The Ghost/Adamant

Adamant is, at least in creation, both the rarest and most useful of the six Magical Materials. Though once much more common than it is today Adamant never the less remains in small quantities throughout creation, and more of it can be produced even today by those with the know how and a functional Factory Cathedral, of which both The Realm and Lookshy have one.

The Nature of Adamant

Adamant is unique among the magical materials in that it is not a metal, nor does it have to be alloyed with metal to be used. In the same way that Orichalcum is magical Gold, and Moonsilver is magical Silver, Adamant is magical Diamonds. Harder than steel and more durable than Jade Adamant is precious beyond reckoning. The regalia of the Scarlet Empress featured Adamant gemstones in settings of Orichalcum as proof of her power and permanence. Adamant is known to occur naturally only in small pockets in the extreme south and north, often in land that has but lately been reclaimed from the Wyld, at least in Creation. In Autochthonia however it makes up a significant subsection of the world god Autochthon, the Elemental Pole of Crystal, and grows spontaneously in many areas within the Pole of Metal where certain essence flows cause the crystallization of raw essence. Like Jade however, Adamant, though a mineral not a metal, can be alloyed with other substances, most commonly steel or glass, to stretch the precious substance further than using it in it's natural form. These alloys sometimes produce interesting new effects, many of which are detailed bellow. In it's raw form Adamant is all but invulnerable, to shape it requires beams of refined essence and to melt it for alloying demands heat from rocks gathered at the Elemental Pole of Fire, blasts of snow taken out of the elemental pole of air, or discharges of electricity from the Elemental Pole of Lightning. No one has been able to alloy Adamant outside of Autochthonia since before the Great Contagion.

Producing Adamant

For those of us who lack the good fortune to be Solar or Alchemical Exalted acquiring Adamant is difficult and costly. The process requires several months and a functional Factory Cathedral which can be dedicated to the process. The basic building block of Adamant is Diamonds, which must be heated and suffused with essence under great pressure. Properly undertaking the process requires sources of all five elemental essences at least equal to a level 2 hearthstone as well as a level 1 hearthstone for solar, sidereal, and lunar essence. None of these hearthstones can be higher than the required rating unless all of those for the same overall type of essence are equally powerful and the forging vat can withstand the increased pressure.

Uses of Adamant

Many in the modern age mistake Adamant for a magical refinement of Chiaroscuro Glass the truth of the matter is exactly inverse. Every piece of Chiaroscuro Glass contains a tiny amount of alloyed Adamant which is a large part of the source of it's strength. This alloying is not the only requirement to produce Chiaroscuro Glass, but it is the key component that cannot be duplicated in the modern age.