Zarlona (Zar-lon-ah)

Summary

From the venerated workshops of the sokral came one of the strangest 'metals' to ever exist on Veltrona. The original creator, Aluurom, of the Rom lineage, was a dragon ever fascinated with materials from the Heavens. Foremost among them was celestial blackstone, and then later on things like the gloomweeper and suncradle bloom. Amongst her peers, she was one to push the boundaries of accepted convention, and stare into the unknown for answers.   Of her myriad experiments, one combination produced something ostensibly useful. Celestial blackstone, gloomweeper extract, copper, aluminum, and a mixture of liquefied crysium (comprised of 4 types of mana) produced the zarlona. The lustrously named 'metal from the stars', it is an opaque, pure-black and completely non-reflective material. Tiny tendrils of mana wind through that darkness, flickering into and out of existence as the eye beholds it. Only the edges are 'solidly' defined, orangish-gray folds reminiscent of a fading sunset.   A jiggly, gelatin-like substance in its natural form within a vacuum, zarlona changes radically depending on what its exposed to. Any kind of air makes its surfaces solidify harder than almost everything else dragonkind has experimented on. Water makes it disperse into an inky, blotchy mess that never quite fully separates. Veltron and fire have no effect at all–literally none. Fire cannot heat it in anyway, and veltron cannot scratch, pierce, or otherwise leave a mark. In many ways it could be regarded as a contiguous, wholly indestructible material no matter what forces are exerted upon it.   The problem is that makes it almost completely useless.   Aluurom couldn't figure out how to make any practical methods for zarlona. It could somewhat serve as an armor or shielding material, but sculpting it took insane effort. Producing zarlona was, material rarity not withstanding, much easier than actually creating anything using it. Seemingly ideal use cases could change in an instance, further complicating matters.   A zarlona gear, for example, could bear incredible, frictionless weight until water or fire got involved. Water causes it to disperse, while fire consumes air, and eventually deprives enough the zarlona gear slumps out like a piece of jello. A 'perfect' device would be a completely sealed, air-filled container to maintain its hardness characteristics. Of course, now the containment vessel is a priority concern, so the zarlona inside would have to be worth the trouble. The practical reality of battlefields and life in general simply presented too many failure states to be considered viable.   Eventually consigning it as a failure, Aluurom released the formula and production method. While a lot of dragons were intrigued by such a novel thing, their results mirrored Aluurom's. What few instances zarlona could be justified in using, comparable materials existed without any of the same problems. Time marched onward, and zarlona became nothing more than a historical footnote. If it was lucky enough to be included in a history book at all.    

The Sun Wire Technique

It would be upon the sands of Sa-kemet in Atenkhet's workshops did an artisan discover something new. A foreign trader, baring exotic goods, made a sale to a lower order rung of artisans. Unable to figure out the strange, jelly-like ingot that'd landed in their paws, they pushed it further up to their superiors. Confusion and mystery of such a strange thing stirred all kinds of attention, and no one could figure out how to use it. After weeks of turmoil, the zarlona ingot landed into the paws of mistress jeweler Julouank Anbadhi.   While arguably not the greatest jeweler of her time, Anbadhi's works commanded attention. Her specialty was in counter-culture pieces, things that were evocative of the unusual or strange. The zarlona ingot and all its strangeness captivated her, for it embodied everything she adored working on. Like the dragons, however, her every effort to work with it failed–sometimes spectacularly. Time went on, and the mysteries of the zarlona ingot left the minds of the artisans. Anbadhi, however, continued to work on it when she could.   Her revolutionary breakthrough came from a simple, yet hilariously infuriating technique. Wire cutting, as in using a wire to help cut or shape certain materials, is a low-end technique used by Atenkhet artisans. When testing out various wire materials, she eventually broached the audacious idea of using sun-gold. It wasn't all something used for a wire cutting technique, but the jelly-like zarlona made her wonder. It was an impossible thing, so maybe an impossible idea would be needed–so Anbadhi later said.   The sun-gold wire slid through the zarlona like warm butter, neatly dividing the ingot into two separate halves; a first in its history.   A bewildered Anbadhi soon discovered the zarlona 'greatly enjoyed' working with sun-gold. Not too much of it, but just enough to provide structure and framing. It subsumed the sun-gold wire into itself, and from there took on much more usable characteristics. Such a process wasn't actually alloying, but rather closer to 'banding'. The two came into contact and played off each other without fully mixing together. Through the sun-gold, Anbadhi could not only shape the zarlona, but completely negate the problems it always faced.   Her first pieces of jewelry later debuted in the noble society of Atenkhet, where it kicked a sandstorm up. Exquisite beyond compare and exotic in a way no one had ever seen before, it drew great attention. The Uatkara priestesses were also rather interested, though more in the material. Something about zarlona had a presence to it, not unlike sun-gold, but not the same either. They couldn't decide if it qualified as divine or not as a result, and it became a vexing question.   Word of Anbadhi's works spread and spread, and the peculiarity of her jewelry caught a scaled ear. A dragon of the Rom lineage picked up word, and upon inquiring with Aluurom, stirred the sokral's curiosity. She ventured across Veltrona, visiting Atenkhet and beheld her creation utilized in Anbadhi's jewelry. The dumbfounded dragon hunted the jeweler down, and the two struck a conversation about the zarlona metal. From their work together, a new means of working zarlona emerged and finally unlocked the mysterious substance.    

