Overlord Armour and Weapon Materials

Leather - Armour

Common Leather: Made from the skin of a wide variety of non-magical animals, particularly cattle, leather is an abundant and easily obtainable material to create armours from. Depending on the quality, manufacture and specific type of leather used, it can have an extremely wide range of variations. Most provide reasonably good protection against most common weapons while being lightweight and allowing a fair degree to near total freedom of movement. By far the majority of most armies have troops wearing some variance of leather armour, it is especially prevalent amongst elves as well as scouts and archers of all races and cultures, with dwarven crossbowmen usually carrying metal-reinforced variants.

Unicorn Skin: A particularly soft, lightweight and flexible type of leather usually worn by professional elven warriors, as opposed to volunteers or warriors in temporary service. Unicorns are never slain for their skin (at least not by elves) and the leather is only made from the skin of naturally dead creatures or those who has been killed in battle or by predators. The material has the added advantage of almost never having to be cleaned as the lingering magic in the skin repels things like dust, dirt, mud and blood on its own, this trait however seems to gradually fade with age. Unicorn leather is so lightweight and soft as to feel almost like clothing, making it a favourite amongst nobles who want to retain their luxury while still being protected.

Troll Hide: Contrary to Unicorn skin, Troll hide is quite heavy for leather, as well as being stiff, ugly to look at and often unpleasant to wear. It also seems to be exceedingly hard to clean as if the leather actually attracts dirt and it is common knowledge that it is impossible to ever truly get the smell of troll out of the material. However, Troll hide leather is very tough and resilient, much more so than even many layered variances of most non-magical kinds. It provide a protection almost on the level of simple chainmail while being much lighter to wear as it is still leather. Thick, multiple-layered troll hide armour is even said to be only a step down from actual steel plate armour while providing a lot more freedom of movement and being considerably less heavy.
Troll hide leather is especially popular amongst bandits, highwaymen and mercenaries who will often be more concerned with practicality than aesthetics. It is also prized by many dwarves as inner laying for metal armours.  

Minion Hide: Especially prevalent after the fall of an Overlord if many minions have been killed during the conflict, minion hide is considered some of the most exotic and well-used materials for constructing leather armours.
Though the precise qualities vary depending on the specific type of hide, minion hide has several outstanding qualities regardless of type. The leather is surprisingly easy to make, almost as if the material was cooperating with the creator. The leather is light and surprisingly tough, occupying a niche between unicorn and troll hide in mobility to protection ratio. All the various kinds possess its own intrinsic magical qualities, though the precise effects depending on the type.
There exists five different types of minion hide, though for some reason its seems impossibly to combine the different materials of the various types in any one creation. One could make brown hide armour and red hide gloves, but not leg armour made from green and blue hide for instance.
- Brown, is the most common type in use. Robust and elastic, it is often compared to be a slightly weaker but very efficient version of troll hide, which also smells less foul. Brown hide seems the least magically potent of the types, as it does not possess any distinctive abilities. But wearers seem to experience a heightened aggression and pain tolerance when in combat.
- Red, is less durable than either brown or green, but are nonetheless considered very valuable. Though its protective qualities are only on par with unicorn hide it is considered especially valued by people stationed at particularly cold or hot locations. Red hide leather has two unique properties, firstly it actively produces heat, and the leather is always warm as if it had been lying long in the sun, which is highly prized by anyone in boreal or arctic regions. Secondly, red hide is almost entirely heat resistant, it is flame proof to the point that most skilled smiths will only ever use red hide gloves when forging, and soldiers station in volcanic areas or sent to fight fire beetles or toads in equal measure will often demand armour from this material.  
- Green, is the most notorious of the various minion hides. Though not as strong as brown hide, it is tougher than either red or blue variants. Like red hide it is also exceedingly flexible, allowing near total freedom of movement. Green hide is infamous for its fierce smell, it is utterly impossible to remove the stench with anything less than cleansing paladin magic. But the reason for wearing it lies in its inherent magic. Green hide is especially favoured by thieves and assassins as it masks any sound except speech made by the wearer and somehow allows the individual to blend into their surroundings, similar to camouflage, but to a much greater extent. People wearing a complete suit of green hide is said to be able to disappear from plain sight.
- Blue, is the least protective of the various kinds, no more so than normal leather armour. It is however the most mystically potent of the various types. Everyone wearing blue hide will find that their wounds heal faster, more cleanly and less painfully. The wearer of the armour will also feel more energised and less tired, making it a favourite of people on watch detail or posts where alertness is paramount. Lastly blue hide is said to grant increased proficiency with magical abilities, and is even rumoured to granting a limited trace of magic even to those who does not possess any magic of their own.
- Mutant, is the hide that is considered something of a fierce double edged sword for any who uses it. The hide is extremely tough, almost on par with troll hide, it also enhance a wearers natural strength and toughness. Like brown hide, the mutant version also heightens aggression and pain tolerance, but to an even greater extend. However the more often and longer the armour is worn the higher the aggression becomes. To the point that it starts to affect the wearer's mindset even when he or she is not wearing the armour. This effect is addictive and like an addiction will lessen with time without expose but will cause permanent damage if the armour is worn too often and/or for too long at a time. There are unconfirmed rumours that if they armour is worn for a very long time it will eventually start fusing with the bearer, poison their mind and turning them into a mutant themselves.

