Zegrumite

Description

Zegrumite is a moderately abundant exotic magical metal found all over the world, and resembles a heavily tarnished gold with a more orange tint to it. Zegrumite gives off an aura of Conjuration magic, which is particularly useful in detecting scams where shady merchants try to pass it off as gold. The metal has the unique property of existing on all planes at once, meaning that wherever the metal is on the material plane, it is in the same position on the Ethereal plane, Callamus, the elemental planes, etc. It only exhibits this property when in contact with Flow. If, say, a dagger made of Zegrumite were enclosed in a sheath made from Shadesteel, that dagger would not appear on other planes until it is unsheathed.

This is particularly useful in creating defenses against teleportation, as even a powdered Zegrumite used as a tempering agent in stonework can block teleportation into and out of an area. Travelers through the plane of passage that collide with the metal while teleporting will be ejected back to the material plane violently. For this purpose, Zegrumite is usually used as a reinforcing agent rather than as a solid sheet, as solid Zegrumite barriers are seen as wasteful, unless you are truly paranoid and want to defend against tiny creatures that might slip through the cracks.

In addition to its anti-teleportation utility, it is particularly effective as a weapon against creatures summoned from other planes, and for defending against those creatures. Some have also created nets with Zegrumite spheres on it to prevent teleportation from those caught in it. And though an extremely unconventional usage, some have used Zegrumite powder as a pigment for ink to write messages to communicate across the planes. Perhaps most powerfully, though, it allows the wielder of a Zegrumite weapon to harm creatures on the Ethereal plane, such as Spirits.

Zegrumite can also exist on the plane of Sara'lor, the plane of magic. Those who are able to see into Sara'lor could use a blade of pure refined Zegrumite to sever the bonds of enchantments existing there, which can cause enchanted items to malfunction or even stop functioning completely. A blade simply made of pure Zegrumite will only cause "hiccups" in enchantments, rather than severing them, such as causing a wand to consume more Flow than normal or cause a magic projectile to deviate off course. To actually sever the bonds, you must enchant the blade. When these bonds are broken, they can be repaired, but it requires a skilled enchanter. However, if a blade that is only an alloy of Zegrumite is used, it leaves gaps, and the lines of energy that compose the bonds of enchantments can pass harmlessly through it. This is why blades are made as alloys of Zegrumite and not pure, because carrying around a blade of pure refined Zegrumite can be hazardous, as you may inadvertently sever the bonds of your own enchanted items and cause chaos. Many smiths will outright refuse to purify Zegrumite to the point it can be used to forge a blade like this due to the dangers it can pose.

Zegrumite's interactions with the plane of Sara'lor are known only by a handful who have kept it secret because of how dangerous it can be, and also because of how great a weapon it can be against those who rely on magic. When the first pure refined Zegrumite blade was created, it was melted down and destroyed shortly thereafter when it caused nearly every enchanted item in the village to malfunction wildly where it was created. Once a local sorcerer put the pieces together, it was widely agreed that only diluted Zegrumite should be used. It is only once Shadesteel appeared in Aellorah that it became possible to harness the full potential of the metal.

D&D 5E Game Mechanics

Zegrumite has a few highly valuable uses. When a weapon is crafted of Zegrumite, that weapon will do an additional 2d6 damage to creatures that have been summoned from another plane, such as elementals or summoned beasts, or creatures on the Ethereal plane. It will also provide resistance against attacks from those types of creatures when used in an alloy when crafting armor as long as Zegrumite composes more than 50% of the metal in the alloy. Generally when using a magical metal like Zegrumite as a reinforcing material, you can only combine it with one other magical metal, an alloy of conventional metals, or any one metal -- such as steel.

If someone able to see into Sara'lor wants to attempt to damage the bonds of an enchantment, they must first identify which bonds connected to the targeted enchantment do what, and then choose which bond to sever. Severing the bond requires that the blade be enchanted to do so, and only requires an action to slice through it. If you do not care what happens to the item and simply want to cause damage, you can simply slice away -- but if you carefully analyze the item and sever specific bonds, you can create malfunctions that can cause an enchantment on an item to backfire on its wielder. For example, if you were to sever the bond of the enchantment on a Wand of Fireballs responsible for projecting the Fireball, it could cause the wand to detonate the Fireball directly at the end of the wand, causing it to explode directly in front of the wand's wielder.