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WBJ 2024 P31: Technology
Orhric Armours
From kyeugh’s prompt:
This is your chance to delve into technology of any time [snip] a unique weapon or piece of magitech, [snip]… The possibilities are endless!
Be Safe – Buy Elemental Armour
In a world inhabited by Pokémon with many different shapes and cultures, securing proper protections when you have to inevitably to go war or go to extract resources from a dangerous zone can be an ordeal.
Even the best Pokémon, though they can command the forces of nature, are still
mortal creatures exerting a feeble control over nature.
(Unless you are a Legendary, but when was the
last time Nevareona threw their local Raikou and Suicune at our glorious forces? That’s right, 15 years ago. And
we beat Raikou.)
So next time, before you have to dig into the depths of a
Gólorboj caldera to extract valuable Neverstone lava orbs to trade…
…or before boarding a weak, solitary merchant Remlian ship in the middle of Solidad – only to find out they hired a bunch of
Folmo mercenaries for protection…
…or before you ignore all the warnings from the veterans of the Chariot of Likakanb, and decide to walk into the Smoke Forests to try and hunt down the
Greevi-Nosr so you can make a name for yourself (either as a hero aor as a dead mon)…
Invest in Far Mlyenoen Armour!
Few investments in a warrior’s life are safer than the latest models of
orhric armour from the smiths of the depths of Mlyenne.
Because when you want to survive a blow to the heart, few things beat body armour crafted in the cavernous end of the world – and most Mlyenne cave mons don’t even
have a heart to protect!
The “secret” behind the efficacy of orhic armour is taking advantage of
material orhdrism, a unique relationship deep world materials can have when exposed to energy of specific Types, something common in the depths of the world.
And don’t worry: Mlyenoen smiths fashion all kinds of protections both for their workers, and for whoever can put forth the coin.
So if you are an avian Pokémon for example, black market stores such as Macun’s
Birds of Prey in Grafia specialize in lined, super lightweight neck and chest protection that doesn’t get in the way of flying and can spell the difference between safely divebombing an enemy formation, or dying from a Thunderbolt to the chest.
Remember: buy from the best, or die like the rest!
(now, where have
you read
that one before? ^_^)
This announcement was not sponsored by Mlyenne’s Committee of Formation Supplies. The Mlyenne Cluster does not endorse the black-market export of these technologies to non-continental agents, in particular those of Nevareona. Join in to the Cluster’s efforts and snuff out an illegal trader today!
Orhdrism 101
In general when it comes to interfacing matter and energy, two things can happen:
- The material is “transparent” to the energy, by which it means the energy can pass through the layers of material imparting little if any effect on the material.
- The material is “opaque” to the energy, by which the material either absorbs the energy or reflects it in part, resulting in the material being altered by the impacting energy.
Orhdrism is a slightly different effect. It “polarizes” some materials such that when they receive energy of a given type and
in a particular direction, the energy will “slide” across the surface of the material and be safely ejected at the other side while
mostly preserving direction.
This effect serves as the background for some of the material engineering achievements across Nrafhal.
For example it sits as the basis of
Nevareona’s “mud rails”: wagons with their bottom part lined with Ground-orhric particles can be made to slide off flat muddy or sandy surfaces when Ground energy is applied to the “road”, an effect similar (but a cause distinct) to what we find in
IRL’s maglevs.
(
Braking those wagons to a stop is quite a different adventure, though!)
The applications to
Mlyenoen body armour are more obvious: putting on a vest that has been lined with Dragon-orhric material for example, would greatly help repel the energy of Dragon-type attacks hitting you directly. However this does comes at the cost that you yourself wouldn’t be able to use Dragon energy efficiently, because the vest slides your draconic energy off from you when you use it.
One particular difficulty with orhric is strongly exclusive. Most orhric materials in Nrafhal are only orhric to, at most, two or three Types at a time, and never in the same “direction”. Scholars in the
Tower of Hedra have also proven it is impossible to construct a material that is orhric to “negating combinations” of types, such as a Rock, Fire and Water because
both Rock and Water resist Fire; or even worse Ghost and Normal where both types strongly repel each other.
Orhdrism is an active property of a material and it must be maintained by applying certain processes or avoiding certain changes. One example “maintenance” is regularly transferring energy from Gems to the orhric materials in question.
This material and other materials on the world of Nrafhal, you'll also find referenced at
the Nrafhal portal.
And now, some questions from our peers.
From
@Umbramatic
Aulwyr's old companions are deaaaaaaaaaaaad and kind of just programmed backstory.
The "are deeaaaaaaaad" mental tone is quite a mood and goes
great with a Batman mental image. Also, programs have feelings too! 😭
From
@Flyg0n (
post):
Whoa, very metal and cool, and a little sad. To know without a doubt that your big heroic quest will always end in one sacrifice...
Is this something teams tend to decide beforehand, or do they decide at the last minute? Do the families of the heroic sacrifice get any material benefits, or is it mostly immaterial accolades of fame of the name?
Well, by now this forms part of the general tradition of the region, so the teams pretty much always know beforehand. There is also reticence towards letting foreign heroes or general do-gooders into even the first stages of the Trial without making
well damn sure they are well informed of what Inazumi entails, and for the purpose of serving as a better cultural "bridge", first- or second-generation immigrants of Inazumi are usually candidated as guardians or supports for the Trials in the island.
But... the overall belief goes, the sacrifice
has to be earnest. Or at least, one should not do as "pompous sacrifices" who go at it for personal glory - or worse, for the glory of seditious parties in the nation as was the case of
Thorn's Dog, Greavard Among the Staying, and thus may or *did* cause pain and disaster for the Islands.
There is a push, then, to not "oversell" the sacrifice. The gone hero's remaining reproductive mates, if any, get a permit, extra stipend and lots of support to reestablish themselves anywhere in the islands would they choose, but that's as far as it goes in terms of
direct material support: the peoples of Remlia prefer to express their gratitude towards the family of gone heroes in terms of social aids and platitudes various after that instead, such as priority admittance into nesting or emergency shelters, providing them a bodyguard when they journey far from home, etc.
