High Anvil of the Dwarves
XP Value: 5,000 GP Value: 50,000
(DRAGON Magazine 58; Encyclopedia Magica Volume 01, pg51)
The skill of dwarf metalcrafters is legendary, and through the ages they have continued to find ways of improving their smithing abilities. At some time within the last several centuries, dwarves learned how to create a magical device that would make them even more skilled as armorers, weapon makers, and smiths. The great cost of creating a high anvil, however, has kept the number of these items down to a precious few. Only a very large enclave can afford to make one—high anvils are never found in the shops of dwarven armorers, weapon makers, or smiths located in cities and towns—the danger of theft is too great.
High anvils are large, elaborately carved, and forged from an alloy of adamantite and steel. They radiate a faint aura of magic. The anvils weigh about 175 pounds and cannot be easily moved or carried, and are often fixed or welded to the floor of the main armory of dwarven colonies.
The workmanship involved in the forging and decoration of a high anvil represents the best that the dwarves of the clan can offer, frequently adorned with depictions of great events in the clan’s history. While dwarves hold their high anvils to be beyond price, a realistic appraisal of one’s worth would probably range from 30,000 to 60,000 gold pieces.
When used for metalworking, a high anvil adds +50% to the skill level of dwarven armorers, and doubles their efficiency, effectively cutting armor construction time in half. Dwarven smiths using a high anvil have doubled efficiency when forging any item, and weapon makers may construct axes, swords, and the like at three times the normal rate, working them on a high anvil. Nondwarf characters or creatures who use a high anvil (a very rare event, since dwarves are extremely protective of their treasures) have +25% added to their skill as armorers but enjoy no other benefits.
The increase in skill level and decrease in construction time are not permanent and only apply when a high anvil is used. Mithral and adamantite alloys can be worked with greater ease on a high anvil, and anything forged on one is of the higher quality. A high anvil is created by a long and involved
process of crafting and enchantment. The physical work upon the Anvil takes between 24 and 36 months, and can only begin after the members of the clan have taken 6d4 months to decide on the anvil’s shape, design, and decorations. Once the anvil has been forged, it must undergo a ritual blessing by the most powerful dwarven priest in the clan, and 4d4 other priest assistants. (The main priest must be at least 6th level, and a member of the same clan as the dwarves who forged the anvil.) The blessing takes ld4+4 days, and the clan’s patron deity is invoked during the final enchantments.
High anvils are not commonly found in treasure hoards. One might be discovered in the ruins of a dwarven stronghold, but even if the clan had been destroyed or driven off, another clan would try to recover the anvil to keep it from falling into the hands of another race. Dwarves who do manage to gain possession of a high anvil (from nondwarves, of course, since dwarves do not
steal from each other) gain 10,000 experience points; the award is half as great for nondwarves who come to own one.
