Calestite

Calestite is a rare metal found all across the taiga and swamps, though it is most commonly found inside the Ashlands. The metal is often confused with cinnabar and iron in its raw form due to its red color varying from orange to a deep crimson. The metal’s most striking property is it’s null almost reflective properties when it comes to magic. Rittic and Eithir cannot flow in or out of the metal, instead refracting back at an angle. This does mean, if a caster was to wear a gauntlet of the stuff, their spell would reflect back at them if they casted with that hand, injuring them. It can be used by those who internalize their magic to hide their aura, crafty ones will hide their aura further, by wearing jewelry lined with ethirum or rittic ink to shift one’s aura.

Wearing calestite as an armor is actually rather impractical due to how soft it is, being around as soft as gold. On top of this, it is exorbitantly rare, a set of half plate costing about as much as a small noble estate on its own. Because of these major downsides, it is often infused with steel or bronze to make it cheaper and more durable. Depending on the percentage and quality of the metal it is infused with, the alloy’s effectiveness varies, lower quality plate being around 2-5% calestite, making the metal a soft pink, while also providing slight protection against magical attack. On the other end of the spectrum, lies what is called **Redsteel.** Redsteel is an alloy like steel, or it’s cheaper alternative, bronze, that has been plated in calestite. This effectively allows the steel to retain its strength, while being practically invulnerable to magical attack until the plating is damaged. Alas, only the most prestigious would even wish to acquire this, noblemen often sporting only one to two plates of Redsteel, protecting their most vital parts.

Calestite is said to be the dried up blood of the gods that had fallen from the heavens during the Great Cataclysm. This is potentially true, as Grace flows through it, practically ignoring the metal, in some cases, amplifying the effects of Grace depending on its purity. At the same time, there is written down evidence that the metal had existed prior to the Cataclysm, as there is reports of kings and even an account of a few barons wearing full suits of Redsteel, potentially meaning that this metal was more common pre-cataclysm, or a major reserve of the metal is lost to time somewhere. This has led to many treasure hunters hoping to find mines of the red metal in hopes of becoming rich, very few have found success.

**Note:** Calestite is extremely rare, and even a few plates of around five to ten percent of the alloy cost around three to seven gold, depending on the size and material (bronze is the cheaper and more brittle alternative) of the plating in question. One plate of redsteel is typically going for around ten to fifteen gold. At around ten to fifteen percent concentration, the metal is about as soft as iron for steel alloy, and copper for bronze alloy, leading to the metal to be more easily damaged (this drops the metal’s quality by one tier). At its average concentration, (10-15%) Calestite is only going to reduce the opponent’s magical ability by one level, and is effectively useless against internalized magics, like AOL’s attacks (though the elements are nullified), and fleshrender’s tendrils.