Angrypuffin's Ebony Equipment Guide

A short walk into the tangled mess of Rune Forest, a granite bridge arches over a swiftly flowing river- but this particular bridge has a deadly guardian. Defending the choke point is a highly trained, highly esteemed, and highly dangerous samurai duck.

This particular bird serves a variety of purposes for Materia Magica's first-classers, but for now we concentrate on one aspect in particular. In the nature of a true samurai, this fowl is clad from head to toe in homogenous garb. What does that mean? It means that you get to walk around in equipment that is at the same time protecting, empowering, and stylish.

Fancy talk aside, this duck is the source of Ebony armor. It comes in such wide varieties that a few ducks' worth of equipment can make nearly for a complete set. The equipment caps off at level 32, and it really is quite good for its level. The complete list of ebony equipment, respective slots, and levels is as follows:

Black Silk Cloak: Level 20, Wearable at Level 15 [Shoulders]
Ebony Shield: Level 25, Wearable at Level 20 [Shield]
Ebony Gauntlets: Level 25, Wearable at Level 20 [Hands]
Ebony Ring: Level 27, Wearable at Level 22 [L or R Finger]
Ebony Pauldrons: Level 28, Wearable at Level 23 [Arms]
Ebony Helm: Level 29, Wearable at Level 24 [Head]
Ebony Greaves: Level 30, Wearable at Level 25 [Legs]
Ebony Boots: Level 30, Wearable at Level 25 [Feet]
Ebony Cuirass: Level 30, Wearable at Level 25 [Body]
Ebony Dai-Katana: Level 32, Wieldable at Level 27 [L or R Hand]

The process for acquiring this polished wooden gear is rather simple. Upon entering Rune Forest, you'll head close to due west, as the crow flies; for we earthbound folk, you can reach the duck by moving west when possible; there are a few splits that go northwards or northwest-wards, but these are to be avoided. Continue like this until you reach the "Granite Bridge:" at its center you will find the duck.

The duck has no spells, breaths, or other combat techniques that may come as an unpleasant surprise; defeating it is rather simple. Acquisition of the equipment does have one quirk at this point, however. Randomly, the duck, rather than simply dying, will commit "hara-kiri." As a background note: Hara-kiri comes from the Japanese samurai of the real world, and describes a practice of suicide by disembowelment. The samurai would usually commit hara-kiri to prevent the dishonor of being captured, to preserve his honor rather than his life. Later on, however, it transformed into practically a method of indirect execution, as the "Mikado", or emperor, would send messages to dangerous noblemen stating that their death was needed to preserve the greater good of the empire.

(History point: At one point, the practice of hara-kiri became so widespread that for centuries, the death toll reached 1500 annually; hara-kiri as a form of obligatory punishment was abolished in 1868.)

As a twist on the classical hara-kiri, the samurai duck can transport not only his soul to the ethereal void, but his corporeal body as well; if he does this, you will be out of luck, as all of his coveted possessions will follow him to the next life, and you will receive nothing. Whether or not he commits hara-kiri is not a matter of killing him quickly or slowly- either way, he will not die until that "intolerable" stroke hits him.

All that said, here are the equipment's basic stats and their descriptions. Bear in mind that like any other items that affect statistics, the amount will vary somewhat: that is, you can find octarine pendants with 1 wisdom, 2 wisdom, or none. For this reason, it's often advisable to defeat the duck as many times as possible to get the highest-stat equipment.

Black Silk Cloak

Made of Silk. Weighs 1 pebble. Valued at 6,500 GP.
Armor Resistance: 2 pierce, 2 bash, 1 slash, 0 exotic.

A raven has been carefully stitched into the black silk cloak in black dyed cotton. The cloak weighs little, but will offer some protection from the rain. The image of the raven is only distinguishable under close examination. The dark shades only giving a vague outline where the different materials are sewn together. The cloak is soft to the touch and feels smooth against your skin.

Commentary: This is a good cloak for level 15'ers. It's not terribly powerful, in the grand scheme of things- but then, neither are most level 15 enemies. However, once you progress a bit, it's probably better to discard this in favor of a good Octarine cloak.

Ebony Shield

Made of Wood. Weighs 5 pebbles. Valued at 625 GP.
Armor Resistance: 1 pierce, 1 bash, 1 slash, 0 exotic.
Affects Courage by 3 for -1 minutes.

A large thick shield lays before you. Constructed of a dark wood, you can tell it is a heavy item, something that is hard to wield. On the plus side though, you note that it makes it hard for someone hit you, due to its size. You ponder though, where could such beautiful wood such as this come from to make it?

Commentary: There aren't too many stellar shields at low levels, and this isn't any exception. Still, it is a good, solid shield- the added three courage makes up for the fact that it has no more armor resistance than any large metal shield that one can buy in Rune, and it's a good deal more stylish, especially when it allows you to keep a solid motif.

Ebony Gauntlets

Made of Wood. Weigh 2 pebbles. Valued at 625 GP.
Armor Resistance: 1 pierce, 1 bash, 1 slash, 0 exotic.

Great care has been taken in the construction of the ebony gauntlets and as a result they are able to absorb a moderate level of damage. Tiny pins have been inserted at the joints allowing the various movements of the hand. The palm and finger tips of the gauntlets have been scored and grooved allowing the hand to grasp an object without slipping. The surface that covers the back of the hand has been polished until smooth and glossy.

