Mutite
#primer
Mutite looks like glass, or an otherwise transparent, crystalline, material. Although it is mostly colourless, many coloured variants exist. It forms an important part of Azcelani culture, and is is used in weaponry, armour, jewelry, as decoration, as currency, and more. While originally ignored as useless by Conquistadors (16P) in favour of Carrouban's other resources, in more recent years it has been adopted more readily.
It rains from the sky in meteor showers periodically, and is believed to come from another world - and are tears of Quetzalteotl, God of Goodness, and Renewal, and Rainbows. They are linked heavily with Quetzalcoatl.
CATEGORIES OF MUTITE
There are three broad categories of mutite - Inert Mutite, Adamant Mutite, and Imbued Mutite, detailed below:
INERT MUTITE
Cheap, found everywhere in Carrouban, and while sharp, is incredibly brittle. It is similar to glass and real-world obsidian. While it is too brittle to be used as armour, it is embedded into weapons (e.g., the Macuahuitl).
A blade made of Inert Mutite is very sharp, but easily broken or blunted. It has an armor divisor of (0.5) on its cutting and impaling damage, and has a +2 to breakage (as if cheap) when parrying a swung weapon made of metal or Adamant Mutite. It also has +1 to cutting and impaling damage (as if fine), but loses its damage bonus if used to parry any weapon (but not an unarmed attack) or to strike DR 2+.[1]
Inert Mutite blades can only be used for weapons with a maximum reach C, or for weapons with a small tip, like spears (it can be shaped by music, but it's so brittle it'd likely shatter with the first swing). They cannot be made into cheap, fine, very fine, and solid silver weapons (see Weapons of Quality).
ADAMANT MUTITE
Rarer and found in deposits. Similarly sharp when compared to Inert Mutite, but nowhere near as brittle - despite being less dense. It's about three times as durable as stone, and more expensive than the highest-quality smith-forged steel. It is easy to test to see if Mutite is Inert Mutite or Adamant Mutite, either by weighing it (Inert Mutite is heavier) or attempting to chip it. It is used in weapons and armor across Carrouban, although the cost of it makes this a status symbol.
A blade made of Adamant Mutite is very sharp - cutting or impaling weapons get +1 damage per die. However, it is as durable as any metal weapon! +29CF.
Adamant Mutite blades can only be used for weapons with a maximum reach C, or for weapons with a small tip, like spears, unless shaped by music.
IMBUED MUTITE
This mutite is much like Adamant Mutite, but possesses supernatural qualities that affect local areas. It is incredibly rare and highly valuable - and cannot be shaped except via music. Imbued Mutite often has more visible cosmetic effects that mark it as somehow not of this world - for example, the appearance of containing smoke, water, glowing, or otherwise.
Unlike common minerals (and other forms of Mutite), this material exerts a passive, radiative effect on its surroundings. Its effects manifest most often through prolonged, often multi-generational exposure. Over time, this "radiation" can warp the natural landscape, and is responsible for the creation of mutated flora and fauna, such as the Flamewing Dinosaur (a mutated version of Swooping Terror capable of breathing fire), or Primordial Creatures, (animals which never stop growing and reach truly colossal sizes. Humanity is more resistant to the mutating effects of Mutite.
SHAPING Mutite
With standard shaping methods, Mutite fractures conchoidally, and thus is more suited for spears and knives rather than long blades. Armour tends to be scale armour rather than solid smithed plates - and, to Azcelani, is described as looking like dinosaur scale or Quetzalcoatl feathers.
Mutite has another unusual property - it can be shaped by harmonic sound - this typically takes a long time (with a few exceptions, such as the song of a Quetzalcoatl), and impurities can result if not otherwise entirely silent. This makes more impressive means of mutite shaping relegated to commission pieces by high-status individuals.
STATS OVERVIEW
| Type | $/lbs. | Weight/cu.ft | $/cu.ft | DR/in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inert Mutite | $2.10 | 156 | $328 | 5 |
| Adamant Mutite | $22.50 | 108 | $2,430 | 39 |
| Imbued Mutite | - | - | - | |
| Note to self - sources include: |
- Pyramid 3-052 - Low-Tech II, page 17;
- GURPS 4th - Fantasy, page 24
- GURPS 4th - Dungeon Fantasy 8 - Treasure Tables, page 33 for Adamant Mutite blade composition.
Note: Blade Composition above is identical to that of Obsidian - see Blade Composition. ↩︎