for his sword Mimung work only on real world iron, not at all on real world bronze. Still, Wayland/Volund feels to me like a figure we could encounter in Glorantha. So, what are the refining steps for Gloranthan Bronze?
(None necessary for genuine divine bones, I'd say, but what about molten remnants of former tools or ores directly transformed into the metal?)
Returning to my anvil...
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