Metal Lore - Wicheri

[ScoutTheWitch]

Wicheri

Daedric Dagger by Jackson Wilson

“It speaks to me, can you hear it? The whispers of the blade, it yearns for its brethren. So either you give it to me, or I shall take it from your corpse.” - a Wicheric Cultist

Rarity

Rare

Type of Material

Metal

Potential Locations

In monsters’ blood, the hands of cultists, or caves near areas of dark magic

Properties

The Bloodstone Shard by Sam White

Wicherite is a curious raw ore taking the appearance of a slick silver that seems to hum and whisper when held up to one's ear, with chunks of it appearing to resonate and glow in a strange, discordant hue when held nearby each other or struck with a brass implement. Through a process much like refining iron ore into steel, once may refine raw Wicherite into Wicheri, also known as Hexsteel.

There are multiple places to find ‘deposits’ of Wicherite, with the easiest being caverns in areas nearby covens of Ancient-based dark magic, where the material seems to oddly ‘tunnel’ towards them from wherever they may be in the crust. The raw material may as well be found in Wicheri possessed creatures (elaborated on later) where, when killed, ore chunks seem to mysteriously appear in the heart, glowing from under the skin, or in pools of their blood.

- Wicherite is able to be identified by anyone who has come into contact with the raw or refined material before quite easily. If not interacted with before, one can still recognize the ore as significant.
- The process for refining Wicherite into Wicheri, while not well known, is simple enough for one to assume and perform correctly from guessing.
- The names Wicherite and Wicheri are uncommon knowledge, but not difficult to learn from one familiar with the ore, likely common knowledge among Dark Mages. Hexsteel is common knowledge, known through rumors and folktales.
- Wicherite must include its hue in the ore’s description.

Magic Sword by Pablo Gerardo

Wicheri takes on the appearance of an ashy gray metal (represented by stone items) that, after being quenched for hardening, a necessary process, will visually hold thin cracks upon its surface.

Whenever held within a meter of another piece of Wicheri it has not been 'attuned' to, via keeping it in that proximity for a day, it will begin to pulse and glow in the ore's hue, or the blended of hues if multiple different hued ores or reforged Wicheri are used (ex. a blood red and cyan would produce a violet hued Wicheri).

When one is struck by a weapon of Wicheri and receives physical damage — whether in the form of lacerations, blunt bruises, or broken bones — the victim will experience mental trauma equivalent to the level of damage taken. A scrape will be minor discomfort, a stab in the gut like being yelled at by a lover, and having a limb cut off will be like watching a close friend die in front of you, and so on. Use common sense. These wounds require a similar amount of time to heal the mental scars as the physical ones, through therapeutic coping methods rather than medicine.

Armor of Wicheri gives a defensive version of the offensive mental damage. When struck by another weapon — even one of Wicheri — it will resonate and reflect half of what it dealt in physical damage to the wearer as mental damage to the attacker.

Items of Wicheri may whisper incoherent things to people who come within a meter which seem to intrigue and tempt one into picking them up, especially if they are the killer of their previous wielder or disarmed them of the item.

When touched, whether they lured one in or not, those unintelligible whispers will fill the mind of the person handling them, though they will be incapable of registering it as anything hostile or malevolent. When held for over a narrative minute, those faint whispers will subside into the subconscious, though eventually, after possessing a Wicheri item for 2 OOC weeks, one will garner a fascination and covetousness with other items of Wicheri they come in contact with, an innate desire for more.

- The cracks on Wicheri do not reduce effectiveness nor change the shape of the edge.
- Wicheri is roughly equivalent to high carbon steel in durability, sharpness, etc. and may be repaired by an adequate smith without loss of material. Wicheri is ferromagnetic.
- The hue of Wicheri’s cracks must be included in the description of ingots or items created from Wicheri, and must resemble the hue of the ore(s).
- The mental damage dealt by Wicheri weapons is up to the victim’s interpretation, but ignoring mental wounds is as much powergaming as ignoring physical wounds. Mental wounds add up, meaning even a series of minor ones can eventually lead to panic attacks and later trauma.
- Wounds dealt by Wicheri may be healed physically as normal, though mental wounds must be healed through time, coping methods such as drugs, alcohol, exercise, breathing, meditation, etc., and talking their problems out with loved ones. They cannot simply be shrugged off nor ignored by characters with ‘detached emotions’, ‘mental resilience’, or any sort of farcical ‘immunity’ to trauma. A near death experience with a Wicheri weapon would leave a character in a dark place mentally and should be roleplayed as such.
- While one may not notice the effect from striking Wicheri armor until after the fight due to ‘adrenaline’, it should still affect their combat performance, driving them more erratic and irrational.
- The whispering or luring effect of Wicheri prevents people from registering it as hostile or dark. To assume Wicheri has a dark or malevolent origin is metagaming.
- One may not understand what Wicheri is saying as Wicheri bears no intelligence to speak. Wielders will oftentimes forget it whispered at all.
- The fascination effect of Wicheri does not force one to collect more. It may be roleplayed as little as one wishes, easily shrugged off should one wish.

