[Arms/Armor] Imperial Wire-Wing Valance

[Kalortah]

Imperial Wire-Wing Valance

Developed by Kalortah, Idea taken shamelessly from Maltruism.

Type: Mount and Wing armor
Short Description During the Hotlands conflicts with Nashaki, the Imperial forces often ran afoul of Avriel raiders and entire detachments of winged warriors. When, at times, the avriel warriors swooped for a close-up attack, the Imperial soldiers were only heartened for a moment before they realized their blows upon the supposed vulnerability of their wings were being deflected as if by some hidden strength. Rather than cripple their enemies, the blows were wasted and many did not survive the drop as they were bodily carried a distance into the air, and then let down.

However, the Imperials did have their share of successes against the avriel armor. Most often the air cavalry served to equalize this air-born threat, and thus a few specimen and examples of the armor were recovered. The Imperial smiths took a few arcs to replicate the technology and adapt the dimensions of the wings to their own preferred flying mounts. They did this with the encouragement and cooperation of various Air cavalrymen, who informed them of how the joints should be allowed a certain range of movement.

In the end, they arrived at a suitable if inferior facsimile of the Avriel armament for their flying troops. The armor consists of light and soft padding, of cloth and/orleather to suffused the shock of impact and prevent fracturing bones of the wing limb. Then, a certain thickness of metal wire (any metal from Idalinium, bronze, cobalt, and even some advanced alloys of stronger metals) is used to reinforce this underlying padding, to further protect against external wounds from swords and the like. Valance vary wildly from one set to another, depending on the animal or trooper it's made for. They are most often custom made, not standard-issue at all for the air cavalry. But those air cavalrymen who do use them find them invaluable for when opposing airborne enemies engage with them.

Occasionally there will be feather-shaped plates, or even blades hidden amidst the frame of the wing-limb, so that the wings may be used also as weapons. However, this requires greater training for a mere beast to execute. At least excellent trainingis required for a winged mount to perform these winged attacks.
Found Bespoke item, custom ordered from highly-skilled smiths.
Appearance See image above. Often enough, the valance are festooned with some manner of Imperial regalia. For private use, though, the Imperial made valance tends to be very plain, minimalist, and functional. It's possible to acquire highly stylized valance, but at the expense of being snickered at.
Rarity Unusual.
Properties
Property 1 ~ protects the wings of flying humanoids and also winged mounts, whichever it's made for.
Property 2 ~ Can turn wings into deadly weapons or else powerful bludgeons, depending on the configuration of the valance.
Side Effects
Side Effect 1 ~ Less agility and pick up on the air. It takes greater wing strength and training in order to attain fast take off.
Side Effect 2 ~ Flight speed and duration is limited with the heavier valance.
How To Use Fitted like mount armor to a winged mount.
Status Legal but uncommonly used.
Price This becomes available at tier 7 wealth. It can be purchased beneath this threshold for the cost of a suit of armor, according to quality as per the shoppe.
Fast Facts Skill Levels Required~ please fill this in using this page for reference.

Fast Facts

Knowing It
-- Eternal Empire: Competent
-- Idalos: Athart: Novice, anywhere else: Expert
Wealth Tier
-- Eternal Empire: Tier 7
-- Idalos: Tier 8
Sell/Buy It
-- Eternal Empire: See armor price of tier 6-8 armor.
Rarity
-- Eternal Empire: Uncommon
-- Idalos: Rare
-- Athart: Common
Finding It
-- Eternal Empire: Competent
-- Idalos: Expert
-- Athart: Novice
Using It
-- Flying skill (Competent)
-- Mount: Air skill (Competent)
Tending It
-- Competent

[Basilisk]

Approved, added to Miscellaneous Lore thread.