Iron

Iron is a common metal found and used across Golarion. Slightly impure iron can form steel, a considerably sturdier metal, although not all societies have the ability to craft steel. Iron is often a successor to bronze, a weaker metal that is simpler to work with.

However, even in steel-making societies iron still has myriad applications—it features as a material used in cookware, tools, weapons, armor, and building materials. It is vulnerable to oxidation, which results in brittle rust.

On Golarion

In most markets, one pound of pure iron is worth about one silver piece. Raw ore is typically graded between 5% and 60% purity, with most grading around 25%.

Iron is magnetically sensitive.

In buildings

Iron can be used in the construction of especially sturdy buildings; iron walls, doors, and gates are harder and more difficult to break down than wood or stone.

In items

Cauldrons are often cast from iron.

Many common tools are made of or use iron, including chests, bars, chains, cages, horseshoes, and climbing pitons. Iron also finds use in less common objects, such as sunrods.

Iron's conductive properties make it a popular cookware material, although most iron cookware lacks the non-stick properties of mithral, which is also lighter but vastly more expensive. A portable cooking kit might include an iron pot, skillet, and mounting tripod.

Iron is sometimes used to craft holy symbols. While the material has no inherent magical properties, some religions might consider iron important to their faith.

Some potion bottles are made of iron for additional sturdiness.

In weapons

Iron is commonly used in heavier bludgeoning weapons, such as clubs, flails and rams, as well as in the tips of crossbow bolts. Iron commonly adds strength and weight to a weapon, which are useful when the goal is to shatter foes' armor. Iron-tipped distance arrows extend an archer's range while reducing their lethality.

In armor

Lamellar armor is comprised of plates strung together in parallel rows. Iron pieces of lamellar armor are among the most common and heaviest, rivaled in weight only by stone and in frequency only by steel.

In magic

Several spells allow a spellcaster to take on or imbue the traits of iron to other materials, or even people. Other spells can spontaneously generate entire walls made of iron, while still others can rapidly oxidize iron to turn iron objects into brittle rust.

Iron is also used as a material spell component, often in the form of powder or filings.

Many magical rods are crafted from iron, including immovable rods.

In creatures

Rust monsters' namesake ability comes from their ability to corrode objects made of iron, steel, and adamantine to rust within seconds, and their fluids can be processed to form rusting powder, which has the same effects.

Iron golems are golems animated from 5,000 pounds of iron smelted with additional expensive tinctures.

Iron cobras are constructs in the form of iron snakes.

Mining

Iron mines are scattered throughout the Inner Sea region, particularly in mountain ranges like the Mindspin Mountains, Aspodell Mountains, and Five Kings Mountains, but also including places as varied as Dustpawn in Isger and Radya's Hollow in Nirmathas, and dwarven cities like Skelt.

In addition to mining, some places recycle iron abandoned on battlefields as weapons, such as the gnomish settlement of Jovvox in the River Kingdoms.

Variants

Ironwood

Ironwood is the product of druidic magic, and is a form of wood with the strength, weight, and fire resistance of steel.

Cold iron

Cold iron is a delicate form of iron mined from deep locations underground and forged at a lower temperature than typical iron. The resulting items have an anathematic property against demons, fey, and certain other magical creatures. Purified cold iron can also be used an alchemical reagent related to abjuration magic.

Djezeteel

Djezeteel is an alloy invented by Karamoss of iron and small amounts of djezet, a liquid skymetal also known as "quickiron".

External links

• Iron (real-world metal) on Wikipedia