Jewelry questions~

[Iorek Stormfast]

So I'm curious about a couple of things regarding jewelry especially since my char, Iorek is rather interested in it.

So are there any rules or guidelines regarding what is scavenged and how much one could acquire? I've found Iorek just has a knack for finding old stores and busting through windows and locked doors that could have jewelry (he's been successful twice in a couple of month) but I don't want to make it seem unrealistic how he gets the jewelry.

Also, any ideas for how bracelets could be adjusted or fiddled with to fit Luperci like Iorek?
Examples of jewlery: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
I was thinking that maybe a blacksmith could heat it up enough for the metal to be stretched or something?

Maybe there are other ways for him to wear them, I guess?

And any other ideas about jewelry and scavenging, I guess? This could become a discussion or something?

Sorry if this seems scrambled, Silver is half-awake

[Lucille]

I make jewelry as a hobby/side-business thing so I have Opinions and probably more information than necessary, haha. Examples 2, 3, and 5 are almost certainly on elastic. Example 1 probably is as well, and 4 is hard to tell since I can't see the whole thing. These often don't even survive a couple of years of human use, and the elastic likely would have decayed looooong ago before Iorek found them. In order to make bracelets like those, Luperci could put them on string and would end up needing some sort of rudimentary clasp. Alternatively, they could make different style bracelets on leather or some sort of cording and learn how to tie a sliding knot, which is fairly simple and probably do-able, in my opinion.

Keep in mind, too, that most jewelry that humans own is really (really, really, really) cheap. The metals are low-quality and the "stones" are sometimes glass or plastic. This means that the metal prongs would have broken and many stones would be cracked or missing altogether. I find a lot of jewelry in antique stores that are missing parts, and this was probably stuff that just sat in a drawer for a while before being taken to sell at the store.

Blacksmithing

I have one character, Nieve Ortega, apprenticed to a blacksmith but what she is doing is creating rolled beads from relatively soft metals. They're pretty bad right now since she's still learning, and they probably look like this, which is a rolled copper bead. Otherwise, she strings scavenged or traded for wooden or other material beads onto leather strips and attaches them to a scaveneged clasp or something that could work as a clasp (see the button clasp below).

Clasps

Clasps could also probably be carved from bone or wood. Keep in mind both would likely break over time. These would also need to be somewhat large as Luperci are not as dexterous as humans are, and these can be a pain in the butt even for a human.

• Metal "lobster claw" clasps in my opinion would not function anymore, again largely due to cheapness of what humans own. They're also kind of delicate anyway and I've replaced a few of them on good quality jewelry.
  
• Clasps can also be as simple as a loop around a button, like this! In fact, that is one of my favorite ways to make clasps. You just have to make sure the loop is the right size.
  
• Another option is a toggle clasp, where you just need a leather loop and a straight piece of wood, bone, or even a bit of metal that gets tied to the other end. It then goes through the loop and sits across it.

Possible Luperci Examples

So, here are some examples of what I feel are realistic jewelry for Luperci to make from scavenged stuff. Less metal, more leather and beads with large holes.


Culture
I think that where a Luperci lives would probably affect how intricate the jewelry they can make or want to own is. It is purely a luxury - no survival purpose at all - so it probably doesn't trade for much except to Luperci who have relatively easy lives or live in highly humanized areas, or have a culture that puts an emphasis on jewelry for some reason or another.

[Iorek Stormfast]

These often don't even survive a couple of years of human use, and the elastic likely would have decayed looooong ago before Iorek found them. In order to make bracelets like those, Luperci could put them on string and would end up needing some sort of rudimentary clasp. Alternatively, they could make different style bracelets on leather or some sort of cording and learn how to tie a sliding knot, which is fairly simple and probably do-able, in my opinion.

This could also open up the opportunity to make the bracelet longer if restrung with something stretchy or have longer so that it could fit them? Iorek likes metal jewelry since in his opinion, it looks nicer than leather, lol. But, he could learn to make leather jewelry, I guess.

Clasps can also be as simple as a loop around a button, like this! In fact, that is one of my favorite ways to make clasps. You just have to make sure the loop is the right size.
Another option is a toggle clasp, where you just need a leather loop and a straight piece of wood, bone, or even a bit of metal that gets tied to the other end. It then goes through the loop and sits across it.

Oooo, interesting! I could see that it would be a lot easier instead of finding claps that likely wouldn't work, lol. Never noticed how hard lobster claw clasps are to open~

I think that where a Luperci lives would probably affect how intricate the jewelry they can make or want to own is. It is purely a luxury - no survival purpose at all - so it probably doesn't trade for much except to Luperci who have relatively easy lives or live in highly humanized areas, or have a culture that puts an emphasis on jewelry for some reason or another.

So maybe there would be more jewelry lying around since some Luperci scavengers would be like "Nope, not useful" and not pick it up?

[Lucille]

This could also open up the opportunity to make the bracelet longer if restrung with something stretchy or have longer so that it could fit them? Iorek likes metal jewelry since in his opinion, it looks nicer than leather, lol. But, he could learn to make leather jewelry, I guess.

I'm not sure what sort of Luperci-made stretchy stuff exists, so I'm going to guess that it would have to be on something that is not stretchy. Whatever not-stretchy stuff is used will likely break a lot since it would have to be really, really thin to go through human-made jewelry like in your links. But yes! This is a good opportunity to make the bracelet fit.

So maybe there would be more jewelry lying around since some Luperci scavengers would be like "Nope, not useful" and not pick it up?

