Illuminates and Rune Metal armour

[Ali the Helering]

Elsewhere on the forum there have been discussions concerning metals, but since this is a general Gloranthan question I decided to post my question here.

If an Illuminate constructs a suit of scale mail using alternating scales of different rune metals (since unbound by cultic strictures) what might be the result?  This isn't asked by way of munchkinnery, but simply academic interest...

[JustAnotherVingan]

A suit that requires a lot of Enchant spells and doesn't have enough of any metal to get a bonus?

[Dissolv]

I could see something like that as a necessary base for some very powerful -- and nearly chaotic -- blend.  Sort of like the God Learner water that burned, but ...... armor.

By itself it seems a boondoggle  of a project requiring a vast array of smithing skills and Issaries spell trading to wind up with a very average suit of scale mail.    But as always, Step 1) Collect Armor.  Step 2).........       Step 3) Profit.

[scott-martin]

On 2/21/2020 at 10:45 AM, Ali the Helering said:

If an Illuminate constructs a suit of scale mail using alternating scales of different rune metals (since unbound by cultic strictures) what might be the result?  This isn't asked by way of munchkinnery, but simply academic interest...

This person would be hugely into metal lore so I'd give it an alchemical framework. One of the most interesting earthly alchemical procedures is the compound regulus (distillation of the eagles) in which you start with the crudest of all your metals and keep introducing it to successfully "higher" amalgamations until it can work transmutations and do other cool things. Newton played around with this and got pretty far.

A sample recipe would start with alloy bronze and add a little iron . . . maybe 1 part to 2 bronze, maybe homeopathic proportions . . . to achieve an "ur regulus." This paradoxically deadens the iron's normal magical effect so it's considered a waste of valuable material. Only a crazy person would do it. But then you introduce it to ul-metal, which again is expensive and normally has no immediate magical advantage. The amalgam might start to follow the lunar/tidal cycle. Maybe it glimmers with weird red notes. Feed it ga to fix it.

Then feed it sa. There's a trick to this. Do it right and you get a kind of metallurgical storage system that can accept any of the metal powers and project them onto the environment. It's contagious. Maybe it makes dwarves fall in love because finally this is what Stone was like when he was alive. Maybe elves can tolerate the iron in this format. This being Glorantha, someone will make an outfit out of it and wear it around. 

Other people would start with lo or even Sandy's weird and ghastly chaos metal that fell from the sky. Or they would keep adding metals until the thing ultimately explodes.

[Darius West]

On 2/22/2020 at 2:45 AM, Ali the Helering said:

Elsewhere on the forum there have been discussions concerning metals, but since this is a general Gloranthan question I decided to post my question here.

If an Illuminate constructs a suit of scale mail using alternating scales of different rune metals (since unbound by cultic strictures) what might be the result?  This isn't asked by way of munchkinnery, but simply academic interest...

In RQ2/RQ3/RQG if the illuminate  doesn't have the correct magics for enchanting ALL the metals, then they get the negative effects of losing their magic.  As most cults teach a couple of enchantments, but never all of them, at best you will wind up with a suit of armor that is only as good as bronze, but which saps your magic points.  It's really a waste of time.  A suit of Iron gives you more AP, while sea metal is lighter, and the other metals just become the same as bronze.

Elves and Trolls couldn't wear it if there was iron, but might be able to get away with it if wearing a solid undershirt, but it would still be like wearing poison.  Dwarves wouldn't give a damn, and are some of the few races that could actually make it, but couldn't be bothered as it provides no advantages whatsoever other than perhaps some sort of visual appeal of being multi-coloured.

I point out that you didn't ask what would happen if you alloyed some of the metals, but made a suit of scale out if it.  Arguably such a suit of scale might go some way to identifying the illuminate as an illuminate, as they probably couldn't be wearing the suit unless they qualified to have access to all those metals by being rune level in all those cults.  Still, it's an affectation, and not practical in any way, and half the value of being an illuminate is not being identified as one by normals.

[Ali the Helering]

2 hours ago, Darius West said:

 

I point out that you didn't ask what would happen if you alloyed some of the metals, but made a suit of scale out if it.  

No need to point it out, it was implicit to the question.  I was thinking of the maryannu scale of the RW Bronze Age. 

[EricW]

The Red Emperor could probably commission such a suit. And who knows what Nysalor’s otherworldly cloak was made of.