Dragon Skin: Impossible to create any longer due to the disappearance and possible extinction of dragons and thus exceedingly rare. Dragon skin leather armours are so rare as to be virtually unknown on nearly all battlefields, and the few that exists are usually heirlooms passed down from generations or taken from the corpse of mighty foe slain in battle.
Only slightly heavier than unicorn leather and providing protection easily on the same level as even well-crafted steel armours. it is especially reputable for not only protecting against physical attacks but shielding against magical ones as well. Though for all its near mythical reputation it is still only a leather armour and as such is only of scant value against foes wielding weapons or durium or arcanium or powerful magic.
Many master armour craftsmen have dreamed of forging dragon scale armour instead of only using the skin of the wing membranes as normally done, since dragon scales provides protection on par with that of Salamander Royals and arcanium, while being far more light and flexible. However to this day no one in recorded history and outside of ancient legends have ever managed to do so since the intrinsic magical qualities that makes dragon scales so formidable seem to fade almost as soon as the beast is slain or the scales removed from its body if still alive. And since dragons has not been seen for centuries it seems unlikely that such a feat will ever be achieved.

Metal  - Armour & Weapons

Steel: The mainstay of war metallurgy, nearly all weapons and metallic armours are constructed from some variance of steel. Steel is an easily forgeable alloy which almost all smiths can create and fashion into wargear or other creations as needed. Like most other materials steel weapons and armours comes in many qualities and variances. Steel is so abundant that it is a very rare army which will have more than a few, if any, members using other materials for their weapons or heavier armours.
Steel armours are most often used by knights and almost all kinds of dwarven warriors. Steel armours usually come in three variances as following in increasing weight and level of protections: chainmail, metal scales, and plate armour, which itself comes in lighter or substantially heaver versions.

Durium: A magical metal which is often the most formidable material of war that most soldiers will be familiar with, even if only a few individuals in each army will wield it.
Durium is a magical alloy created when mortal metals are saturated with magical properties due to exposure to strong magic through natural processes or artificial creation.
Durium is usually somewhat lighter than steel while always having both a considerably greater hardness and toughness, making it both stronger and sharper as well as being able to withstand far greater strain and stress before breaking.
While durium cannot simply cleave through steel as popularly believed, a durium blade will be able to penetrate even a reasonably thick steel armour with a fairly strong thrust. Likewise a steel weapon would not suddenly and automatically shatter if used against a durium one, unless both combatants themselves were superhumanly strong, but, all other factors being equal, a durium weapon will always be vastly more formidable than an otherwise similar steel one.
Durium is also extremely resistant to corrosion of any kind, and dulls at a much slower rate than steel, to the point that many owners only rarely bother sharpening durium blades even after prolonged use.
As durium is a magical metal it is more receptive than steel to being permeated with enhanced magical properties by use of other magical sources in its construction, such as fairy gems or lifeforce, a practice regularly employed, especially by elves, minions and paladins.
Durium can be found all over the world, but is especially prevalent in areas of strong magical resonance or exposure, such as the Netherworld, the mountains on Everlight and in Evernight, and is especially abundant in the Wastelands due to the recent effects of the Great Cataclysm.
- Glorium is an variant of durium recently developed by the Glorious Empire. The most obvious quality of Glorium is its gleaming chrome-like shine when polished. It is sometimes called "Fool's Durium" due to its low magical properties and relative lacklustre quality, often bearing closer performance resemblance to high-quality steel than true durium. But it can be produced much faster and in greater quantities than the proper metal.

