Damascus Steel

[Silverblade The Ench]

Interesting stuff to read up on

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MshYDTl6k0]YouTube - ‪Sword Making‬‎[/ame]

Damascus steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wootz steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

in my homebrew games way back, I used to say that "dwarven steel" (my games equivalent of Damascus steel) was +1 quality (not magic, but always +1 hit/damage, where as masterwork was just "pretty good" by comparison, dwarves would think masterwork was apprentice quality hehe)
and Dearven stel was also stainless (corrosion resistant, +4 save vs acid)

dwarves would never think of selling gear that wasn't that quality, hence their goods were expensive and highly desired

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

My pleasure, folks!

stuff like this helps give the "feel/background" etc that spices games up, IMHO, as well as just being damn interesting

from that rela life issue, you can easily imagine trade/weapon trading routes in your own campaigns.