Emberwood

A special wood found in the Burning Forest after the Crisis of the Fey age with a deep connection to the conflux, it was found to have several uses.  

Description and properties

The trees of the burning forest are a dark brown with glowing embers in cracks within the bark. Rather then leaves the tops of the 'living' trees produce flames that create a glowing canopy. These trees are warm all year round, though the fire seems not to spread unless flammable substances come into direct contact.   Once cut down the wood takes on a black colour with embers still glowing beneath the surface. This tends to last upto around a decade, depending on size, before the wood goes out on untreated emberwood, though the process of treating the wood makes it massively expensive. This wood again is warm to touch and can ignite connecting material. While it doesn't weaken in power over it's life, it will eventually start turning white before going out and crumbling to ash around a year after.   It should be noted that neither the tree or wood creates smoke. Though it does go out when drowned in water or smothered in sand it does relight once removed.  

Harvesting

One of the more tricky materials to harvest, emberwood needs extensive planning to cut one tree down, lest they set the whole forest ablaze. While you can cut a tree down with an axe, it tends to break apart leaving shards of emberwood scattered over the area.   The more common and better practice is using chains to secure the tree before chiselling an indent at the lower part of the tree on the side it is intended to fall in. before cutting through the rest with a large saw. This is lowered slowly by the chains as it starts to fall. Ember wood is also picked up from the ground in the form of fallen sticks and branches. As branches can also be made into shards it is more common for branches to be cut down, with trees only being felled to order.   Once harvested the wood needs to be transported in special fire restraint containers, with care taken not to let it come into contact in any flammable material. Large quantities of shards are often transported in barrels filled with water.  

Forms and uses

Emberwood comes in four forms:

1. Sticks only last up to a few years and so tends to be for personal use only.
   
2. Shards which are moderately priced and tend to last around half a decade.
   
3. Branches are expensive and tend to last between a half and a full decade, this is also the only type that can be treated
   
4. Logs tend to cost more then a house and lasts a little over a decade. Normally it has one use.

 

Treated emberwood

Emberwood branches can be treated with magical runes to create eternal fires within. This process takes several days and makes the branch even more expensive. Though logs can be treated the cost and effort makes each log the price of a small kingdom.  

Fire starters

Shards and sticks are often used as part of tinderboxes or fireplaces to start fires, infact by third century Fey most adventuring parties would carry a piece of emberwood for that purpose. Larger shards would also be used in forges to light coals and help keep furnace temperature up.  

Spell components

Several mages have found that emberwood can be used in several rituals as well as an alternative component for spells like fire shield and flame blade.  

Regents

While shards can be used to create fir based items, normally it's the larger branches used. Depending on the item some of these are treated, though the cost of these items is verging on extortionate. Other artifacts can be created with untreated but only last a small amount of time, while others can gain and keep certain enchantments by being forged in an emberwood furnace.  

Heating

In a few places emberwood is often used as a heater, either for clothes using shards, though special care needs to be given, or buildings using branches. It should be noted several places in Rulfim's shield has treated logs to heat areas, though it's unclear who paid the exorbitant price tags to get them.  

Ship masts

The primary use for logs, it was discovered ship speed could be increased by building a mast from emberwood, though the skills required to attach a new mast without burning the ship down means most ships get it attached at Artif.