Tyverian Tools and Trade

The most important product of Tyveria is tyvalite ore, which can be refined through blood sorcery, and only through blood sorcery, into tyvalite steel—an alloy that’s hard as iron yet pliable as leather.

The ore itself is a black iridescent rock, originally discovered in the Primalian Mountains and assumed to be useless. However, through alchemical experimentation, shivs discovered the ore could be ground into a dust that, once smelted and added to other minerals—like iron or saltpeter—had Id-channeling properties, allowing the fabrications of better weapons, armor and explosives through blood sorcery.

As soon as the Blood Empress realized the possibilities of tyvalite refinement, she ordered her people to dig as many tyvalite mines as they could into the primalians, and made sure that the secrets to refining the ore remained in Auga Tyveria and its blood sorcerers. The tyvalite trade became the basis of the Empire’s industry, with armor and blades made of tyvalite for Tyverian armies, tyvalite powder for shiv concoctions, and raw tyvalite ingots for bulk export at exorbitant prices.

As the Empire expanded, more tyvalite yields were found, and Tyverian miners carved a trade road through the realm’s territory, which carried tyvalite from the mines in west and central Tyveria to every city in the realm. The ore is traditionally transported by lines of nehangi, a breed of tame giant ants, which form fast, enduring and reliable cargo trains. A single tyvalite train can cover several kilometers of land at once, and is always a stunning spectacle, with its endless nehangi line and cloud of vespidai guards. Most of the mines are owned and managed by citizen collectives, who pay a direct tax to the Emperor in blood, tyvalite and/ or gold. Transport and security remains the direct responsibility of the local maghyr, which is also ‘paid’ for this service in the form of a percentage of the yield.