Bladewood

Bladewood is one of the alchemical metals of the thirty Arthosian metals. It is essentially just as practical as steel in every way, except for its increased cost. The metal looks like the grain of wood, and can even be colored to look identical to a wooden knife. Many magicians and swindlers have been known to pull tricks on people in the more remote parts of the world in which the audience is challenged to break a stick in one swing of the arm, with a small fee to give it a try, and a promise of gold as their prize. Of course, the stick is actually bladewood, and the performer is usually run out of town richer than he was when he arrived.