Ngcolosi Shields

Ngcolosi shileds are the technology everyone simply refers to as ‘energy shields’. They are named after their developer, Imbubéle Ngcolosi; the patent is held by the Igugu family line of House Ndewane.
== Technology ==
Creating several creeping layers of static above a solid body, Ngcolosi shields in their passive state are invisible and only noticeable by a faint tingle in the air. They react highly sensitive to all sorts of energy passing the field’s perimeter, both kinetic, thermal, electromagnetic and others. Low levels of energy (slow moving bodies, ie) barely disturb the field’s carefully balanced layering. But from a pre-defined threshold on, all passing energy will compress the underlying field layers, causing an almost instant chain reaction that results in a violent local discharge that disrupts, disperses and often negates the incoming energy. 
Ngcolosi shields can operate passively at high energy efficiency, but will deplete their reserves rapidly under fire. They can absorb any number of simultaneous hits, but only absorb a certain maximum of damage at any given instance. 
Ngcolosi shields are not good at prolonged or broad-area impacts and will burn out quickly under duress; meaning that they try to balance max power output that’s technically possible against ideally prolonged upkeep of counterdischarge, literally deciding to sacrifice themselves in case an incoming charge is greater than the shield’s electronics can handle. 
The counterdischarges are visible as bright flashes of light, with a brief bang like quick lightning.
== Umbani Shields ==
Umbani shields, simply put, are nothing but overclocked Ngcolosi shields. While standart shield aim to exactly match their conterdischarges to the incoming energy, umbani shields try to overpower the incoming energy by an order of magnitude. This leads to the shields lashing out with visible arcs of lightning whenever they are activated, hitting the source of the attack if it is close by, or random items if it is not. Umbani shields can be a welcome assistance for close-quarter fighting, but usually aren't considered worth the risk of friendly fire and spectacular feedback loop explosions. 
==Other articles about Ngcolosi Shields==
Ngcolosi Shields
Category:Items
Category:Technology
Category:House Ndewane