I think the problem is the maker might be an illuminate, but the armour itself would not be illuminated, so you could expect a lot of “rust” where different pieces of metal were in contact. Making an inanimate object illuminated, so all the different metals played nicely with each other - maybe a god like Nysalor could do it.

[metcalph]

I don't see why the maker has to be illuminated.  Sorcerors can enchant metals.

[Sir_Godspeed]

This feel like it should be one of those legendary (mostly) one-off artifacts adventurers might find in a ruin, ancient temple, heroquest, or maybe get as gift. Artifacts as these can very well, throw the rules to the wayside because they are special. This means that they won't be mass-manufactured things, though. Maybe the masterwork of a long-dead sorcerer, alchemist, or the regalia of a god, or the last remnant of a dead civilization.

The Corslet of Many Colors, thought lost, is now carried by an up-and-coming hero, signaling the closeness of the Hero Wars. Its working defying all known expectations, a truly wondrous relic of a bygone era, the knowledge used in its creation long forgotten. 

 

[Ali the Helering]

3 hours ago, metcalph said:

I don't see why the maker has to be illuminated.  Sorcerors can enchant metals.

Sorry, my language was insufficiently clear.  When I said that the illuminate constructed it, that was what I meant, not implying that they were a smith or enchanter themselves. 

[metcalph]

1 minute ago, Ali the Helering said:

Sorry, my language was insufficiently clear.  When I said that the illuminate constructed it, that was what I meant, not implying that they were a smith or enchanter themselves. 

I'm still not seeing what you re getting at.  Illuminates have not had any special powers in magical construction.  Why would you expect it to be different if it was constructed by an illuminate and not say, a master dwarf smith?

[Ali the Helering]

8 minutes ago, metcalph said:

I'm still not seeing what you re getting at.  Illuminates have not had any special powers in magical construction.  Why would you expect it to be different if it was constructed by an illuminate and not say, a master dwarf smith?

My thoughts being that they won't face cult restrictions on elemental metal use

[metcalph]

1 minute ago, Ali the Helering said:

My thoughts being that they won't face cult restrictions on elemental metal use

There are no cult restrictions on elemental use for most cults.  Orlanth can wear any sort of elemental metal because he kicked their arses during the Gods War.  The Seven Mothers can wear any sort of elemental metal because We Are All Us even if they are not illuminated and so on.  Dara Happans quite happily use bronze even though that's a Storm Metal.  Illumination is not a requirement for the armour you suggest.

[Ali the Helering]

Thanks to all of those who have posted helpful replies. I will undoubtedly find a way to use them IMG. 

[Darius West]

20 hours ago, Ali the Helering said:

No need to point it out, it was implicit to the question.  I was thinking of the maryannu scale of the RW Bronze Age. 

Oh, as in you alloy a combination of all the metals?  Well, it IRL it would be terrible, as an alloy of tin, copper, nickel, aluminium, iron, gold, lead,  and silver would be a nightmare, and not very strong metallurgically.  On the other hand, there are some proposed recipes for Plato's mysterious Orichalcum metal from Atlantis that incorporate a number of these metals.  Some of these metals are found near each other in nature such as silver and lead, which means they are more able to alloy than others.  Obviously if you are going down the Orichalcum path, it would probably a matallurgical abomination created by the sunken Empire of Jrustela, because, y'know, Atlantis et al.

[JustAnotherVingan]

1 idea I had was a suit that randomly changed the benefit it gave you each Wildday. Benefits of iron one week, lead the next, gold the week after etc.

[Ali the Helering]

2 hours ago, Darius West said:

Oh, as in you alloy a combination of all the metals?  Well, it IRL it would be terrible, as an alloy of tin, copper, nickel, aluminium, iron, gold, lead,  and silver would be a nightmare, and not very strong metallurgically.  On the other hand, there are some proposed recipes for Plato's mysterious Orichalcum metal from Atlantis that incorporate a number of these metals.  Some of these metals are found near each other in nature such as silver and lead, which means they are more able to alloy than others.  Obviously if you are going down the Orichalcum path, it would probably a matallurgical abomination created by the sunken Empire of Jrustela, because, y'know, Atlantis et al.

No alloy was in question, but a suit of scales made of the different rune metals.  As I said, like the maryannu armour which in some cases had alternating rows of bronze, tin covered bronze and enamelled bronze or tin. 

[Ali the Helering]

1 hour ago, JustAnotherVingan said:

1 idea I had was a suit that randomly changed the benefit it gave you each Wildday. Benefits of iron one week, lead the next, gold the week after etc.

OOOOh funzies!