Archaeology
Portable Forges of the Oresmiths
Lumulus that understand the working of metal become Oresmiths. They join one of the eight Forgeclans (from which they take their surname) and ply their skills make lumulated metal. This is a process of metalsmithing that makes the metal immune to corrosion from salt water.
The main tool needed for this art is the forge, but you cannot light a fire under the waves. In order to be able to smelt metal from ore, Oresmiths use thermal vents that litter the sea floor of the Lumulus Basin. They set up a large, cement-like block that is anchored to the sea floor over a deep sea vent, also known as a thermal vent. As the hot water automatically rises, the surrounding waters can maintain a more habitable temperature. The portable forge captures the rising hot water and absorbs the heat into its walls. In many ways, it acts as a convection oven, able to reach hotter temperatures that those of the hydrothermal vent itself. With enough accumulated, smelting of basic metals can be done.
The process is similar for lumulated metal, but instead of a thermal vent that releases super-heated water, it must overhang a chemical seep. Chemical seeps are much like thermal vents, but the water is inundated by other chemicals that the Oresmith can use in the forging of metal. The belief is that lumulated metal can only be forged over special seeps, the likes of which no Oresmith would ever divulge.
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