Commentary: As with the shield, gauntlets tend to be rather unimpressive. This is not realistically much, if at all, better than gloves purchasable at armor stores, but it keeping the straight ebony set does add a bit of role-playing flavor.

Ebony Ring

Made of Wood. Weighs 1 pebble. Valued at 7,825 GP.
Affects spell-points by 12 for -1 minutes.

A polished sphere of ebony rests upon the thin ebony band, which fits your index finger. The ring is simply made but shines as no common wood might. At the base of the sphere is a little inscription, the tiny letters are nearly unreadable but you make out the words, which read "Thy magic be the color of crimson".

Commentary: This is easily the least useful member of the Ebony family, and the one thing that I would consider expendable as far as the ebony theme goes. When possible, exchange these for something else; Amethyst rings, which come from Sigil, give wisdom when worn and are relatively low-leveled.

Ebony Pauldrons

Made of Wood. Weigh 4 pebbles. Valued at 700 GP.
Armor Resistance: 7 pierce, 7 bash, 5 slash, 2 exotic.
Affects spell-points by 12 for -1 minutes.

Engraved into the surface of the ebony pauldrons are mystic runes which are there to protect the wearer from evil spirits. The runes are set within a pattern of vines that crisscross up the forearm creating a map of ivy wandering up the arm of the wearer. The inside of the forearm has a thin coat of rabbits fur which is soft and smooth to the touch as well as warm to the wearer.

Commentary: This is surely one of the better pieces of equipment that the duck has on him. This will probably remain useful some time, until you can wear higher-leveled complete sets such as White Marble. The spell-points, while not terribly helpful, do look nice on ID. Considering the description, it would have been more interesting in a role-playing sense if they also cast "protection from evil."

Ebony Helm

Made of Wood. Weighs 3 pebbles. Valued at 725 GP.
Armor Resistance: 9 pierce, 10 bash, 7 slash, 3 exotic.

The ebony helm would absorb most of the impact from a moderate bash to the head and is not easily scarred. The polished helm has chips from past battles, from sharp blades that have slashed across the helm leaving traces of each blow. The helm is still quite beautifully made the worn parts adding to the overall look and feel of the armor.

Commentary: This is, of course, the best of bunch- but that tends to be typical of headgear. Again, this will probably remain useful until the advent of higher-leveled sets.

Ebony Greaves

Made of Wood. Weigh 3 pebbles. Valued at 750 GP.
Armor Resistance: 7 pierce, 7 bash, 5 slash, 2 exotic.

The ebony greaves are heavy as they are constructed from several separate slates of ebony, although movement in them is easier than you would expect. The ankle and knees have tiny pins set in the wood allowing them to move freely. The dark wood looks like a burned iron that has been heavily polished to shine. The back of the greaves are covered with a padding of cloth and furs making them fit comfortable against the shines.

Commentary: These, of course, are effectually the same as the Pauldrons, as far as armor-resistance goes. However, in general, leg-equipment tends to be somewhat more high-powered than arm equipment, and as a result, this will not be desirable for as long. Possible upgrades include obsidian leggings.

Ebony Boots

Made of Wood. Weigh 4 pebbles. Valued at 750 GP.
Armor Resistance: 1 pierce, 1 bash, 1 slash, 0 exotic.

These boots have been sculpted from the finest ebony and are in flawless condition. They are heavier than most footwear although their toughness makes up for this. The black wood is polished to a high gloss creating reflections of the lights like a pond on a starlit night. The insides of the boots are cushioned with cloth over fur creating an incredibly comfortable fit yet a pungent aroma.

Commentary: Again we have a piece of equipment that's not really any better, effectually, than any store-bought, standard issue junk. But, also again, it's still cooler and more individualistic.

Ebony Cuirass

Made of Wood. Weighs 4 pebbles. Valued at 750 GP.
Armor Resistance: 4 pierce, 4 bash, 3 slash, 1 exotic.
Affects stamina by 30 for -1 minutes.

The ebony cuirass seems designed to withstand a great deal of punishment, and surprisingly movement is almost completely unrestricted when worn. The wooden helm wraps the head although quite loose around the neck so there is no loss of movement. The dark wood polished to a high gloss makes for a very regal looking helm, a helm of knights.

Commentary: Another pretty decent piece of work. The stamina bonus is significant enough to be felt, and the Armor Resistance is good for the level. Possible upgrades include Giant's Platemail.

Ebony Dai-Katana

Made of Wood. Weighs 4 pebbles. Valued at 6,900 GP.
Sword; 101 points of slash damage; 13 accuracy.

Although this ebony dai-katana looks as if it could inflict great pain upon a victim, if not handled with care it could easily damage the wielder as well. The blade's grain runs straight along the weapon, from the tip of the blade to the hilt. The vertical grain makes the dai-katana extremely sharp and able to withstand a lot of punishment.

Commentary: The number of swords in the game is brought from one million to one million and one, with this addition. In seriousness, though, it is a decent sword for the level. The lack of special bonuses makes this somewhat less desirable than it could be. Possible upgrades include elvish swords of great antiquity.