Glimmer Steel

Glimmer Steel (Silken Armor, Artifact *****)

Glimmer Steel is a set of extremely elaborate and opulent clothes that even an elder Solar Exalted of the First Age would be pleased with. Glimmer Steel is colored with varying shades of grey, highlighted with deep violet and veins of gold, and tastefully embroidered with designs bringing to mind elemental essences. Light dances along the embroidered designs, making them seem to move across the fabric on their own.

Close inspection reveals that the gold tracing through Glimmer Steel is not actually gold, but orichalcum. The orichalcum is fine wires, hair thin, and braided into thicker threads. The placement of the orichalcum allows it reinforce the clothing against blows, offering more protection than most mundane armors.

The embroidered designs are not mere decoration either, being fine wires of all colors of jade. Black jade rivers flow through white jade hills, red jade fires dance through green jade forests, and all beneath blue jade clouds. All these jade wires also reinforce the armor's strength while maintaining its flexibility and lightness.

Glimmer Steel predates even the Usurpation and the Shogunate, commissioned by the Lunar Chirsa of Meru for her Solar mate and lover Mischievous Shen, a noted Eclipse Caste martial artist. Glimmer Steel's purpose was to give an increase in much needed protection to its wearer, and it was a resounding success in that regard. Its appearance was also well received, and Shen was much pleased by his lover's gift.

Glimmer Steel was not locked away in a tomb or vault, and it has appeared several times in the thousands of years since the First Age ended. Helped by the fact that it is one of the rare artifacts that can be worn by even the mundane(counting as Medium Armor), it has been worn by kings, nobles, bandits, and even Dynasts.

Due to its Solar intended design, Glimmer Steel doesn't have much of a concrete legend behind it. It doesn't have any well known abilities or powers due to only offering Solars any increased function.

Glimmer Steel functions as normal Silken Armor, offering the statistics of Light Artifact Armor, but not counting as armor for the purpose of Martial Arts styles that do not function with armor.

Evocations of Glimmer Steel

Should a Solar attune to Glimmer Steel, they may pay an extra attunement cost of 2 motes and receive a bonus of +3 to Soak and +3 to Hardness.