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Assimilation

Assimilation is the process of combining solid Source with another material (usually iron, copper or silver). The material created by this process is known as Assimilant.  

Discovery

  Assimilation was invented by the The Purgers around 120 years into the Purge Era. It is believed that the first assimilant tools were made in Ogroa though there is no record or proof of this. Ogroa Tower became the place for the manufacture of more assimilant weapons than any other Purge fortress.  

Uses

  The method was used mostly to create weapons and tools with which to manipulate and farm solid Source. The tools made through assimilation could carve and cut solid Source. Hammers made of assimilant iron were used in the forging of swords. Chisels and hook-knives could carve patterns in solid Source which normally neither chips nor cracks. Using these tools, the Purgers crafted their fortresses out of pillars of solid Source. These fortresses would never break or burn. Legend says that a Purge fortress can only be opened from the inside, which would explain why no one has been able to set foot in one since the Purger's demise.   The weapons created through this process were near indestructible, and served their masters by absorbing the fluid Source of anything that they touched. This became the greatest power of the Purgers. Human sorcerers were unable to defend against weapons made of this material. A Gógari cut by an assimilant blade did not heal as quickly as they usually did, and more often than not fled the field as soon as they were harmed.  

Method

  The details of the assimilation process have been lost to history. From brief mentions in legends and ancestral journals we know that the solid Source is ground into a powder and packed together with iron sand. The combination is heated, cooled, then reheated in a smelter. Once the assimilant material has reached the correct colour and viscosity, is poured into the weapon mould and worked over an anvil with an assimilant hammer.
Related Materials

Unverified

Many details of the process remain uncertain or simply unmentioned. The method of smelting the assimilant material, for example, is not detailed anywhere, only that it requires a sequence of specific temperatures. No forges or tools were left outside the fortresses to be studied by nosy scholars two centuries since their disappearance.   The method of quenching is not mentioned either. Legends claim that the worked weapon is quenched in the blood of sorcerers which may or may not be a falsehood.   Some old legends claim that assimilation also worked with flesh and bone. These hold to the rumours that the fortresses are still inhabited by half-human half-assimilant apparitions called 'devils'.      

Difficulties

It is understood from the journals of Purger officials that the process is a lengthy and complex one. If overheated or overcooled apparently the entire batch was ruined as the iron was weakened by the process. What would happen to the solid Source is not mentioned.   There are no records or mention of assimilant armour. It is possible that the method was never refined to suit plate-making, or it was considered too costly.

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Cover image: by michaelason

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