Seydon of Arda
Raquor'daan
Source
Intent: To create some appropriate tools for a monster slayer.
Development Thread: N/A
Manufacturer: Sith Empire
Model: Working Example: Any (relatively) ordinary alchemical weapon.
Affiliation: None
Modularity: N/A
Production: Unique
Material: High-Grade Carbon Steel – Alchemically Enhanced, Verpine Wood, Echan Leather
Description:
Upon a time, the Empire was plagued by chaotic practices. Sith wizards and enchanters experimented in creatures of mysterious and terrifying make. When most grew tired of finding monsters roosting in their guarded holds, a frustrated Marauder took up arms. Commissioning a weapons smith to forge a pair of blades, she went about her gruesome work. So the legend went, one was for tasting mortal flesh. The other, to sup up the blood of beasts.
This is Razorlight.
Jedi dread its gleam.
Forging: To wit, the process begins with choosing an appropriate bar of desired metal or metals, depending. In this case, several ingot bars of 1.0–2.0% carbon content steel. The metals are then heated to allow their materials to be hammered out into whatever the desired shape. This hammering process can be doubtlessly the most time consuming. A variant of the usual layering process (stacking bars atop one another) is 'twisting.' Separate stacks of hammered bars are put under duress, then literally twisted into crossbars to combine into a composite material. It's unknown whether this particular sword endured through this variant, as pattern details have been obscured by a later alchemical process.
Midst the initial forging, the heated bar is repeatedly doused in frigid waters to allow for cooling. If not, the blade risks losing its necessary properties of strength and flexibility. It chances to become brittle or flawed. A weakness easily exposed when tried in actual service.
Annealing: When at last the metals have been beaten to an appropriate shape, its wrapped in careful, insulating materials. The next process calls for further heating, followed close by a slowed cooling period. Such is the necessity of the insulation. To soften the metals for the subsequent phase. Annealing may take anywhere as long as a full twenty four hours. Though in recent times, longer periods have been reported.
Grinding: Now properly softened, the sword is placed against a spun grinder. Against showers of incandescent sparks, the forger applies the sword point as well as the cutting edge. A single edge for this case. Of course, care must be taken that the grinding isn't worked to a point of fanaticism. The blade can be worn down to its very core. To say nothing of that the attention to sharpening must be exacting. It must hold, even whilst being flexed or bent under battle strains. Razorlight is holds an exceptional keenness, though not enough to puncture tougher materials. Duranium, Duraplast, Mandalorian Irons, and Songsteel are notable and tough foils for its edge to garner any purchase.
Hardening & Tempering: Once more, the sword is placed under extremes of temperature. When the heat is judged appropriate, the sword is again doused within a quenching tank in a single dunking, a process called 'Hardening'. The resultant 'Tempering' mechanism is a similar operation, albeit at much lowered temperatures. Herein, however, lies an intrinsic and wholly vital alteration. Oft, the quenching tank is compiled simply of frigid water. Not so for many forger-masters with a taste for Darker arts. The dousing trough is a filled mixture compiled of muted acids, compound chemicals, and mechanically enhanced metal strengtheners cast in the alchemic tradition. As the sword was tempered, properties of increased durability and sharpness were transferred to the layered steels. Little save contact with extremes of gravity or particle-destabilizing weaponry can undo its imperishability.
Completion: What remains is simply fashioning together the gripping, hilt, and other decorations including etchings and word missives. The guard demonstrated is likewise fashioned in a similar alchemical bathing wash, though its artistry perhaps costs less man-hours. Another note is the incorrectly labeled 'Verpine Wood'. Hailing from the Roche Asteroid System, Verpine were not known to tend to any flora or arboreal plant specimens. It could simply be a flourish, to tease imagination. Its most likely a dye of Wroshyr wood or bark. Eshan leather, however, is a noted garnish. Renowned for being simultaneously supple and viciously tough.
Classification: Sword
Size: Two-Handed
Length: 1m
Weight: 450g
Other Features: Spelled to withstand lightsaber blows.
