Caerulus Desert Cloak

This battle ready newcomer striding through the city-gate is carrying a gnoll head. Likely came through as a victor to some scattered remains of Kishughis's hordes.

From the brighter blue spots on their faded blue cloak, you could tell this desert traveler was unable to afford a new one, and thus was attacked by the giant scorpions. Let us pray the renewed blood on their cloaks will protect them, should they leave the city again.

— Recounting of an knowledge keeper in Da Lonsan

Used by merchants and well-off mercenaries usually, these blue desert cloaks don't only protect you from the searing heat of the sun, but also keep Giant Scorpions, Serkians, and other creatures off your back.


While blue is a colour associated with royalty in many circles, these cloaks are usually a little darker or less pronounced, and is known as the uniform of mercenaries, merchants, desert guides, and nomads, as they wear it functionally to protect themselves from the heat and to ward off animals.

by Nico F. / Me

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The repelling effect on monsters was discovered completely by accident. According to druids of the land, there is a smell in the scorpion blood that is unrecognizable for humanoid noses, which repels scorpions and supposedly even arachnids as well as wyverns. A lot of testing had to be done to find the exact list of creatures, especially with druids only able to change shape into beasts. In conclusion, similar to the pheromones used by scorpions, giant and small alike, to find each other, this reaction to the blood dye is at least an inborn reaction to the smell and even sight of the blue scorpion blood.

Sight

Understandably, even the sight of this blue substance might cause adverse reactions in scorpions. This colour against the sandy background is likely also one of the reasons why the rare dragon attacks have also been reported with people wearing these cloaks. On this note, using lapis lazuli for example doesn't evoke quite the same reaction up close, therefore, while blue colour is likely to work at least in a limited capacity, Caerulus Cloaks are always the safest bet.

Smell

An odorant in the blood of scorpions and arachnids, (dyed blue by the Hemocyanin,) alerts both creature types that something has been capable of killing their kin, thus an evolutionary adaption alerts them that there is danger, likely capable of harming them. Due to smells differing by individual, blood from several different creatures present, means more danger from the source of the fragrance, thus strengthening the potency of the cloak. Only desperate members of one of the species, or those with enough numbers, will instead attack.
Serkians, scorpid-human looking creatures, also recognise the smell, and will attack if they have a large enough war band, potentially seeking revenge for slaying creatures they usually ally with. Serkians have been considered for using as materials in these cloaks as well. This however spawned a rather unpleasent ethical conversation.
Thankfully, the olfactory systems of humanoids are incapable of registering what the scorpions register in the dye. Although some Lizardfolk and Yunkha have described the any whiff of air they take near one of these cloaks as "unpleasantly acidic". The fragrance other humanoids associate with the cloaks however, is a metallic one.
While most wearers wear something between the skin and the cloak (like traveller's clothing, or desert clothing), contact with the cloak and skin or sweat is sometimes unavoidable. In this case, the copper content in the dye reacts with the sweat or the oil in the skin, oxidising them, and chemically changing the fragrance to that one would get when holding and handling copper coins.
One rather uncomfortable trend, sees merchants rubbing and smelling the cloaks, claiming to deduce its age and quality in this way.

Manufacturing process

First the dye needs to be harvested. Most hunters bring scorpions down with bludgeoning weapons, and drag the beast back to town for the blood to be drained. But sometimes extraction is performed on location by a skilled butcher. After placing cuts at specific locations of the scorpion body, the blood is more efficiently drained, using lightning magic to contract the body of the creature several times to squeeze out as much as possible. The blood is then quickly transported to the business partners and local weavers.

Cloth is woven carefully and dyed and redyed using the harvested Cypan Imperius several times during the weaving of the cloaks.

Significance

This cloak has become an integral part of most merchants' attire.

Danger!

Dragons for example are really good at smelling this substance, or even spotting it from high up. Even the Primal Beast associated with Da Lonsan's scorpions is rumored to know the exact location of every one of these cloaks, waiting for the day it might take revenge for its kin.

Item type

Clothing / Accessory

Current Location

Da Lonsan

Rarity

Common

Weight

5 lbs

Base Price

500 GP

Raw materials & Components

• Cotton 1/2 layers; Higher valued variants use Silk, cheaper versions using linen and other fibres
• Cypan Imperius
• Ivory, copper, or wood buttons
• string (sometimes made from animal hair or giant spider silk)

Tools

Pools of dye
Weaver's tools
Sewing Equipment

Quality

Over time, the discreet blood smell the cloak provides, fades, giving a low quality, quick soak, slightly dyed cloak a life expectancy of 2 years. A high quality cloak, soaked in several different blood baths, for days at a time, can give protection for up to 5 or sometimes even 10 years. Some cloaks are treated, or rather lightly sanded with temporal sand glued to palm leaves, supposedly extending their lifetime and strong colour tenfold to a hundred years.
The highest quality dye is said to glow in the dark, which comes from the oldest scorpions and is only given to nobles and officials of Da Lonsan, though most travellers, mercenaries, and merchants have never seen one that actually glows on the dark.

Fading

When approaching its maximum lifetime, the blue of the cloak will become faded, look worn down. Exposure to oxygen, the sun, and water can shorten the lifetime of a cloak drastically. Correct storage after usage is required to potentially even surpass the maximum expected lifetime.