Runebound Reverse Tower of The Dead

Andre laughed.

The coat was not made primarily from leather. Carefully treated monster hide formed the visible exterior, but overlapping scales lay beneath it. Under those scales waited the true armor.

Mesh.

It was not chainmail, or at least nothing resembling ordinary chainmail. The diagram showed strands of metal woven so finely that they almost resembled fabric.

Kael leaned closer and checked the listed measurements twice. "That can’t be right."

"It is."

"These wires are thinner than thread. Some are practically spider silk."

"Aye."

"And someone has to weave them by hand?"

"Aye."

Kael looked at Andre. "Fuck that."

The dwarf laughed loudly while Kael continued reading. Every strand needed to retain its flexibility. Too much tension during weaving would weaken the wire, while too little would leave openings in the finished mesh. Bending it at the wrong angle introduced stress, and one damaged strand could compromise an entire section.

Once the mesh had been completed, it had to be integrated over treated leather. Then came the scales, not large plates, but thousands of tiny overlapping pieces arranged to distribute force across the mesh instead of concentrating it upon a single point.

The finished coat moved like clothing and weighed little more than leather, yet it could resist blades, arrows, and substantial blunt impact. The following pages described self-restoration, energy distribution, temperature adaptation, and multiple potential enchantment routes.

Kael studied the diagram again. "This is armor?"

"Aye."

"It’s fabric made by someone who hates themselves."

"Also aye. That’s called a dwarf."

"Who made it?"

Andre nodded toward one of the names near the back. "My ancestor."

Kael returned to the design, and the longer he studied it, the worse it became. Creating the metal strands alone required ridiculous precision. Then someone had to weave them, prepare the leather, attach thousands of scales, carve the channels, and fit everything together without sacrificing flexibility.

His head started hurting. Andre noticed and smiled.

"Still want plate?"

Kael slowly closed the book. "Plate sounds easier."

"That’s the point. Easier rarely means better."

Kael looked toward him, and Andre’s smile widened.

"Craft stops being interestin’ when the answer to everything is thicker steel."

Kael reopened the book to page 225. "Is this what you want me to make?"

"No."

Kael blinked. "Then why show me?"

"Because ya asked what armor ya should make." Andre gestured toward the book. "I’m showing ya that yer options are bigger than leather or plate."

He walked over and tapped the diagram. "Besides, look at the material list."

Kael read it and stopped when he found one familiar name.

Malachor.

His eyes narrowed. "This uses Malachor Jade."

"Aye. Mostly in the mesh, where it matters."

Kael looked toward the unfinished gauntlets. "Because of Living Memory."

"Exactly." Andre became more animated as he explained. "The jade can be drawn far thinner than most metals without losing its properties. If the mesh is made properly, damage can correct itself. Cut strands can pull back toward their forged alignment when cooled."

Kael read farther and found another familiar property. "Temperature Flux."

"There ya go." Andre pointed toward him. "When cold, conductivity rises."

Kael immediately thought of Frost. "So internal energy could pass through it."

"Aye. Runes too."

Andre tapped the coat. "If ya keep it cool, the entire armor becomes a conductor."

Kael’s eyes moved across the diagram as he imagined internal energy flowing through the armor rather than solely through his body. "And heat?"

"Physical impact rises, and the mesh firms." Andre slapped one thick finger against the page.

"So if Fire raises the temperature, the armor becomes harder to deform."

"Aye."

Kael looked toward him. "That’s ridiculous."

"It’s good material."

"I mean for me."

Andre smiled. "Aye."

Frost would make the armor more conductive, while Fire would increase its physical strength. Kael already used both elements constantly rather than situationally.

His attention shifted toward the section describing rune channels. "Wait. This can take actual Rune sockets?"

"A few."

"I thought armor like this would be too thin."

"Normal material would be." Andre walked back toward the Malachor ingots and lifted one. "This stuff conducts energy extremely well. Treat the mesh itself as part of the circuit and ya don’t need enormous channels."

Kael looked back at the design. "How many Runes?"

"One."

"That’s not a few."

"One safely," Andre clarified, holding up a finger. "Start there."

Kael sighed. "Why only one?"

"Synergy. Yer gauntlets are built specifically around Rune use with thick channels, reinforced sockets, and replaceable sections." Andre pointed toward the coat. "This isn’t."

Kael understood the danger. "If I force too many incompatible Runes into the mesh, they’ll damage it faster than Living Memory can repair it."

Andre nodded. "So start with one, learn how it behaves, then improve the design. Strengthen the mesh, add proper channels, and maybe eventually fit two or three."

Kael smiled. "That sounds more interesting."

