Fabula Caromed
Belle of the Brawl
(c) saleire
Intent: To have a concrete cause to point to for Qinae "schizo tech," and to add a truly unfathomable unobtanium to Rhadamanthus to accentuate its alien-ness.
Development Thread: Required for each unique item, see below.
Manufacturer: Qinae scholars
Model: n/a
Affiliation: Qineam
Modularity: Can be alloyed or broken down into smaller chunks.
Production: Extremely limited. Impossible to find outside of Qinae space, and good luck getting them to let you have any.
Material: 100% zyrthi stone-steel scales, or alloyed with common materials
Description:
There are things in the galaxy which defy description, things which are alien even amongst the bizarre places and impossible creatures of the outer rings. In a small, almost unknown system called Rhadamanthus, never seen by human eyes or exploited by the touch of others, exists a substance that none quite understand. The native Qineam have studied it for millennia, and even they haven't yet come to a satisfying conclusion on exactly what they're seeing. They have named the substance - something like rock and metal and yet somehow alive - "zyrthi."
The Qineam are an isolated species without the knowledge that comes from interacting with others. Even if they had that knowledge, the chance that anything in existence would understand what it is that they've found is astronomically low. The last of those who had any knowledge of anything that resembled their zyrthi died centuries ago, and even he might not have wanted to remember what he had found on a tiny station orbiting an unknown Outer Rim world.
Before recorded history, or perhaps after the destruction of the universe, or sometime in between, there was a great battle on Rhadamanthus. Or elsewhere. Even if the Qineam had some vague idea of what happened, it would be difficult to tell exactly what they were looking at or when or where. A species of trans-dimensional beings at one point held interest on the planet, and came into conflict with each other. Violence between creatures beyond mortal understanding shaped the very development of Rhadamanthus, eradicating anything resembling life from its surface. The horrific battle stretched across every world in the Rhadamanthus system, and each resounding blow left the shattered and shed plate-scales of those that fell and those that were struck down embedded in the primordial or post-apocalyptic sludge of every newborn or dying world.
The battle has not been fought for thousands of years, but the damage to each wounded being was so great that their scales have been scattered like mineral deposits across each Rhadamanthan world. Buried under dirt and stone and trees and vegetation as the worlds began to grow, in their way the scales influenced the planets, giving life and siphoning it away in ways that the Force would not have naturally done. In time, the Qineam found them, and those scale-steel-stones have shaped their society ever since.
The earliest Qineam cave-paintings depict shining crystals as the species' most significant source of heat and light early in their lives, before the discovery of fire. As their minds developed, the Qineam began to use these mystical life-stones to warm their homes, heat their food, light their settlements, and ward against predators. Zyrthi are so vital to Qinae life and so poorly-understood by those that use them that their very name translates to "wonder" or "magic."
At some level, these scales have even altered the Qineam biologically. Their strange Force/anti-Force energy field has corrupted the Qinae sensitivity to the Force as a whole, deadening them to its presence. The only mystical power these sentients know of is the radioactive fire of zyrthi crystals.
Eventually, later in their development, the Qineam learned how to work the steel-stone scales into functional shapes, and how to chip them down into managable chunks. The radiation, lethal and life-giving, proved to be an incredibly potent energy source, and serves as the primary (re: only) manner by which the Qineam power their biotechnology.
Traits:
As an energy source, zyrthi crystals produce an amount of high-temperature radiation exponentially proportionate to their size. Pebbles are hot to the touch, while fist-sized rocks can act as plasma conduits for blaster-like weaponry or power cells for all kinds of equipment. Qinae starships often house boulder-sized scale-plates in their engine rooms, containing and refracting the energy both to power the ship and directing it outwards for propulsion. Functionally, different sized stones can provide the benefits of anything from a power pack to an energy generator to a capital-scale ion drive.
As a physical material, the stone-steel zyrthi scales are much more difficult to work with. They are extremely hard, with what might seem to be a supernatural density. Zyrthi holds an edge flawlessly when tempered, but its quasi-stone nature makes it brittle and unfit for use in melee weapons on its own. Full, pure zyrthi armor would easily be Quality 9 and lightsaber-resistant (though the Qineam have never seen a lightsaber and have no knowledge of this quality), with the minor and unfortunate drawback of cooking its wearer alive.
Zyrthi stones are dangerously radioactive. Anything larger than a dinner plate can easily fry a Qinae at close proximity without adequate protection. The largest stones, often the size of boulders or speeder bikes, are almost impossible to approach without armor-plated vehicles.
As a result, only the most foolish Qinae attempts to wear zyrthi armor, and all zyrthi weapons are alloyed with other metals to reduce their radioactivity and give them more structural flexibility. Alloyed zyrthi-steel armor is Quality 8 and somewhat lighter than durasteel, and zyrthi-steel weapons can shred through common durasteel by a combination of tensile strength and the sheer heat of the blade. They're commonly stored in special sheaths to prevent burning the owner.
The most disturbing aspect of zyrthi is that it is quite literally alive. The energy it gives off pulses like a heartbeat, and will violently flare up if the scales are damaged in any way. Some old or overworked stones have been known to "die," burning out in a final flash of incredible heat. Qinae starships have built-in countermeasures to channel this into storage circuits to prevent overloading and provide a "backup" fuel source until the main stone can be replaced, but weapons tend to violently explode upon expiration.
CREATOR NOTE: This material is meant to represent the confusing, alien technology of the Qinaem, not to provide another godmode material. The following parameters must be met by any character wanting an item made out of zyrthi:
- Roleplayed knowledge of Rhadamanthus. This isn't easy, considering they've had no outside contact ever.
- Roleplayed knowledge of the existence and properties of zyrthi crystals. Again not easy; the Qineam are a very reclusive people.
- A development thread in which the character acquires one or more zyrthi scales. The Qineam are dangerous enemies and do not take kindly to people jacking their bling.
- A separate development thread for the extremely dangerous process of working the scales into whatever shape the character wants.
This means a minimum of three threads for outsiders, or two for Qineam wishing to make use of zyrthi metal for weaponry or armor. Phrik is easier, and won't burn you alive if you wear it.
