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Nisekite

The living stone of nisekite was originally uncovered in the humid tunnels of the Corpse of Niseki. Nisekite was an artificial material of unknown origin, primarily used by the people of Nekrosaka for lithonatomical augmentation.

Appearance #


Nisekite was scavenged in pieces of various size or shape. Commonly, it was stripped from the side of the tunnels of the Corpse of Niseki as bricks, usually about 1 foot long on their longest sides. Larger pieces of nisekite could be recovered in other locations within the caverns.

Nisekite was a roughly-textured, grey stone with magical runes carved onto one or more of its faces. It had several bore holes on it, from which a blue-tinged flesh grew out from. These holes, and the flesh that emerged, were what held nisekite pieces together in the Niseki Caverns. This flesh was also what enabled nisekite to bond to the living flesh of an augmented's frame.

Nisekite would continually regenerate flesh as long as the stone of origin hadn't received extreme damage. Altering the runes on the face of the stone could also change the behavior of the flesh grown. Nisekite flesh was unlike Sculptoris in that it didn't proliferate out of control: it was tightly regulated in its behaviour by the runes on its point of origin. Nisekite flesh required minimal water, nutrients, or other biotic factors to grow. Nisekite found in the Corpse of Niseki were able to distribute resources evenly to ensure continual growth, but nisekite separated from its native environment required a manual feeding of the material. For Lithonatomy, nisekite flesh acquired sustenance from the host body, once properly integrated. For other nisekite-based tech, like Runecycles, food would have to be manually fed to the machine.

Lithonatomy #


Lithonatomy was the term for any sort of prosthetic created from nisekite. Lithonatomical components were grafted onto living organisms by stonemodders to create creatures categorized as augmented.

Lithonatomical prosthetics varied widely in their form and usage. Lost limbs as small as a hand could be created from nisekite. More substantial wounds, like entire arms or even the loss of complex organs like an eye could be compensated with more intricate lithonatomy. Extremely skilled stonemodders even discovered how to create lithonatomical brain segments that could be used to export and important mental knowledge between two augmented.

In Nekrosaka, many miners turned to augmentation in order to improve their mining efficacy past their mortal frame. While some miners may have opted to replace their arms with lithonatomy in order to swing a pick without tiring quickly, others may have opted to undergo more dramatic changes. For example, miners could replace their lower limbs with a set of spider-like appendages which would allow them to climb across challenging surfaces.

==The function and capability of lithonatomy was nearly limitless, only restricted by the skill of the stonemodder installing it.==

The Kenha and violent Nekrosakan criminals opted to use lithonatomy that facilitated improved combat forms. Lithonatomical cannons, sensors, or other systems could greatly improve the effectiveness of a combatant.

The Songkram & Lithonatomy

The existence of lithonatomy was widely unknown by the Songkram, since the Bornu family that ruled Nekrosaka did their best to obfuscate the existence of the Corpse of Niseki. They rationalized that if the Songkram learned of such a fantastical thing, they could lose their authority over Nekrosaka as greater Songkram officials moved in to observe operations and direct research.

The longer the Bornu went without telling the Songkram, the greater the penalty of witholding such information became.

Augmented #

While most people would think of Humans as the recipients of lithonatomical augmentation, any fleshly being could undergo a stonemodding operation. This included animals; augmented hounds were commonly used in Nekrosaka as guard dogs, as an example.

Incompatible Races

Because lithonatomy required the flesh of nisekite to bond with other, living flesh, certain Legerian sapients were entirely excluded from augmentation:

The augmented were divided into 3 categories, called classes.

Class 1 #

Class 1 augmented were individuals or animals with little to no discernible lithonatomical components. This included people with a single lithonatomical arm, a replaced internal organ, or other minute, concealable augmentations.

Class 2 #

Class 2 augmented had obvious, difficult-to-conceal lithonatmy. Initiates to the Kenha fell into this category, alongside seasoned miners that delved into the deepest regions of the Deepstar Mines or Niseki Caverns.

Class 3 #

Class 3 augmented had replaced most, if not all of their corporeal form with nisekite augmentations. Looking upon a class 3 augmented was like looking upon a golem wrought from stone.

Drastic class 3 augmented may have lost their humanoid form entirely, with some adopting such extreme lithonatomical components that resulted in immobile, serpentine, insectoid, or otherwise monstrous forms. They were still biological, mortal sapients deep within, but from the exterior they looked like lithic machines.

Runecycles #

![[Runecycles]]