Work Text:
Scales - ‘thin horned plates that protect the skin’
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“You forged this armor yourself?”
Katsum turned her eyes back to where her father was admiring an armored cuirass that hung on a stand near the wall. It was forged of a dark-colored metal, painted black and silver, and was adorned with scales that were darker still, lining the edges of the chest plates to form a skirt of scales. Two large pitch-black scales lined the shoulder pieces, the spikes of the scale added to a layer of protection for the wearer. On the breastplate of the armor, she had carved the symbol of the Draic kingdom and filled it in with silver, the symbol of the dragon, the shield, and the crown.
The blonde miqo’te’s ears wiggle slightly as she smiled and nodded, “I did. I had to keep the trade going, after all, being the heir of the house Almor, right? Needless to say, I had quite a bit of guidance to start,” She laughed shyly, moving to stand beside him and run her fingers over the kingdom’s sigil, “It’s made of darksteel ore and adorned with scales of cave dragons. Those dragons are built like fortresses, I swear, so it seemed only smart to make a set of armor with their scales.”
Rune looked at her in amazement, “It’s amazin’, sweetheart. Almost like a piece of art rather than a piece of armor,” He touched the skirt of scales gently, the pitch-black bone shining like silk in its overly polished state, “How did you get the scales? Did you have to kill ‘em to take ‘em?”
Katsum shook her head, “No, no of course not. Shortly after arriving in Dravania and speaking with the dragons to learn all I could, I found that like serpents, their old or damaged scales after a while. I kept them as keepsakes at first, spoils of my journey in a way…and then when I first started finding members of the guard, of our people I thought so long lost, I started to learn to forge armor and incorporate the scales of the dragons within the pieces.”
She looked back at the set of armor she was currently working on, the opalescent glow on the long, golden scales of the skirt shining in the candle-light, “I don’t know how many pieces I’ve made, but the thought I had was to be able to arm our people the moment they gained freedom again, to wrap them in a dragon’s armor to protect them. To better protect them than I had in the past.”
“Kats,” Rune warned gently, “Come on now, we’ve talked about this before.”
She laughed weakly, “I’m not walking down that path of guilt, I promise. Only meant to explain the thinking at the time.”
The older red-haired miqo’te shook his head with a sigh, “That’s a relief. Means you are smarter than I am.” She grinned as he chuckled, slapping her gently on the arm, “Where are your other finished pieces?”
Katsum waved him over and led him to a door just across from the stands, opening the door and stepping to the side to show him the filled armor hangers that lined both walls of the narrow room. Even in the soft light of the torches, it was easy to see the polished metal and scales of her handmade armor sets, ready for a knight to adorn them and step onto the battlefield. Helmets, breastplates, gauntlets, greaves, and even a few swords, shields, and bows hung ready in their places, scales of dragons detailing and reinforcing each and every piece as well as the royal sigil of the dragon. Rune was left breathless at the sight, her father stepping past her to look through them all and Katsum followed behind him.
“What do you think? Enough for at least a full company so far, yes?”
He laughed and tried to find the words, “Maybe even two, this is…wow, haha!”
“A good use for any bit of spare time I might have I think. Especially when I can’t sleep some nights. It’s good therapy sometimes.”
“I can imagine it is,” His emerald gaze turned to the armor stand at the head of the two rows, apart from the rest and standing in the middle of the back wall, “Tell me about that one there. Has quite a few extra details and scales on it. A personal set?”
Katsum smiled and nodded, stepping up to the dark red armor. The breastplate was decorated with the Draic symbol in gold and surrounded by black and gold knotting and filigree. Red and black polished scales lined the pauldrons and the skirt of the plackart, draped over the long train attached to the waist skirt. The greaves and gauntlets bore similar details and a red and gold coronet hung above it all.
“I forged it with ore mined from the mountain of Sohm Al and used Raihogg’s scales to enhance its durability, but also its beauty. It is the armor I will wear in the next great battles to come over my royal armor.”
“It is beautiful, Kats. And it shall serve you well in the wars to come.”
She nodded, “I believe so too. Now, what color can I make yours? Oh and for when we find her, what color would best suit Mom, do you think?”