Grand Armor

Summary

The frightening innovation of mana-steel had a thunderous effect throughout the cultures of dragon kinds. Death is no stranger, but the ease at which 'weaker' species were able to suddenly challenge them proved unnerving. This problem made a tantalizing opportunity for dragon engineers, who loved these sorts of perilous difficulties. If their natural physiology had failed, then they would innovate.   Their chosen idea wasn't exactly new. All sorts of people fantasied about powerful armors--from invulnerability to the power enhancing and more. Few had the resources to produce such works, and dragons were uninterested in such things. Thus many turned their attention to this ignored field, descending with supreme talent. In the following decades, the dragon answer to mana-steel took the form of Grand Armor, the simplistically arrogant name of their new armor technique. The first generations were nothing more than layers of exotic alloys, stitched with crysium threading as a sort of magical amplifier. It served the purpose of protection and so they became satisfied with their expensive and ornate hunk of metal.   Then the baarham took the idea and ran away with it.   Being physically weak yet magically titanic, they sought to compensate. Their mage-seers eventually fashioned their own version of Grand Armor, one that changed the course of the armor's history. Built to protect the wearer somewhat, its true purpose was augmentation of magic power. Streamlining physical talent and spell casting, it covered their weakness and amplified their strength. With its production method a secret often taken to the grave, these ancestral Grand Armors became prized family heirlooms. What can be said for them otherwise, the baarham method drew everyone's attention. Then they all started trying to make their own.   The field exploded open, and all sorts of Grand Armors took shape. As any technology is shaped by purpose, so did each armor become different. Few matched the original idea of the 'Grand Armor' anymore at that point. Arguably, none of them were since dragons weren't making them. Hence, different names came forward, such as 'Mobility Armor' and 'Queen's Regalia'. Regardless of the name, their purpose became unified in two defining ways: protecting the wearer, and augmenting their strengths in some way. Some completely different armor types became reclassified under this name as a result. If one was particularly pedantic, some armors found in Atenkhet may qualify, as well as ones in Nerzin.   Grand Armors became famous among nobility, the affluent, and those lifted up to use them. For, as became clearer in these 'powered' Grand Armors, they were not simple tools. As magic itself requires particular training, so did the Grand Armors. One simply couldn't equip the armor and do well with it, for they might blow themselves up in the process. Or ruin the intricate enchanting that goes into making the armor work. Because of this, and the associated production costs, few could truly wield the armors to their fullest extent. This was especially troublesome among the shorter lived species, like humans. They would burn up their youth learning Grand Armor training, only to have a small service life before facing retirement.   So it fell to them to innovate more streamlined techniques, and easier to use armors. It is there the differences in the species became so much more obvious. Grand Armor built for jiuweihu or baarham simply required entirely different methods, making it impossible to co-opt for humans, lauraume, rachtoh, and so on. No matter who they were built for, they were expensive and rare all the same. Despite that, their impact is undeniable. How much is truth and how much is glorified tall-tale is hard to figure out, of course.   In the hands of proper wielders, Grand Armors have turned entire battles on their own. A small, elite squadron can cleave through hundreds of troops, perhaps thousands with the right weapons. If not quickly stopped, they could decapitate the command structure of an army, sowing chaos and routing many tens of thousands of more. Or, being exceptionally fast and agile, they can harass an enemy for weeks, whittling them away to nothing. The downside being, the loss of a Grand Armor and its user is an enormous blow to a nation's fighting ability. As was once famously said by a certain human general, "for one of these supposedly 'grand' armors, I'd rather the thousand knights it'd cost to make". A not uncommon sentiment, considering they're a step far above and beyond plate mail.   It is hard to escape the glamour and mysticism surrounding them, nonetheless.