Magnum Steel

## **History**

Magnum steel was first forged following the initial
defeat of the Imperian Confederacy by the Arch-Council of Tyranis in the Second
Insurrection. The elemental energies exhumed by the Diabolith were far too
destructive for ordinary steel to cope with, and there was not yet an easy way
to forge stronger metals in large amounts. With little options, the Erthus
Primis began experimenting with harnessing their elemental energies onto other
elements, and they were met with little success, until a plentiful but mostly
useless strain of ordinary steel which formed near the molten pools of Terropidus
was found to contain enough elemental magma to react explosively with elemental
energy. There was, at first, no easy way to keep the metal stable, but expert
blacksmiths eventually found that by holding it in a pool of elemental magma
after infusion, the newly created metallic element would not undergo combustion
and would, instead, stabilize and be usable in forging.

From
that point forward, Erthus armor, which was still mostly standard steel, began
having trace amounts of magnum steel; this vastly increased the survivability
of Erthus teams in the field, and the Primis's armor was reforged altogether to
be made entirely from the almost indestructible metal. The ways in which the
metal was forged were discovered by Tyranis and his Arch-Council, and before long
they, too, were using magnum steel in weapons and armor. Acridius used magnum
steel as the basis for his forgeries of artifact weapons like the Black Hole Scythe.

Due to the unique tool which was the only known
type of forging hammer which could successfully bend the material, a
characteristic orange marking appears in the center of forged plates; in most armors,
this is removed in the post-forging process, which also involves changing their
color to suit the user. The Arch-Council initially carved their symbol into the
shape, but this eventually gave way to more efficient mass production methods.

To this day, magnum steel remains one of the most
desirable and sought-after metals within the Imperians Confederacy, with
pirates, traders and even other Erthus going to great lengths to obtain
shipments of the metal for their own personal usage. A new law was passed
throughout the Confederacy which made it illegal to possess more than a certain
amount of the metal without a permit, essentially dragging smugglers into the
mix for persons interested in its sale.

## **Powers and Abilities**

Magnum steel was renowned for its fearsome
durability, said to be at least three times harder and tougher than even
refined steel. It was much harder to produce than steel, as there needed to be
a being or group of beings who possessed enough elemental strength to charge,
and then highly specialised blacksmiths were the ones who had to then forge it
into the necessary tools.

It has been shown that some
weapons with a magnum steel core magnify the elemental energy coursing through,
allowing for Erthus and Diabolith to use far more potent abilities than
without; however, unlike via physical pressure, constant usage would eventually
discharge all the energy held by magnum steel, rendering it effectively useless
unless recharged sufficiently.