Fifteen metals
Most swings ended in Iron. That was the working metal of Novus—the heavy pack hauled back to town, the steady supply behind the forge. The other half of the veins held the reason miners kept moving: Rusty, Old Copper, Dull Copper, Shadow, Copper, Bronze, Golden, Rose, Agapite, Blood Rock, Verite, Valorite, Mytheryl, and Black Rock.
There was no marked Black Rock cave. The metal was chosen by vein, which meant the next strike could matter anywhere. Black Rock demanded 100.0 Mining, appeared in one vein out of a hundred, and surrendered no more than three ore. Mytheryl shared the same one-percent chance. A miner did not simply arrive at the right mountain; they earned the skill, worked the ground, and got lucky.
The forge had its own history
The colors did not end in a miner’s pack. The Dec. 1999 overlays added colored plate menus and a Smithing Ingot token. Britain placed one near Strength and Steel and another beside the bank vending row, where a rare haul could become armor the whole bank recognised.
On 8 November 1999, the official news reported a smithing exploit involving a War Axe, warned exploiters about jail and bank-gold removal, and credited Kho’saf for scripting work. Later script copies removed the exploit-era War Axe and Hammer Pick recipes.
Balron Bone was separate
Balron Bone looked at home beside the rare metals, but it came from a different kind of work. Novus defined the creature resource and five matching armor pieces; it never belonged in the mining table. Redux keeps the distinction and the Game Guide keeps the exact numbers.