"That’s why I showed ya."

Kael spent several more minutes studying the page. The construction method was not merely difficult; it was completely beyond his current ability. He barely understood several of the techniques, and the weaving pattern alone occupied three pages. The book included methods for testing individual strands, heat-treatment schedules, different leather recommendations based on the wearer, scale orientation, and techniques for integrating sockets without creating stress concentrations.

Eventually, Kael closed the book. "You want me to study this and make something inspired by it, not copy it."

Andre laughed. "If ya try making that right now, ya’ll waste every scrap of material ya own."

"Fair."

"Learn why it works." Andre pointed toward the book. "That’s more important than copying it."

Kael looked at the enormous collection again. It was not truly a recipe book. It contained generations of smiths documenting why their creations worked, why they failed, why certain materials belonged together, and why others should never touch.

He rested the book against his knees before an idea occurred to him. Brokk’s Hammer appeared in his hand, drawing Andre’s attention from the unfinished gauntlets.

Kael raised the legendary tool. "What if I use this?"

Andre went completely still.

Kael smiled. "Come on. The mesh is difficult because the wires need to be absurdly thin while maintaining the correct shape, right?"

"Aye."

"And Living Memory requires that forged shape to be precise."

"Aye."

Kael turned the hammer in his hand. "Then what if I make the wire as thin as I can normally and use Brokk’s Hammer to remind it to be thinner?"

Andre said nothing, so Kael continued.

"I could also use it after weaving each section to correct any deformation. Better yet, I could redefine the finished mesh as its proper form. Whenever Living Memory activates, it would restore the entire weave instead of correcting the individual wires."

Andre slowly walked toward him.

Kael smiled wider. "That look means I said something interesting."

"It means I’m deciding whether yer brilliant or a complete fucking idiot."

"Those aren’t mutually exclusive."

"Aye."

Andre grabbed the book from Kael and opened it to page 225. His attention shifted between Brokk’s Hammer and the diagrams, and his expression slowly changed. The annoyance and humor disappeared, leaving the absolute focus of a smith confronting a genuine possibility.

"Brokk’s Hammer can establish a correct form," Andre said.

"That’s what I said."

"I know what ya said. Shut up."

Kael obeyed while Andre traced the mesh diagram with one finger.

"If each strand is individually corrected..." Andre muttered something beneath his breath before shaking his head. "No. Too slow."

He moved to another diagram and studied the weaving pattern. "But a completed section might work. If ya weave it imperfectly, then establish the completed weave as the remembered structure..."

Kael’s eyebrows rose. "Living Memory would keep correcting toward that."

"Maybe." Andre looked increasingly interested. "Maybe."

Kael smiled. "So I could make it."

"No."

The answer came immediately.

Kael stared as Andre handed the book back.

"Not yet."

"You just spent two minutes proving my idea works."

"I proved it might work."

"That’s close."

"No, it isn’t." Andre pointed toward the diagrams. "The Hammer can solve precision."

He tapped Kael’s forehead.

"It cannot solve ignorance."

Kael’s smile faded slightly.

"If ya don’t understand why the weave uses that pattern, Brokk’s Hammer will help ya perfectly create the wrong thing." Andre pointed toward another section. "If ya don’t know where force needs to travel, it will faithfully remember a structure that sends every sword strike straight into yer ribs."

His finger moved again. "And if ya don’t understand how Malachor behaves under heat, ya could make armor that locks solid around yer body the first time ya use Fire."

Kael imagined that outcome. "Bad."

"Very."

Andre walked back toward his forge. "Legendary tools are dangerous to craftsmen."

Kael frowned. "Why?"

"Because they make ya think the tool knows what ya want." Andre picked up a delicate implement and returned to the unfinished gauntlet. "It doesn’t."

He glanced toward Brokk’s Hammer.

"It does exactly what ya tell it."

Kael looked down at the legendary tool. "And if I tell it something stupid..."

"It creates yer stupidity perfectly."

Kael stared for several seconds before laughing. "That’s actually a good line."

"Write it in the book when ya earn a page."

Kael looked toward the empty pages at the end, and his smile slowly disappeared. Andre had already returned to work, with the forge burning before him and the unfinished Malachor gauntlets resting beneath his hands.

The ancestral book remained across Kael’s legs. It contained hundreds of pages written by generations of smiths, and somewhere near the end, two blank pages waited. One belonged to Andre. The other waited for whoever eventually became his disciple.

Kael opened the book again, this time to the first page. Andre glanced over from the forge.

"What’re ya doing?"

Kael started reading. "What does it look like?"

Andre grinned into his beard. "There may be hope for ya yet."