Practical Uses

As the two defining components of zarlona are among the rarest on Veltrona, not a lot of it can be produced at once. Sun-gold is as common as the dirt itself by comparison, so even a full ingot of the zarlona is nearly priceless. Quite literally no one can name a price to it because of what is used to make it, let alone the expertise involved. It is closer to creating something for a work of art or tribute to the goddesses than something for people.   Solving its usability problem did mean experimentation became viable. Aluurom, having the largest stockpile of it on hand, worked with Anbadhi to record zarlona's many potential uses. In general, around ten defining characteristics emerged, which was compiled into a guidance manual as seen below. Ultimately, it was concluded that while zarlona could offer untold possibilities, it was simply too rare to make. Aluurom eventually concluded she may have made something truly beyond the world, both past and future.   Still, some of the greatest artisans on Veltrona are ever attracted to it. The obscene rarity and composition of zarlona makes it a captivating thing to test one's skill with. The other worldly, and often one-of-a-kind, jewelry made from zarlona usually end up as great relics unto themselves. A niche, and heavily specialized product that greases the wheels of trade for celestial blackstone and gloomweeper extract, at least.  

When sun-gold is banded into the zarlona, it becomes almost completely weightless. The material actively floats on air currents and the slightest push can send it sliding away. Be sure to tie it down or keep it in a box or other container.

Sun-gold banding redefines zarlona's interaction with elements of the world. Air continues to harden it, but its hardness is somewhere above steel rather than completely indestructible. Water has much greater trouble diffusing it. Fire and veltron notably still cannot affect it in any way.

It has poor protection against stabbing. It's strange, the blade itself does not pass through the material, but the force of the blow does. As a form of armor, it treats everything like a hammer no matter what hits it. Potentially usable but material costs would bankrupt several queendoms.

A wide variety of magical attacks have trouble getting around the material. Like stabbing and other mundane attacks, some parts go through while others do not. Only lightning completely penetrates without a problem. Unsure as to why.

Zarlona is unaffected by the weight of things that settle upon it. Whether a small pebble or a boulder, it can 'carry' anything placed on it. The issue seems to be heavier objects, weighed down by the world, break upon the unmoving zarlona. Funny possibilities, but great for clothing or headwear.

Do not consume small portions of zarlona for any reason. While it is not fatal, it imbalances the body and one may start floating.

It has no sense of friction or any texture except 'smooth jelly'. While I can touch the zarlona and know something is there, it feels unlike anything else I've ever encountered. I am not certain this can be called a 'feeling' at all.

It doesn't have any special reaction to magical arts of any kind. Based on my knowledge of the weeping plants and their strange mana, magic should react strangely as well. It very oddly does not, aside from the aforementioned partial inhibition effect.

It does react to the presence of sunlight, as seen in the nebusian tests. I suspect the solar light empowering sun-gold maintains that reaction, and is why zarlona changes so much from its 'natural' form.

Future engineering as a component material seems highly dubious. I have found some interactions with mana currents; it is possible a designed circuit may have unexpected usages. That is outside of my expertise to test fully.

— A summarized excerpt of characteristics, as presented by Aluurom in her material manual concerning zarlona.