Arcanium: So rare as to often being considered mythological to most who has not seen it firsthand. It's rarity is such that, beyond Overlords, no position or kind of individual, from warlords to kings, can be said to wear or use it with any kind of regularity throughout history. Many battles and even wars have been fought for access to the metal, or even individual pieces of weaponry forged from it.
Arcanium is the only known metal absolutely strongest in its purest form, free from any imperfections of other materials mixed into it. As such any alloy forged from arcanium will always be weaker than the metal in and off itself.
Arcanium is so infused with magic that veins of the metal are sometimes described as the blood of gods flowing through the world. Almost only in the Netherworld, and the very deepest parts of the Golden Mountains and the Wastelands have it been found in any quantity worth the singularly tortuous process of extraction, though a few small deposits are occasionally found and the information of its location changing hands for princely sums.
The metal requires a master craftsman to bend to his will and can only be melted and forged or reforged in the heat of magically induced fires, such as those created by red minions, salamanders and magma giants.
Arcanium is an empathic material and though always harder and tougher than even the most well-crafted durium, it's precise qualities depends not only the skills but also the intentions of the craftsman forging it, affording the smith or Forgemaster an unparalleled degree of control over his or her creation, if they can manage to bend the willful metal to their will.
In addition to its purely physical properties, arcanium also possesses its own inherent magical qualities as well. It is completely immune to corrosion, natural decay or dulling, and is capable of slow self-repair and to even change its appearance depending on its wearer's own magical alignment. The metal is also singularly receptive to further magical atunement, so that it can enhance its wearer or even gain unique arcane abilities if imbued with the magical properties of, for example, fairy gems, dark crystals or life force, to a far greater degree than steel or even durium.

"Natural" Materials - Armour & Weapons

Sandworm Skin & Plate: Blurring the line between leather armour and more hardened plate, sandworm skin and plating are easily one of the toughest non-metallic materials which have been used in the construction of armour. A full armour of sandworm plating is even tougher than an equivalent suit of solid steel. However, being both extremely heavy, completely inflexible and exceedingly hard to properly forge into shape, sandworm plate armours are usually considered impressive, but highly impractical in both construction and actual combat.
And since the only way to acquire the natural plating to construct them is off the corpse of a sandworm, not many are eager to try and get the material in the first place.
It is however popular amongst Ruborian giants who are the only race or culture who can hunt the worms with any regularity and with more than scant hope of slaying such a fearsome beast.
The availability of dwarven bombs have made the retrieval of the raw materials needed more feasible.
Leather armours made entirely from sandworm skin without the use of the hardened natural plating itself, while very difficult to properly make, are becoming more popular however, due to being even tougher than troll hide and lighter than chainmail while providing about the same amount of protection, and even better if multi-layered.

Beastbone: While bone has always been a favoured material in the construction of weapon handles due the firm grip it gives, it has likewise almost always been considered too brittle a material for use in war armours or weapons.
There are however magical creatures whose bones are considered not only suitable but very effective in wargear material. Due to its often very intimidating appearance bone armours and weapons are often worn by unsavoury characters and people wanting to make a suitably threatening impression.
Collectively termed beastbone, the raw material used in these armours comes in two rough variants, referred to  as "hardbone" and "spellbone".
- Hardbone is constructed from the bones of Hornbeasts, Yetis, Sea Serpents, Trolls and, more rarely, Salamanders. As inferred by the name hardbone is an extremely hard and robust material that can be crafted into a set of armour easily as touch as steel and weapons with similar strength and keenness. Hard Beastbone is by many considered the more refined, if no less effective, version of Sandworm plate. The material takes a lot of hard work to get properly created and is very hard to repair if damaged, but the end result is often as effective as it is spectacular to behold. Though not as resilient as durium or heavy plate steel, Hardbone is often considered the equivalent amongst bandits, criminals and petty warlords as durium is to soldiers on the field of war.
- Spellbone is the rarer of the two types and constructed from the bones of Unicorns, Falcicorns, Evernightian Nightmares and, more rarely, Satyrs or Phoenixes. Though not as tough as hardbone, spellbone is often a very lightweight and surprisingly pliant material that is far more magically resonant. Spellbone weapons are have keen edges but are not particularly strong and the protective qualities of the armour lies about the level of strong leather. But spellbone is just as receptive to magically atunement as durium is, and thus able to be imbued with magical qualities that most other types of armour and weapons cannot. It is as such considered the favourite amongst individuals that want a fairly lightweight armour or weapon of strong magical properties.

Akaeion Wood: A comparatively rare but very widespread type of tree found in most forests and even the jungles of Everlight. The wood from these trees are strong and flexible, and is the premiere material for constructing high quality bows, as well as often used for arrows, spears, pikes, staves and many other wooden weapons.
Elves are particularly fond of the wood and almost all their bows will be constructed from akaeion. While akaeion possess no inherent magic in and of itself, it is not unknown for Plant Singers to enhance the material by singing slight doses of magic into it in order to make it even better to use.  

Leradar Wood: The Everlightian leradar trees  and their Evernightian counterparts (the most famous being the Palace Trees of Orntal and Nosyar), are known for their dark golden hue.
These trees are considered sacred to most elves and will only grow in places naturally attuned to magic. In its living state leradar wood is as strong as steel, though not as unyielding.
Only when a branch fall off a tree or the tree itself dies - a rare event as the trees can become as old as the elves themselves unless actively cut down, which is both very hard and considered sacrilege by elves - does the wood become pliant and soft enough that it can be carved into desired shapes.
Leradar wood are used in the construction of the very best bows, and more rarely other wooden weapons, given to elite elven warriors and commanders. Bows made from this wood are not only more durable than most other kind but naturally amplify all force exerted upon it, so short bows fires with the force of long bows or crossbows, and longbows firing with correspondingly more force without actually requiring the user to possess or use more strength than for an equivalent kind of bow of another wood type.

