Melcarite
| Melcarite | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Materials | |
| Official Name | Melcarite |
| Common Nicknames | Drovv Silver, Sihn-Nightsilver |
| Category | Daen Family Metallurgy |
| Origin | Drovv |
| Uses | Decorative, Religious |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Accessibility | Sihndar and Estelley faithful |
Melcarite is a beautiful, glittering-blue metal with deep ties to the deity Melca of the Estelley faith. Originally a god of the mysterious and now extinct Drovv, worship and veneration of Melca involved the use of this material. When the Sihndar later rose, they adopted much from the Drovv, including the use of this lightweight, strong, but thin material. It is used in ritual armor and decorative objects, but remains rare as the Sihndar can only extract so much ore from their chaotic homeland.
History
Melcarite’s origins are actually shockingly modern, and do not date as far back as many might assume. Soon after the emergence of the Sihndar into the Essence-soaked lands of Drowda, the deity Melca also emerged. Taking the shape of a Drovv, the region's previous inhabitants now virtually extinct and teachers of the people who became the Sihndar, worship of Melca quickly solidified with rituals and actions created to honor their wishes, as well as speak to Drovv traditions. Melcarite was discovered soon after the Sihndar established themselves in Drowda, and quickly came to share a name with the goddess given their shared visuals. What exact role she might have played in the ore's creation is unclear, and something she appears quite elusive on, but nonetheless, Sihndar smiths forged beautiful items from the substance. In the modern day, the special order of Sihndar warriors known as Blue Sky Wardens have come to use Melcarite armor as an expression of their faith but also their skills, as the ritual armor leaves little in the way of real protection. Melcarite also sees an ornamental use among the Sihndar, with charms or small items of jewelry exceedingly common, with these practices likely to continue for many years to come.
Characteristics
Appearance
Melcarite is a dense, teal-colored ore riven with lines of gray and sparkling flecks uncommonly found in Drowda. When it has been properly forged, the material is a gleaming cyan-blue, emitting a soft phosphorescent glow and marbled with both pale hues and dots. It is commonly claimed to look like a piece of a celestial nebula and the night sky brought down to earth.
General Uses
Melcarite serves a religious but also decorative purpose. In service to Melca, the Sihndar create and wear ceremonial armor in imitation of the robes and clothing Melca is commonly seen wearing, which many believe accurately represents the fashion of the Drovv. Billowing robes of glittering black cloth, with notable Melcarite accent pieces and a Melcarite helm for headwear make up the uniform, and these are worn by the Blue Sky Wardens, the greatest of the Estelley god’s servants in Aloria. While it often has the visual characteristics of armor, the helmet, in particular, Melcarite is actually relatively thin. It makes up for this with significant strength, but its limited use with the majority of the outfit being fabric serves the purpose of both hiding body damage in a fight, and also proving the skills of the fighter, to avoid damage to the fabric entirely.
This armor is emblematic of the decorative style in other Melcarite objects held by the Sihndar. Small religious charms, emblems, and symbols are commonly found attached to other suits of Sihndar armor or on their normal clothing. The most common of these items are clasps for clothing or weapon sheaths with a delicate three-finger hand design in mimicry of the hands the Drovv possessed. Others are objects like necklaces or bracelets with emblems and the like derived from Melca’s helmet, or the stylized image of Melca’s ten arms. Statuary and larger Melcarite pieces are rare, though statuettes and icons still sometimes appear. It is these objects that also make their way to other Estelley faithful who follow Melcar, but the amount exported out of Sihndar territory remains minuscule, as the Sihndar are very protective of the metal.
Trivia
- Some believe that Nightsilver was a metal created in mimicry of Melcarite, relatively rare among the Elves during their earliest centuries.
- The early scavenger days of the Sihndar in the wilds of Drowda resulted in the loss of most Drovv-created Melcarite objects, but the majority remaining intact were household goods and similar pieces.
- The destruction of Xaster Xan-Vernh significantly slowed the pace of Melcarite armor and object creation, something only resolved around 300 AC.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accreditation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||