Origin

The Color Out of Space by Niko Anttila

In the time when Ancients roamed, one of the more powerful of their ilk took the form of a star in the night sky: Ak'Wichera, the Dark Star of Mania. When the mortals of the time gazed upon its faint light of discordant, ever shifting hues for too long, they would find themselves developing a form of madness that lead to slaughter, lunatic cults forming, and thousands succumbing to total enrapture until they lost all desire for bodily needs, decaying where they stood, staring at the sky. 

And thus, when the great slaughter of its kin began, it was one of the first to go. But Ak'Wichera could not simply be slain, no. To ensure such an entity could not harm the mortal populous further, the gods inflicted ever great a disease upon it, feeding a weaker of their kin into its gaping maw at the edge of the stars which they had twisted and infected. In this cunning, Ak'Wichera succumbed to their guile, its aberrant form petrified into steel.

But it had a plan of its own. Gathering the most of its energy gathered over its long existence, the eminent Ancient decided that time would be the greatest enemy of the gods. Thus, when it was hardened into metal, it burst into millions of miniscule chunks, half of which rained down upon the world to sink into its crust, while the other half were cast in orbit, waiting to strike down until later as meteorites.

Each piece of Wicherite bears a fragment of the dead Ancient’s consciousness, though now reduced to a sub-sentient ‘race’ of drones with only one thought: more. They wished to grow, but could not fathom why, for they had no consciousness to speak of, like cells wishing to join together to form a creature, a desire to one day regain their status as an Ancient but without the ability to know of this past incarnation, nor hold any memories.

- The origin of Wicherite, Wicheri, and the tale of Ak'Wichera is not common knowledge and is merely a setting piece to OOCly understand the properties of Wicheri. Not even high-sentience Wicheri constructs will know why they exist.

Extra #1 - Wicheri Possession [Event Creature]

Vein by Mariah Tato

When a piece of Wicherite falls from the heavens, or otherwise strikes a creature with blood while heated through unknown means, it will — instead of harming the creature — burrow into their bloodstream, leaving an aesthetic radial burn wound in the location. Such will induce a condition known as Wicheri possession.

Nonsentient, bestial, or otherwise monstrous creatures will find their animal instincts taken over by the Wicherite completely, turning them into drones with only one goal: find more and take it, by force if necessary. Their blood will constantly glow in the hue of the Wicherite possessing them, and they will be able to ‘smell’ the nearest piece of Wicherite. They will attack anything in the way of this goal, like a rabid animal. The possession will transfer to any creature who consumes the possessed animal, often leading to the greatest predatory animal in the area ending up possessed.

Sentient people will retain their sentience and consciousness, including their level of cunning. They will feel empowered with that same goal of the beasts — collecting Wicherite — though will often go about it more tactfully. Bandits and guards will find themselves now running gambits and searches to acquire more, merchants and conmen will work to purchase or scam others out of Wicheri items, and nobles and spies will slowly and methodically plan out their acquisitions. They may suppress the glow from their veins, though such becomes more difficult within a meter of n Wicheri item or piece of Wicherite ore and should they be caught off guard, may find themselves slipping. Whenever they would receive or inflict mental damage from Wicheri, they would find their veins pulsing in the hue.

Wicheri possession, while stripping some or all of an entity’s will, grants minor tangible benefits. They constantly bear a halved version of the effects of Wicheri weapons and armor no matter what kind of weapons or armor they wield or don. This means all their attacks deal half their physical damage in mental trauma and all attacks dealt on them reflect a quarter of the damage back mentally. They also find themselves immune to the effects of Wicheri while possessed.

While it is possible to cure Wicheri possession, it is by no means easy or painless. The subject must have their blood extracted via leeches or syringe until just above the brink of death, before being replaced via a transfusion of healthy blood. This leaves the subject violently ill for 3 OOC days. If the blood is from a member of a different race, including if the subject is born of multiple races and the donor is not the same combination, the subject will find themselves violently ill for 7 OOC days instead. Once this is complete, a chunk of Wicherite may be found in the corpses of the leeches — who inevitably die after consuming their fill of Wicheri possessed blood — or within the collected blood in the syringes. Most animals will die from this procedure.

