Igni Irae
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Outfit for Kyriaki
Image Source: Here.
Canon Link: Control Pain, Force Scattering, Enhance Attribute, Sith Alchemy, Truth Sense, Force Sense.
Permissions: N/A
Primary Source: N/A.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Kyriaki
Affiliation: Kyriaki
Market Status: Closed-Market
Model: N/A
Modularity: No.
Production: Unique
Material: Cyrene Silk, Armourweave, plastoid armour plates. Enhanced with alchemy.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Classification: Protective Dress
Weight: Light
Resistances:
- Energy: High
- Kinetic Energy: Low
- Lightsabers: High
- Sonic: Low
- EMP/ION: Low
- Elemental: Very High
- Kinetic Penetration/Slashing: Very High
- Alchemised.
- Lightsabre resistant
- The Raven's Dress is lightweight, but the combination of armourweave and alchemisation means it has good resistance against elemental hazards, blasters and lightsabres.
- Moreover, the wearer is well-protected against attempt to penetrate it with blades or projectile weapons. This also covers stabbing and slashing.
- Aside from making it more resistant, the alchemisation conveys a number of preternatural effects that benefit the wearer while the outfit. It can boost her Force Senses. Moreover, an Enhance Attribute and Control Pain imbuement improves her physical abilities, especially her constitution and ability to suppress her pain. Moreover, an imbuement allows her to scatter her Force aura and, for a time, hide in dim light and shadows.
- The outfit is light. While this gives Kyriaki freedom of movement, it means it does not grant the level of protection of a full suit of armour. The fabric is good against penetration, but this can only do so much to mitigate the trasfer of kinetic energy. A high-calibre slug round may not penetrate the dress itself, but it can still cause cracked ribs, contusions and the like by hurting the squishy body inside. Moreover, it is not meant to stand up to heavy firepower. Repeated impacts will reduce its efficacy. No real resistance against crushing damage in general. This makes it poor when the wearer suffers a heavy fall or gets hit by a war hammer. All in all, this still a dress, not a suit of armour.
- It is a dress, so there is no helmet. This can become a problem.
- Low protection against sonic and ion/EMP. It is a dress, so it does not have any electronics, but equally it does not help electronics the wearer might be carrying. And it does not do much against sonic weapons. This can be bad for the wearer's bones, internal organs or eardrums.
- The standard weakness of alchemised and Force imbued items apply, namely being susceptible to Force null field such as those generated by ysalamiri. Such fileds will negate any preternatural enhancements, turning it into a nice looking, but pretty mundane dress. In such a state, the armourweave will only protect against glancing blows from lightsabres, but not direct hits.
- The physical augmentation imbuement comes at a cost. She can draw on it for strength, but the more she uses the harder the later 'crash' afterwards will be. This can become a problem in times of great stress and physical exertion.
- While not strictly a darkside artefact, the alchemisation can still be disrupted by Force Light similar to all creations of Sith Alchemy. Kyriaki does not tan well.
Sith politics tend to be toxic and murderous. This is to be expected in a cult of dark wizards who usually achieve upward mobility by murdering their way to the top, while at the same time trampling on those beneath them. This is especially true for the Disciples of the Vader. They have added cultist Vader worship, human supremacism, and genocide to the already toxic cocktail. This is truly a great recipe for nation-building. Kyriaki, clone of Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori, has unwillingly found herself thrust into Vaderite politics. She is quite attached to remaining alive, so she has to watch out for daggers.
Due to faulty cloning, she is frail of body and sickly. Moreover, as a clone she does not come from a great Vaderite family. The Supreme Leader Darth Eisen has taken her on as a ward, but her poor health puts her at risk of running afoul of the Vaderites' absurd eugenic laws. However, she has other talents. While her Force connection is weaker than that of her mirror, she is skilled in elemental fire abilities, sorcery and persuasion. Her most important talent is her mind. Moreover, she has skill as an alchemist, seamstress and embroiderer. Sewing her own clothes started out as a refuge for her. Later she recognised that she could ingratiate herself with bigwigs by fashioning items for them, and she manifested an interest in alchemy. It allowed her to impress the Disciples and prove her worth without having to demonstrate great feats of physical strength that would tax her frail body.
Kyriaki made this dress shortly after returning from the 'alien reservation' Hope Falls, where she had been dispatched to investigate thefts of grain and ascertain why the community was lagging behind on delivering its quotas to the 'benevolent Vaderites'. She found systemic corruption, tyranny and poverty. Naturally all this was known to the Vaderites, whose officials abused the aliens and treated them as little better than slaves. But it suited them to present Hope Falls was a model settlement.
