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[Canuhearmenow]

I was curious because Toady was going to add lighting/illumination as one of his goals, and knowing the fantasy setting Dwarf Fortress is in, he might add in glowing materials/metals.

[Canuhearmenow]

My post was intended to clarify the connection between adamantine and mithril, nothing more.

Wasn't Lord of the Rings a huge source of inspiration for Toady? That's where I got the connection of, "Adamantine is similar to Mithril, Mithril is silver-colored, but Adamantine is blue. The only other 'metal' in LOTR that is blue would be Sting (I know, it was treated to be blue when Orcs are around, not ACTUALLY blue) while demon-less Adamantine is silver-colored. Thus, Adamantine would be a hybrid between the two and would be a silver-colored metal that glowed blue."

Yes, I took logical leaps, but I hope you guys can at least see my train of thought.

[Lord Shonus]

Ah. Now I see your rather convoluted thought chain. Problem is sting is plain steel. It's the hatred of the elves and the enchantments they put on it that make it glow.

[jellsprout]

According to Virgilius, Tartarus was protected by columns made of solid adamant. I think this is where DF adamantine most likely originates from.

[jaked122]

I personally don't think it glows. however, it does seem to have references in mythology other than from dwarf fortress. although if the theory about tartarus, then it is most certainly influenced by whatever else the mythology dictates about it.

[Canuhearmenow]

According to Virgilius, Tartarus was protected by columns made of solid adamant. I think this is where DF adamantine most likely originates from.

Adamantine: Light, easy to mold and shape, produces an extremely sharp blade, extremely strong/valuable, and digging too greedily for it will result in painful death at the hands of demons.

Mithril: described as easy to mold and shape, light, extremely strong/valuable, and digging too greedily for it caused the Bane of Durin to awaken.

I remember reading on these forums a while back (or on another) that when one is in doubt about the origin of something in Dwarf Fortress, always first check if there is a parallel to Lord of the Rings, the comparison to Mithril is almost dead on. Hell, they don't even explain, just like with Adamantine, if it's the product of the gods (which, in Lord of the Rings, are apparently quite real.)

[MC Dirty]

Well, gods don't currently exist in Dwarf Fortress. That's just how it is. You get some engravings from time to time of the demons getting sealed away with adamantine, but it's never mentioned who actually did the sealing-away process. Most certainly not the gods. Maybe megabeasts, maybe titans, maybe dwarves that existed before the year 0 and somehow were able to cast adamantine or maybe it's something different entirely.
Yes, gods exist in LOTR, but they don't in Dwarf Fortress and that's just that.

[Ghavrel]

Well, gods don't currently exist in Dwarf Fortress. That's just how it is. You get some engravings from time to time of the demons getting sealed away with adamantine, but it's never mentioned who actually did the sealing-away process. Most certainly not the gods. Maybe megabeasts, maybe titans, maybe dwarves that existed before the year 0 and somehow were able to cast adamantine or maybe it's something different entirely.
Yes, gods exist in LOTR, but they don't in Dwarf Fortress and that's just that.

...have you ever looked at the historical characters of the worlds you make? About half are divinities. Or even the freaking relationships panel! Gods don't show up and do things in fortress or adventure mode, but they certainly are talked about. They show up exactly as much as they do in Lord of the Rings-not at all (Gandalf &c. are more like megabeasts, really). Where on earth did you come up with the idea that they simply don't exist in DF?

[Gatleos]

Well, gods don't currently exist in Dwarf Fortress. That's just how it is. You get some engravings from time to time of the demons getting sealed away with adamantine, but it's never mentioned who actually did the sealing-away process. Most certainly not the gods. Maybe megabeasts, maybe titans, maybe dwarves that existed before the year 0 and somehow were able to cast adamantine or maybe it's something different entirely.
Yes, gods exist in LOTR, but they don't in Dwarf Fortress and that's just that.

...have you ever looked at the historical characters of the worlds you make? About half are divinities. Or even the freaking relationships panel! Gods don't show up and do things in fortress or adventure mode, but they certainly are talked about. They show up exactly as much as they do in Lord of the Rings-not at all (Gandalf &c. are more like megabeasts, really). Where on earth did you come up with the idea that they simply don't exist in DF?

