OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: A personal armor for Val Drutin.
- Image Source: Library of Congress
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: Armored clothing, Armorweave
- Manufacturer: Val Drutin
- Affiliation: Val Drutin
- Model: N/A
- Modularity: No
- Production: Unique
- Material: Various fabrics (black velvet, septsilk, cotton), Armorweave, Shell spider silk
- Classification: Multipurpose
- Weight: Weightless
- Resistances: (For each category choose from: None, Very Low, Low, Average, High, Very High, Extreme. Ratings of High, Very High, and Extreme will need to be added as strengths with elaboration.) Resistance Ratings Extreme will require the submission to be Semi-Unique. This Resistance Rating is considered very strong and are usually dealing with unique items that should be restricted to Player Characters only.
- Energy: High
- Kinetic: Average
- Lightsabers: High
- Corrosive: Very Low
- Radiation: Average
- Vibro: High
- Pressure: Average
- Sonic: Average
- EMP/ION: Average
- Elemental: Low
- Shell spider silk mimics fabric
- Armorweave layer underneath
- Armorweave: Sewn underneath the costume, this provides high levels of protection against energy and lightsaber attacks.
- Shell Spider Silk: Woven into the costume itself, this provides some protection against blaster fire and vibroweapons.
- Not Just a Costume: It isn't obvious that this costume is armored, which may catch an attacker off guard.
- Comfortable: For Val, at least, this is comfortable - and in some ways it is psychologically comforting as well, since he feels most at home on the stage.
- Weightless Light Armor: It does not impair movement or slow the wearer down in the slightest.
- Elemental: The cloth will be ruined if exposed to the elements, which will not only upset Val, it more or less defeats the purpose of having an armored costume.
- Corrosive: If you throw acid on this the cloth will be destroyed, leaving behind only the armorweave, which can only withstand the acid for a certain amount of time before it burns through that too.
- Very Light Armor: One too many blows will compromise it.
- Hands, Head, and Neck are left exposed.
- Demoralizes Allies: Why, oh why, are you marching into combat wearing a ballet costume?
Originally just an ordinary costume made for the character of Albrecht in the ballet Giselle, Val had it modified to include some light armor after a certain incident wherein he was chased and captured by bounty hunters immediately before a performance, clad in nothing but his costume. This isn't the same costume he wore that night (that was the Spectre of the Rose costume, lol), but it is the costume he wears the most often, so if he's going to pay to have one modified it might as well be this one.
The modifications included replacing significant portions of the fabric with shell spider silk (the black velvet tunic in the picture is not changed in this way, but the tights and undershirt are), as well as sewing a thin armorweave layer underneath the shirt, covering the torso and adding an extra level of protection over vital organs. Flexibility and weightlessness are key, as it must still function as a ballet costume and can't restrict Val's movements or impede him from jumping.
On the other hand, this is the lightest of light armors - it definitely can't survive constant bombardment, and it doesn't protect his head, neck, or hands - rather vital parts of his body. But hey, it's better than nothing.
Random piece of real life historical trivia: this costume got Vaslav Nijinsky fired from the Mariinsky Theater in 1910 for "indecency" - because he wasn't wearing pants over the tights.
