Treasure Sand

Though there are some who deny it, most artificers well know Creation has fallen far from the heights of the Golden Age, as much of their work exposes them to works of artifice that exceed their own ability to replicate or repair. And yet, though the details might escape understanding, the power of these ancient wonders is easily recognized, and not to be wasted.

Artifacts of great power which have become broken or depleted can sometimes be used as Exotic Components in crafting lesser artifacts of similar nature... a suit of Dragon Armour broken down to forge a suit of Superheavy Plate, a Lightning Ballista into a Powerbow. Though the old artifact is destroyed, it oft imparts a touch of its former self upon the artifact born from its destruction.

While little-seen in the Golden Age, this ‘recycling’ of artifacts became increasingly common in the late Shogunate Era, and has continued on through the centuries following the Great Contagion, as the artifacts of the First Age failed beyond the ability of artificers to repair. The Scarlet Empire has long favoured this approach as it replaces complex and nonfunctional Magitechnology and engineering with straightforward, resilient blades and armour that need little maintenance or specialized knowledge, while the sorcerer-engineers of Lookshy shy away from the practice of creating Sand, instead stripping ancient devices for parts and on occasion jury-rigging artifice within broken artifacts to simulate functions now lost.

Most commonly amongst Dragonblooded artificers, the broken artifact is ground and burned into powder and ash, producing a 'sand' which is incorporated into the smelting and alloying of Jade Steel which will be used for the new artifact. This process has given the Exotic Component its name of ‘Treasure Sand’.