Wyrmwood

Culturally significant to the local elven populations, Wyrmwood is a living metal formed magically in the core of Wyrmwood Trees; used as a defense mechanism that allows the trees to live for many centuries without fear of predators. This doesn't form in adolescence of the tree however, and only begins to build in the core of a tree following eighty years of growth, making it not only rare, but extremely difficult to get ahold of.

Many elven legends revolve around the living nature of the sword, and its 'understanding' of its owner. In fact, the metal has been known to be so difficult to wield from novice swordsmen, that it has actually forced the blade into its wielder, causing deep gashes that stop the practice of swordsmanship for life, if not many years. This is partially due to its ability to change its weight distribution, and shape at will; but can be slowed and calmed by a skilled smith.

Because of its ability to alter its dimensions and weight, the weapon is often seen in use for backup weapons that can be snuck into places that would otherwise not allow larger swords or axes; while others take the wood of the tree with its metal embedded and create powerful bows capable of much greater draw strength and flexibility than almost any other comparable type. Despite this beauty, it doesn't see use as often as people may hope.

The major reason being that the metal is as hard as steel, despite being lighter, meaning it is extremely difficult to get out of the trees to begin with; leaving alone the cultural significance of the trees within the Falwood itself. This difficulty of utilization doesn't end here however, as again many smiths will face difficulty to force the metal into a shape and for it to hold; a task no novice should attempt.

To do so requires endurance, chilling the metal to a certain temperature with docility runes ensuring it doesn't fight back, molding much of it with specially made metal gauntlets, ending it with a careful rune procedure and tempering that makes the blade lose much of its alternating nature, forcing it to stick to one shape. Adding another alterable stance requires much the same process, but the additional fine tuning of a master smith capable of retaining both forges memory in a single metal.

The end result is a weapon, or armor, that can form itself to the user and alter its shape at will, so long as the user knows exactly what they are dealing with. Often referred to as 'angrier than an adult wolf', actively holding the weapon can be a task in itself should the sword not respect the owner. This creates an imbalance, meaning one of these weapons is nearly unusable by any but the person who tames it. This means the blade is essentially its own fighter, and will often refuse to abide itself to anyone it doesn't see fit to wield it.

This has been blamed as a cruel trick done by smiths to ensure the swords never fall in the wrong hands, but at the end of the day its the sword that decides who wields it; truly making a masterful swordsmen forced to accept a symbiotic relationship with the metal and his weapon, often in a way no other weapon user will ever see. It should also be noted that the living nature of the metal allows it to stay forever sharp by 'healing' nicks and minor damage, making the blade never appear to take actual wear and tear of normal use; however should the blade ever be snapped, it will lose its ability to retain its shape, meaning a broken blade is essentially dead until it can be reforged by a proper smith.

References -

• The First of Many - Used in the creation of a duelist sword for a half elf, the metal sees itself as the tool of an up and coming swordsmen.