Qlraji Armor

I: Physical Characteristics

This suit of chitin armor is roughly 6’ tall, the actual armor made from the chitin of various silithid supposedly bred just to shed their husks for use as armor. The chitin is a bright purple with grey, blue and brown hues as highlights. The shoulders look to be made from the wing covers of a silithid and the helm itself the head of the silithid. The inside portions of all the pieces of armor look to have been living at some point, with the inside of the helmet still ‘alive’ with moist flesh being seen on the inside.

It looks to have been made for a humanoid figure, around 6’ in height and muscular. There were no underclothes along with the armor, instead each piece of the armor forming a tissue-like connection to each other if placed properly on a humanoid figure such as a straw mannequin. This connection grows stronger the longer it is left intact.

II: Magical Properties

The armor has many enchantments on it, most of which stem from Void magic, though there are notable Arcane enchantments as well. The Void magic enchantments are difficult to separate into specific enchantments, but they seem to be there mostly as alluring spells and binding spells. Even touching the chitin results in the person feeling a pull from it, presumably to put it on. The helm is especially potent in this regard.

No tests were done on this as Void magic is highly volatile and any side effects are hard to reverse though the history of this artifact tell us that these spells are indeed there to snare a victim as the armor’s host. It’s unclear whether or not the original wearer of the armor willingly donned it or was ensnared in some experiment by the Qiraji, but either way the armor is effectively parasitic in nature now.

The other enchantments present focus on preserving the chitin’s condition and increasing its durability, and are fairly advanced chronomantic and abjuration type spells. While much of the enchantment’s potencies have been lost due to the battles it has endured, they are still active nonetheless and could conceivably be recharged or repaired. There are additional inactive enchantments whose purposes are hard to determine, but they may be enchantments that activate only once a ‘host’ has been found. Continued efforts are being made to determine the effects of these inactive enchantments.

In addition to these enchantments, the armor also once held the cursed soul of a bronze dragon. The Qiraji have been seen multiple times binding the souls of their enemies to artifacts to increase the artifact’s power and torture their victims. The artifact hunters who obtained the artifact exorcised the dragon’s soul during their battle to obtain it, greatly diminishing the artifact’s power.

III: Analysis

This type of artifact could be classified as a cursed object. It was made by the Qiraji who are themselves minions of the Old Gods. Wearing the armor would effectively be suicide as the Void magic imbued into it is no doubt meant to warp the mind of whoever dons the armor and use them as the armor’s host. The last person who wore the armor immediately went insane as the armor attempted to graft itself to him. The armor seemed to take on a mind of its own, acting to defend its wearer when the people who obtained this artifact moved to stop the wearer.

The fibrous connections between the pieces of the armor add flexibility and decrease bulk compared to conventional armor, though I’d say it adds an uncomfortable outlandishness to it. After a short time it seems the wearer would also be sealed inside of it, but that seems to be intentional. Some of the inactive enchantments may be there to maintain the wearer and form a type of symbiotic or parasitic relationship between the armor and the wearer.

IV: Recommendations

This relic of the War of the Shifting Sands should have its enchantments permanently destroyed. The artifact as it stands is highly dangerous and should be quarantined until the enchantments are removed. The armor itself might serve as a museum piece if the enchantments can be removed without destroying it entirely.