Exshard

An exShard (coming from the joining of the world exult and SteelShard) is an enhanced tool (armor, weapon, cart, wheelbarrow,...) that gets its name because the creation of an exShard requires the destruction of a Steelshard. An exShard is one of the rare examples where the sum is greater than the pieces it is made from, as the energy and alien metal is joined with common metal and create great tools for mankind.

Discovery

exShards weren't used until the discovery of the Aura-emanating machines that the stranger Ismon built at Kieb. The university in Sturm would often send out delegates to travel around and seek new knowledge and it was only luck that stranded Lam Kirk on the shores of Kieb after a raging thunderstorm. Lam found the exShard and studied them for months, trying to replicate their function. While being unsuccessful, he used his last remaning SteelShard and fuse it with a small piece of metal. The metal became incredibly strong, for as long as there was a charge in it. Satisfied with his discovery, Lam returned to Sturm to continue his studies and created the world of exShards that exist today.

Use

The exShards are expensive, but are commonly used in every facet of modern Stakhlian society. Farmers use them to plow without animals and transport their crops, warriors use them to become impervious to attacks or to make their attacks all more deadly. Kings use them to light their castles and display their wealth.

Known uses

• Transport: increase the sturdiness and make carts incredibly light, keep or reduce momentum, movable bridges, impervious coaches, leviation (pushing off from the ground)
• *War: stronger weapons (both in durability and in attack damage), stronger armor, increase sharpness, increased momentum, armor pieces to hold SteelShards for Scarlets
• Agriculture: light and strong plows, water flow system, mills that run on streams
• Industry: incredibly powerful presses, strengthened everything
• Everyday life: fake light

Crafting

Each exShard can be hammered into piece by anyone, but only an Redder may put the finishing touches on it and make it work. The Redders trained in this work are called Artisaurians. A typical exShard is made by fusing the metal and SteelShard first with an incredibly hot blaze, then hammered together. The process may take days to accomplish and only a Redder knows when it's done. When the metals are properly fused together, a Redder sees lines leading from the SteelShard and slowly giving away power. He must then take a chisel and find the fault lines in the metal and connect them with Aura lines he sees. At first this was done by creating small channels in the metal, but rare earth metals, such as copper, bronze, silver, gold has been used with various amounts of success.

The difficult part of creating an exShard is the lines, mostly, but creating more intricate exShards require to put the channels/wires all around the exShard to achieve the effect.

Aura Crafting Methods

• Aura Forming - the item will 'heal' by itself, if the damage is not too extensive

exShards in use

• Obsidian Ring - not exactly an exShard but blocks Aura by pricking the person and draining it
• exShard naval mine, explodes tiny metallic debris when struck
• Aura dagger - throwable weapon that has increased penetration
• Aura star - a hovering light, mainly used for decoration
• Shard gauntlets - used to conduct Aura into a user
• Hearthstone - keeps you warm