Hushsteel

**Hushsteel** is the name of a special alloy of steel, notable for its anti-tehomic properties - it does not pearl the way normal realspace materials do, and blocks the Singing Deep's Song, in a manner likened to how lead blocks radiation ('hushing' it), and creatures native to the Singing Deep such as Notes and Chords are repulsed by the material.

Hushsteel is one of the signature creations of the Thousand Moons' Creed, and the means and methods to its manufacture are closely-guarded state secrets, and is rarely sold to other factions at exorbitant prices. The history of hushsteel production reportedly goes back to the days of the Gibbous Tide, a militant Satellist creed. The material, withstanding the harmful properties of the Singing Deep, gained a reputation akin to that of silver in old Earth mythology, with weapons forged from it cutting through waves of aggressive Singing Deep creatures with ease, and references to it can be found in myriad Satellist texts.

Production of hushsteel is a rather difficult process, and involves several rare minerals found only in a few spots in the Pearlescent Expanse, collectively referred to as silencing ores (though each one has a proper scientific name) - interestingly, almost all deposits of those ores are on moons, a matter which makes the creation of hushsteel that much more difficult given the Creed's internal Observalist-Incolist split. The Creed is always on the lookout for new sources of silencing ores, inevitably coming into conflict both internal and external whenever they're found. Means of synthesizing hushsteel are also being investigated by some Credent research groups, but are not considered mainstream, and have had limited success so far.

Today, hushsteel has a number of applications both practical and cultural - primarily, it is used in the construction of hulls of Singing Deep-faring vessels, stations and environmental protection suits, and sometimes used in the creation of kinetic weapons and ammunition, particularly ones intended to be wielded against tehomic technology. Additionally, one can sometimes find amulets made of hushsteel, believed to be a good-luck charm and a protection from the perils of the Singing Deep, often resembling moons, further accentuated by hushsteel's silvery color and texture.

Due to its strategic importance to the Creed, the production of hushsteel is regulated by a branch of the TMC's Ministry of Scientific Progress, establishing a system of grading hushsteel quality, with each grade intended for different purposes - hushsteel-I being the highest, and intended predominantly for use on Singing Deep-faring space vessels and other areas where hushing is of critical importance, and hushsteel-V being the lowest, reserved for low-end civilian purposes. In addition, the Ministry regularly investigates silencing ore mining and hushsteel production facilities, ensuring that the material in circulation remains of quality, though some operations, particularly those far outside TMC territory, manage to escape the ministry's regulatory notice.

Other factions have varying amounts of interest in hushsteel (notably, many Chorists abhor it, especially given the implications that come from the material's Song-hushing property), though hushsteel-lined deepsuits remain a steady export. All silencing ore mining facilities and hushsteel manufacturing plants are in TMC territory, which are sometimes sites of outside intrusion, whether clandestine or by means of open assault, leading to increased defensive measures being put in those places.