Star-steel

Meteoritic iron, found as fallen masses and worked by hammering.

Nature

Star-steel is iron of meteoritic origin: nickel-iron that fell from the sky in masses and is worked as found, not smelted from ore. Its nickel content is high, far above that of iron taken from ore.

Working and incidence

It is hammered to shape, hot or cold. Melting it destroys the crystalline figure that an etched surface shows. Fallen masses are rare and scattered, and most are small, so a smith has only as much as has fallen.

Among the dwarves

Dwarves understand star-steel best, and know with reasonable confidence that it comes from the sky. They regard it as a mark of good fortune, and as a wonderful, practical, and valuable material rather than a ceremonial one. It has no formal position in the dwarven social economy: they do not covet or hoard it, and they will trade it for gold. Working it takes the same skills as other steels, but its value justifies extra effort and craftsmanship. Human scholars and historians may have found that ancient human cultures understood its origin as well.

Name and magic

It is called steel by custom. To the dwarves, steel is any alloy of iron that gives the metal a mechanical benefit: harder, more workable, more resistant, or any combination of these. For the purposes of magic, star-steel behaves as iron does.