Fairy Gem: The crystallised material formed from fairy dust and other sources of Light or Dark Magic infusing more common types of stone, rock, glass or other non-organic, non-metallic substances. Fairy gems are the purest kind of magic in solid form, barring only Dark Crystals. The material in and of itself is too brittle and fragile to be used in weapon construction. It also bears more in common with ice than actual crystal since it "melts" and reforms to its base ethereal magical form when broken, crushed or melted, which in turn can bind to other materials, which is the premiere way of enhancing objects with magic when forging.
It is however possible through special processes, used almost exclusively by Twilight and Dusk Fairies, to strengthen fairy gems to such a state that they can be forged into weapons. Weapons constructed from this material has a keenness beyond even that of obsidian blades without the frailty normally associated with such weapons.
While technically even sharper than durium, fairy gem weapons are only moderately stronger than steel and most people, even elves though not fairies, find it very unsettling to wield something made of solidified magic.  

Sylvanite: A strong and very flexible, semi-metallic, magical amber created from the resin of dead lunar and solar trees which is used to create the personal armours of the highest ranking elven and fairy warriors and nobles. Sylvanite is glossy and vaguely translucent and exists in hues ranging from bright spring green to deep indigo blue.
The material is very lightweight and stronger than steel, about on the same scale as durium. Armours created from it is renowned for being very supple and barely heavier than lightweight leather while still providing ample protection.
Like other magical materials it possesses some inherently arcane properties, such as slow self-repair if lightly damaged and naturally fitting itself more comfortably to suits its wearer.
Despite its impressive qualities however it is a very rare material and few but elves consider it worth the difficulties of creating when alternatives like sandworm skin or durium are more readily available, easier to create and does not inherently require magic in their creation.

Gholandos: Literally "Skin of the Mountain", Gholandos is a kind of stone almost unique to the very deeps of mountains, and is most often found deep within the Golden Mountain Range, Nether Mountains and Hammer Gorge.
Gholandos is an intrinsically magical material and is special in the sense that it can be melted and forged almost like metal, though it requires insanely high temperatures to do so. However the raw stone can only be heated once, for when it cools it becomes as unyielding as regular stone, if far stronger. Though fairly brittle in comparison to high-level metals, Gholandos is even stronger than dwarium, with only arcanium being able to match it for hardness. The stone is also the single heaviest armour material in existence, to such a degree that only dwarves, trolls and giants are able to fight in it without being crushed by its weight. It is used alongside dwarium in the construction of the strongest of dwarven fortresses which is considered absolutely impregnable to anything less than a rampaging dragon.
Where dwarium is considered practical and used by high-ranking dwarven troops, and aurium is prestigious and used by clan leaders and nobles, Gholandos is often thought of as sacred to the dwarves and is almost exclusively used as armour by particularly vaunted fighters of the dwarven societies, such as Berserkers.

Abyssilion: A mythological material more than anything, abyssilion is a dark blue crystalline material said to be created from crystallised and solidified Terror, in the same way that Dark Crystals are solidified Evil. As indicated by its name abyssilion comes from the Abysses where it feeds and grows from the concentration of suffering and fear of those enslaved there. The material is said to be worn and used by wraith, though there are rumoured to be individuals that have managed to harvest the material and return to the world of the living to use it.
When constructed into armour or weapons abyssilion is just as hard as fairy gem, but barely more brittle than very high-quality steel or even durium. Though the crystal-material cannot be further enhanced with other sources of magic, it is heavily infused with magic itself and its real power comes from its growth. The crystal grows when in the proximity of death, fear or despair, becoming sharper, tougher, stronger and more resilient.
If abyssilion is harvested when "young", having only been growing for a few decades, it might have a hardness and toughness no greater than ordinary steel. But if the material has grown for centuries or even millennia in an abyss before being harvested, it might well be even more potent than high-quality durium.
Abyssilion cannot be forged by normal means, but must be coaxed into its form by use of magic.
- Infernalion, is a special form of abyssilion. When abyssilion have grown to a certain critical level it turns from dark blue to dark glowing red. Infernalion is exclusively found in the very heart of an Abyss, or almost everywhere in the Infernal Abyss itself, thus its name. In this state the crystalline material has properties near, or even eclipsing, those of even arcanium itself. Only the mythological Wraith commanders known as Reapers are believed to use this material.