Kyriaki was able to bring down a few corrupt officials and rescue some aliens from Hope Falls by assigning them to less strenuous work under her supervision. But the system remained unchanged. The Supreme Leader was pleased with her work and made her a special plenipotentiary for labour questions, since she had proved she could 'manage' the Vaderites' 'xenos labour assets' and seemed well-suited for navigating their labyrinthian bureaucracy. Promotion meant greater privileges, but also risks. Thus Kyriaki sought to create an outfit that would reflect her elevated status, but also provide protection. Her slave Shakka suggested naming it the Gloomshadow Robes, but Kyriaki calls it the Raven's Dress.
The dress is made out of jet black Cyrene Silk. This fabric was favoured by the monarchs of Naboo. Tephrike has been isolated for many centuries and so no Tephriki have set foot on that planet in generations. However, the Vaderites have some rather warped views of the Naboo and their ancient Queen Padme Amidala. Moreover, the fabric is comfortable and light. Kyriaki has incorporated concealed layers of armourweave to provide protection for her vitals. The outfit looks elegant, but is not constricting, allowing for freedom of movement. It is not apparel suitable for the battlefield, but Kyriaki is not a frontline soldier.
The silk dress has a row of raven feathers sewed to the bust and to the sleece cuffs. Feathers have been added to the shoulders. They resemble epaulettes. Epaulettes are typically worn by military commanders and Vaderite generals love fancy uniforms with decorations. Kyriaki is no general, but taking charge in her sphere in her own way. It also makes them look just a bit like wings. Of course, Kyriaki cannot fly. However, deep down she wishes she could fly away from the miserable world of Tephrike and join her template in the stars. When queried about it, Kyriaki says it represents how the Force uplifts the worthy, lifting them up above the mundanes. Besides, she has taken a raven as her sigil.
Typically, she wears a necklace. It is a black circle with a chain and on the end is a long point. When asked about it, she will say it symbolises the great chain that links mankind and the Vaderites to their great forebears, and that the image came to her in a dream. This is true, from a certain point of view. Kyriaki considers herself chained and is quite happy to let her masters believe she is obedient and not a threat. It makes it easier to get rid of them. She sometimes covers her hands in leather gloves.
The outfit is resistant to blaster fire, lightsabres, elemental attacks, penetration and stabbing. The lightsabre resistance is partly a consequence of the alchemisation, partly of the armourweave, though the latter would only confer limited protection. Strictly speaking, Kyriaki is more worried about someone trying to stab her with an alchemised or standard blade because lightsabres are extremely rare on Tephrike, but it is still useful. However, the dress offers little protection against blunt force trauma and crushing impacts. Moreover, prolonged projectile and blaster fire will chip away at its efficacy, and it is no good if someone say fires a turbolaser or a missile at the wearer.
As a sign of her burgeoning talent as an alchemist, the outfit has been alchemised. This is the basis for most of its lightsabre resistance. It also protects it against elemental dangers. Of course, Kyriaki cannot take a plunge into lava or an icy arctic river with it. Placing the dress under fire for a prolonged period will also be detrimental. Similarly, prolonged or repeated contact with a lightsabre will damage the cloth. Some flexible plates have been sewn in under the dress to provide some further protection for her vitals against slashing.
Aside from enhanced protection, the alchemisation provides some preternatural effects that boost certain Force abilities. The obvious choice would have been to imbue the outfit with her pyrokinesis to both make it even more resistant to fire and enhance upon her ability to call upon it. However, Kyriaki is a bureaucrat and a courtier, not a warrior. Combat is impossible to avoid altogether, but it is a last resort for her, not her primary one.
Her greatest problem is her physical frailty. The flawed cloning process has given her a weak constitution and she is prone to having trouble breathing, feeling dizzy, having chest pains, migraines etc. The Vaderites' insane eugenics policies make this problematic. Thus the outfit has been imbued with physical enhancement abilities, notably Control Pain and Enhance Attribute. Chiefly, this makes it easier for Kyriaki to boost her constitution and stamina, and suppress or mitigate sensations of pain. This does not make her superhuman or make her health issues go away, but it boosts her functionality.
Moreover, the outfit boosts her Truth Sense, making it easier to separate truth from lies, and Force Senses. She is just a bit more alert, more aware of her surroundings and social cues. This also helps her separate truth from lies. Finally, the imbuement allows Kyriaki to summon shadows and obfuscate herself in dim light. The radius of the low-level light is limited. Basically, Kyriaki can conceal herself, but not a bunch of minions. This is not a passive trait, but requires some concentration on her part. When she does so, her Force aura scatters. This means she imprints her aura across a specific area, making it difficult to discern her location. This also negates the Force aura the alchemised dress would normally emanate. This is a way for her to conceal herself from other Force-Users despite the Force aura the dress would normally generate, as it is scattered, too. However, active use of Force Sight or skill at discerning illusions is a way around the Force scattering.
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