As one game dissolves and another assembles, I have been digging through game supplements new and old to collect ideas. Then I noticed something interesting in the "Elves of Golarion" supplement. Kyonin lists only one hard metal as a major import: Mithril.
I started wondering about how they arm their people. Alloyed into a Ferro-Mithril substance, Mithril would work to lighten elven equipment, and help weapons resist oxidation. The issue is that, unless elves mine their own iron (unlikely), the Kyonin import entry suggest little iron is brought into the Kingdom.
So do Kyonin elves make all their metal equipment primary from Mithril? This would make sense for a number of reasons. First, Elves are long lived and artisans by nature, they would put their heart into every piece crafted just like a Dwarf. Second, The long lives and low birth rates mean that mass production of arms is largely unnecessary. And Mithril, being able to survive the test of time, could see multiple elven generations of use. Third, The Elves would want to equip their people with the very best. Their numbers are too few to justify "standard" equipment. Forth, Kyonin Elves do not export their arms and armor, not to the degree that Dwarves do, anyway.
I can see the logic of giving standard "steel-maybe-with-a-touch-of-something" versions in the books, after all a Elven smith in Magnamar might have limited choices in material for his trade.
What do you guys think? Do Kyonin Elves use almost exclusively Mithril for their arms and armors, or do they have source of iron to alloy it with? And what about those Elven settlements that lay outside the Elven Kingdom?
