Taichara/Adamant

Forging Adamant

The rare sixth - and only "artificial" - Magical Material, adamant was developed in the earliest years of the First Age as an outgrowth and refinement of the crystal technologies of the Dragon Kings. In its first iteration little more than an exceptional foundation for weapons and other objects, crafted by the most talented of mortal thaumaturges, the Exalts who followed these pioneers further refined the original "adamant" into a true Magical Material.

Thaumaturgical Adamant (Adamas, "Chiaroscuro glass")

The famously durable glass found in the city-state of Chiaroscuro is the most common example, in the Second Age, of thaumaturgical adamant.

This tough, glassy substance is created by savant-smiths from the purest of sands, a good half-dozen rare herbals and blossoms, and perfect gemstones in a days-long ritual of enchantment now lost to many

A certain amount of thaumaturgical knowledge is also required to shape adamas, though nothing as advanced as that required to forge it. As noted in Scavenger Sons, mortals - while capable of creating weaponry and certain forms of armor - cannot work adamas into truly complicated shapes (such as chain armor, or other equally-intricate objects). An Exalt with the occult knowledge and the proper Craft Charms, however, could readily rediscover this process.

Thaumaturgical adamant is glassy and has a faintly rippled finish, even when polished smooth. It may be of any color, depending on the ritual's details and the types of crystals used in the initial creation. Objects crafted of adamas are considered to be of Exceptional quality.

True Adamant

A true Magical Material, true adamant is distilled from adamas by an Exalt who has knowledge of the intricate procedures required. Adamant is thus perfected by re-forging adamas with white sapphire, moth's wings and silk in a forge fuelled by frozen firedust and powdered diamond, in the darkest hours of the night.

The purified Magical Material is glittering and almost perfectly transparent, shining with an inner fire greater than that of any diamond and faintly tinted the palest blue-white. Adamant is prone to long spar-like shapes, innumerable tiny facets, and smooth crisp planes.

While all essence-users (save perhaps the dead) may attune to an artifact of adamant - so long as they are capable of attuning to an object crafted of a Magical Material - all such bearers of adamant wonders must make the double commitment cost and forced attunement to make use of adamant's special properties, for it is naturally attuned to no one Exalt type or other Essence-wielding being.*

Adamant is especially suited for, and attuned to, the properties of: precision, sharpness, hardness, clarity, purity, and similar concepts.

It may be used in tandem with any other the other five Magical Materials, though it resonates somewhat more purely with the magical metals than it does with jade.

Melee Weapon Bonus: -4 to target's armor soak
Ranged Weapon Bonus: damage is piercing
Armor Bonus: +3L soak, -1 mobility penalty

* A notable exception to the necessary attunement costs would be the (mythical?) sixth Caste of Alchemical Exalted. If these Adamant Alchemicals exist, they would by their nature be capable of attuning normally to artifacts crafted of adamant.

Deathseeking Adamant

By forging adamant by daylight, and adding a few other substances to the molten flux (the exact substances known is a bit of knowledge lost since the contagion), an Exalt may forge deathseeking adamant rather than true adamant.

Deathseeking adamant is duller than true adamant; it lacks the fire characteristic of the true Magical Material, and it tinted faintly silver-grey rather than blue-white. It gains none of adamant's Magical Material bonuses; instead, all damage from injuries inflicted by deathseeker adamant is considered to be aggravated damage.

Unlike true adamant, deathseeker adamant is despairingly fragile; objects forged of deathseeking adamant have a soak of no more than 2B / 1L.

Forger of Purity (3 or 5 pt. Merit)

You know the secrets of forging adamant, lost to most Exalts and mortal savants of the second Age. Perhaps you bartered the information from a shade or god; perhaps you found it in the shattered ruins of the past; or perhaps you gained them through experimentation and sheer dogged persistence.

For 3 points, you know the principles of forging adamas. For 5 points, you know the rituals for distilling adamant, though only Exalts (and perhaps their half-blooded offspring) may make actual use of such knowledge, it can be a powerful bartering tool (and an even greater risk to one's life).