Right now, there are procedurally-generated religions, but until gods actually have influence in the world, they don't exist. Toady's planning on adding them in, but I think it would be most interesting if your genned worlds could have random mythologies. So, the game generates a few dozen religions, but maybe some random Kobold one turns out to be real. And this world you generated is flat and gods are running around screwing with people, while another world you generated has no gods, it's just ruled by chaos.

[Ghavrel]

Right now, there are procedurally-generated religions, but until gods actually have influence in the world, they don't exist. Toady's planning on adding them in, but I think it would be most interesting if your genned worlds could have random mythologies. So, the game generates a few dozen religions, but maybe some random Kobold one turns out to be real. And this world you generated is flat and gods are running around screwing with people, while another world you generated has no gods, it's just ruled by chaos.

While I'm okay with this reasoning and like your ideas, applying that logic to LotR yields the same result; you don't see Illuvatar running around Middle-earth in the third age.

[MC Dirty]

Where on earth did you come up with the idea that they simply don't exist in DF?

Right now the gods are fake, right?

Was the dwarf inspired by all those gods that don’t actually exist in the game right now, that are just names[...]?

Whether or not gods will exist in DF in the future and if yes what role they'll play is another question entirely. Fact is that gods don't exist in DF.
And yeah, I take that back about gods existing in LOTR. It's never explicitly stated, really. However, it is explicitly stated that gods don't exist in Dwarf Fortress. Since there is no canon world or mythology (randomly generated as it is), we know for sure that there are no gods in every DF world that has been generated.

[SalmonGod]

While I'm okay with this reasoning and like your ideas, applying that logic to LotR yields the same result; you don't see Illuvatar running around Middle-earth in the third age.

Not in the third age, no.  The Silmarillion is a wonderful book if you have the patience to get through the first 50 pages

The end of the 2nd age was when the Valar disconnected permanently from all interaction with Arda, because they noticed that every time they stepped in directly to try and make life better for the children of Illuvatar they only ended up making it worse.

And if you want to get technical, the wizards (Istari), Balrogs, Sauron, etc are very equivalent to angels and demons because they existed before the creation of the world.

Edit: Now Shelob... there's a megabeast...

[jellsprout]

According to Virgilius, Tartarus was protected by columns made of solid adamant. I think this is where DF adamantine most likely originates from.

Adamantine: Light, easy to mold and shape, produces an extremely sharp blade, extremely strong/valuable, and digging too greedily for it will result in painful death at the hands of demons.

Mithril: described as easy to mold and shape, light, extremely strong/valuable, and digging too greedily for it caused the Bane of Durin to awaken.

I remember reading on these forums a while back (or on another) that when one is in doubt about the origin of something in Dwarf Fortress, always first check if there is a parallel to Lord of the Rings, the comparison to Mithril is almost dead on. Hell, they don't even explain, just like with Adamantine, if it's the product of the gods (which, in Lord of the Rings, are apparently quite real.)

Adamantine: Hardest metal in the world, appears in pillars used to seal off hell. The strongest weapons are made of this material.

Adamant: Hardest material in the world, appears in pillars used to seal off Tartarus. The strongest weapons are made of this material.

If the name wasn't a dead giveaway, the fact they share the exact same purposes should.

[Ghavrel]

If we're going to be pedantic, though, which I am fully prepared to be, the only part of Middle-Earth that has been discussed in the thread has been Lord of the Rings, which corresponds to a short period in the Third Age. The Silmarillion is more like the RAWs in this excruciatingly twisted metaphor. :p

Also, are there angels in DF now? I haven't seriously played since 2010 was released.

[Internet Kraken]

Well, gods don't currently exist in Dwarf Fortress. That's just how it is. You get some engravings from time to time of the demons getting sealed away with adamantine, but it's never mentioned who actually did the sealing-away process. Most certainly not the gods. Maybe megabeasts, maybe titans, maybe dwarves that existed before the year 0 and somehow were able to cast adamantine or maybe it's something different entirely.
Yes, gods exist in LOTR, but they don't in Dwarf Fortress and that's just that.

I have never seen an engraving of demons being sealed away. Them being trapped by adamantine seems to be something conjured up by the community rather than stated by the game itself. As far as I'm concerned, demons are the ones that made adamantine and get pissed off because you steal it from them.