Ciric metal alloys

The metal alloys that were developed in the First Foundry are perhaps the greatest invention in the history of the confederacy; both Ferris Fortis and Ferris Ordis have proven to be essential in the construction of the modern-day confederacy.

—Edward Coldstone, Cira: A Legacy (1675 AN)

One facet of the scientific development of the Ciric Confederacy is the development of specialised metal alloys in 1369, at a site known as the "First Foundry". This development was overseen by a Wrighthavanian scientist and engineer named Carter Sein, who commissioned the project based on an interpretation of the Anningheim Documents that he had performed, which attempted to decipher a formula contained in the documents which was suspected to be a formula for a miracle metal. This proved to be a correct calculation when Carter successfully alloyed the prototype Ferris Fortis, a byproduct of the alloying of which was the creation of Ferris Ordis. The metals were extraordinary at the time, but were both refined in 1520 by Yzer Van-Sep to be easier produce and more effective.

Ferris Fortis

Ferris Fortis is a steel alloy that is made of a large proportion of iron, alloyed with smaller amounts of palladium, titanium, vanadium, and tungsten. The alloy is extremely strong, and is the strongest metal known to the confederacy scientists, while also remaining extremely light; not as light as pure titanium, but lighter than conventional steel, which allows for its use in aircraft and naval technology.

Ferris Fortis is mainly used in construction and military technology because of its strength.

Ferris Ordis

Ferris Ordis is a shiny alloy that is created as a byproduct of the creation of Ferris Fortis. Its chemical structure is similar to Ferris Fortis, being composed of palladium, vanadium, titanium, and silver. The alloy is strong, though not as strong as either Ferris Fortis or conventional steel; however, it is much lighter. It also boasts extremely high reflectivity and conductivity scores, which allows its use in more obscure things than Ferris Fortis, being used for weapons, communications, science experiments, and electronics, as well as occasionally being used in decoration.

Verakium

Verakium is a bluish metal alloy consisting of a large portion of terbium, as well as more common metals such as iron and gallium, fused with astracite crystals, which is a peculiar variety of crystal with its geological formation locations localised to the antarctic regions of Micras; astracite is believed to be leftover material from an asteroid or comet that impacted the surface of Micras's south pole in ancient times. While astracite itself is a relatively unremarkable, though beautiful, pale blue gemstone, it is highly valued for its use in creating verakium. Verakium has a very peculiar property, wherein it will change its crystal lattice when exposed to a magnetic field so that it aligns in such a way as to "rest" on opposing magnetic fields, even very weak ones, similar to how a superconductor can float on electromagnets. Verakium, however, can be "tuned", by orienting the magnetic field triggering its property so that the verakium will rest on the magnetic field of the material below it. This has allowed confederate scientists to create objects capable of hovering, allowing an extremely large range of applications. This, however, only allows the device to hover at roughly twenty centimetres off of the ground at maximum, and is thus impractical for flying craft. Furthermore, the inability for devices equipped with verakium-hover technology to brake quickly, or to be fitted with armour, have prevented their use in commercial vehicles for roads, or for military vehicles. Verakium vehicles have found a market in off-road vehicles, however.