- Wicheri possessed creatures or NPCs may only be played by Event Team members. Wicherite may only be given out by an Event Team member through this method.
- An Event Team member may make a player character Wicheri possessed, in which the Event Team member must be contacted on the death or purging of the character and properly document that they gave the character Wicheri possession with other staff members. Players may not force Wicheri possession on another player.
- While a Wicheri possessed player character may register themselves as being ill or unwell and seek help, as soon as the opportunity arises to remove the Wicherite or restrain them to do so with their knowledge, they must take every opportunity to flee. To ignore such instincts is powergaming.
- To use Wicheri or Wicherite for uncovering a secretly Wicheri possessed character without proper RP studying their changed behavior is considered metagaming.
- Should one attempt to randomly test individuals for Wicheri possession and come across one, they will find their Wicheri item mysteriously missing, having been given over to the Wicheri possessed character. The original wielder will be unable to recognize the Wicheri item in this case and doing so is considered metagaming.
- Should a Wicheri possessed player character wish to sense the nearest piece of Wicheri or Wicherite, the Event Team member may give them a rough location of where they know it to be, but are by no means forced to do such.
- The expelling of excess blood is never harmful to a Wicheri possessed character.
- The method of curing Wicheri possession is uncommon knowledge but can be ascertained through basic study of a Wicheri possessed individual.
- The illness following the curing of Wicheri possession may not be ignored through any method and will leave the cured patient combat ineffective for the time following.
- Should the Wicherite infected blood not be collected in the same container, the blood will break through containers and travel together. Should one attempt to keep Wicherite infected blood from congealing into a piece of the ore, the blood will go inert and the ore will be lost.
- Wicheri possessed creatures may not be tamed. They are always considered feral and hostile.
- Wicheri possession as a property is uncommon knowledge and must be learned through experiencing an event where it occurs or hearing about it from someone who has.

Extra #2 - Wicheric Constructs [Event Creature]

The Cursed Cenotaph by Bruno Magalhães Vianna

When enough Wicheri is gathered in one place, it may create a Wicheric Construct. Oftentimes these are the results of infected individuals succeeding in their goal, though they can also be the folly of those who hoard the metal or simply be the result of a large deposit of ore being found at once. A Wicheric Construct forms from the consciousnesses within Wicheri objects communicating and melding into one entity great enough to bear consciousness, able to speak and subjugate other minds.

Those who surround or interact with Wicheric Constructs find themselves slowly being bent to the Construct’s will, developing first a fascination, then reverence, and finally worship and obedience. This creates Wicheric Cults, who worship and follow the Wicheric Construct’s bidding, which often includes increasing the mass of its material, though can branch out into things such as forming cabals of Dark Magic users, toppling governments, and overall stirring chaos in order to spite the gods. All of this is done instinctually however, and while Wicheric Constructs may pretend to have greater motive, they simply act out of random impulse and remain unaware of their origin, perhaps even inventing their own.

They often take the form of eldritch obelisks, statues, armories welded together, particularly large objects of Wicheri (it’s said a cannon became a particularly bigoted Wicheric Construct), and even by a rather dubious account a Wicheri tea set once developed a rare resonance to form a sort of hive mind Wicheric Construct.

The powers of a Wicheric Construct are rather vague, though they are incapable of moving on their own no matter what. They remain a stationary fixture which can only be destroyed through significant heat capable of melting the metal. In general, they are capable of inducing nosebleeds, headaches, phantom pains, and even Wicheri mental scars in the particularly strong ones to those within close proximity. They are always capable of seeing from all directions from their stationary form and sensing every sentient mind within their area.

At its utmost power, a Wicheric Construct may give a flake of their form to be consumed by their followers. This gives the Construct the ability to perform mental effects similar to if they were in close proximity all the time as well as perceive through their senses and speak in their mind. When seeing through a connected mind, the veins in their eyes will faintly glow in the Construct’s Wicheri hue. In exchange, a lesser form of that particular Wicheric Construct’s powers will be available to the connected individual, which must be described to them by the Event Team member. The strongest this can go to is mental scars equivalent to a scratch of Wicheri, and oftentimes are simple things like inducing headaches, discomfort, or nosebleeds. These powers are limited to eight meters in range. Should a connected individual go against a Construct’s wishes too many times, they may induce a stroke and cause the flake to go inert. This is never fatal, but will leave the individual hazy on certain things involving the Wicheric Construct, up to its discretion.

- Wicheric Constructs may only appear in an Event Team member’s event line. Should players wish to create a Wicheric Construct, an Event Team member is by no means obligated to provide such an event line.
- Wicheric Constructs should not be run often as they would give large amounts of the metal at once.
- While the powers of a Wicheric Construct are purposely vague, they may never be mobile and cannot do anything outside mental effects. The only exception is if a Wicheric Construct is dropped on someone, in which case they will likely take severe physical damage from the sheer weight of mostly solid metal.
- Wicheric Constructs may not give powers to player characters without a demand in turn and Event Team members may not give these powers without an event line being actively run. Should an event line not have an event for it in 2 OOC weeks, the powers will go inert until the next event run.
- The stroke induced by a Wicheric Construct may never kill or leave one in critical condition. It simply removes memories up to the Event Team member’s discretion.
- If one tries to steal a flake off a Wicheric Construct, they will immediately have a nonlethal stroke.
- A Wicheric Construct’s range cannot exceed 20 meters.
- Wicheric Constructs require significant mass to form and cannot be smaller than two blocks. They must be of reasonable size in build to the amount of Wicheri they are constructed from. Use common sense.
- If a Wicheri possessed individual comes in contact with a Wicheric Construct, their possessing Wicherite will be forcibly expelled from their body to attach to the Construct. They will be left at the Construct’s mercy, though they are likely to be grateful.
- For a connected individual to ignore the mental effects of a Wicheric Construct’s possession is powergaming.
- The flicker in a connected individual’s eyes when they’re being seen through is mostly aesthetic and cannot be noticed from more than a few inches away.