In my opinion it probably wouldn't be much more plentiful than other stuff because metal is still useful. Those who have forges might think nothing of prying out remaining stones and trying to melt it down to turn into actually useful stuff (with varying degrees of success). Because of the cheapness of jewelry as well, I think it would be much more likely for characters to find parts of jewelry, such as one small section of the bracelets you linked above, rather than the whole thing laying together somewhere. Or one earring. Or a bunch of loose beads collected by a Luperci that were not originally part of a single piece of jewelry.

[Rocky Cortés]

So maybe there would be more jewelry lying around since some Luperci scavengers would be like "Nope, not useful" and not pick it up?

That would most likely not be true around Souls as many Packs seem to have adopted precious metals and gems as a type of valuable currency. Salsola for example has seen members trade with jewels and golden coins (don't ask me where they got them, I have no idea).

The thing is that with humanized groups the rule of value/stock/demand would likely apply. Luperci wouldn't be able to fabricate such intricate designs as humans could, which means fancy jewellery is rarer and more sought after, rising its price. I don't think finding such rare items after two decades of luperci plundering would be easy at all. That is why you see wealthy characters owning only one rare human-made accessory while the rest are cheaper, luperci-made items.

You could hack your way around that by having your character search for said jewellery in harder-to-get places, vaults and such, but you will face the problem of how your guy would get them open on the first place.

You could also claim that an item was passed down from generations, which implies that there was someone always taking care of the thing making it possible for a fine item to survive a long time even in Souls post-apocalyptical setting.

To be honest, I like the idea of finding the pieces of a nice bracelet and binding them together with luperci-made cord which makes it a sort of hybrid between a scavenged human bracelet and luperci craftsmanship. To me that sounds much more believable than finding several items of fancy jewellery in perfect conditions.

[Iorek Stormfast]

I'm not sure what sort of Luperci-made stretchy stuff exists, so I'm going to guess that it would have to be on something that is not stretchy. Whatever not-stretchy stuff is used will likely break a lot since it would have to be really, really thin to go through human-made jewelry like in your links. But yes! This is a good opportunity to make the bracelet fit.

Hmm, I did some googling an it says that latex could come from plants? Or maybe catgut or something close to it? Iorek has a friend that's a trader and a bro who might know some stuff.

Because of the cheapness of jewelry as well, I think it would be much more likely for characters to find parts of jewelry, such as one small section of the bracelets you linked above, rather than the whole thing laying together somewhere. Or one earring. Or a bunch of loose beads collected by a Luperci that were not originally part of a single piece of jewelry.

Ooo that could make some pretty nice jewelry. I really want all but number 4 for Iorek but that could be other pieces he could make which would look really nice~

You could hack your way around that by having your character search for said jewellery in harder-to-get places, vaults and such, but you will face the problem of how your guy would get them open on the first place.

Hmm Iorek is pretty strong and metal would have degraded perhaps?

[Silvano Sadira]

I would imagine that a lot of leather strings / thongs would be used for necklaces since they'd be easy to fix and replace. I would avoid plant-based because that seems unnecessary and excessive when a simple either fiber or leather would suffice

[Iorek Stormfast]

I would imagine that a lot of leather strings / thongs would be used for necklaces since they'd be easy to fix and replace. I would avoid plant-based because that seems unnecessary and excessive when a simple either fiber or leather would suffice

Ah, yeah I should have thought of that. I wanted Iorek to be able to wear it both in Secui and Optime. Maybe his wrists stay the same size perhaps but just lengthen?

[Salvia Eternity]

Catgut isn't very "stretchy" the way that man made materials would be, and Luperci wouldn't be able to produce latex or plastics. There really isn't a natural material that performs the way that elastic does, so having a "stretchy" bracelet is not something really feasible.

Adjustable sliding knots would probably be the best option for things which could adjust between size, depending on what sort of cording material was used.

Jewelry on a non-Optime character's legs would be tricky in any case, as it would likely slide down over time due to motion and leg use, especially something weighty like metal. Try looping a bracelet on your upper arm and doing anything physical for a few hours, lol.

As far as raiding human remains, don't forget that it's been 30+ years since humans died out -- finding a few things laying around is possible, but exposure is likely to have tarnished and/or damaged these materials. Consider other materials that Luperci could make.

A bank vault is gonna too heavy for a Luperci to open, given that a standard bank vault door weighs 6,000 pounds. ;>

[Iorek Stormfast]

Adjustable sliding knots would probably be the best option for things which could adjust between size, depending on what sort of cording material was used.

Ah, that would be doable I guess.

Jewelry on a non-Optime character's legs would be tricky in any case, as it would likely slide down over time due to motion and leg use, especially something weighty like metal. Try looping a bracelet on your upper arm and doing anything physical for a few hours, lol.

I was envisioning it to be something like what Toboe from Wolf's Rain wears on his paw in his wolf form. I guess anime is not a good thing to go off of. What if it's snugly fit? So it wouldn't slide off easily?

A bank vault is gonna too heavy for a Luperci to open, given that a standard bank vault door weighs 6,000 pounds. ;>

Oops, I was thinking of one of those home safe thingies but I guess that wouldn't be very easy to open either?

[Salvia Eternity]

Alas, animation does not follow the laws of physics -- how else could they get such fantastic hair?

A snug fit would still need to be adjusted as it was worn and still likely slide down over time. Besides, if a character had something nice and/or shiny, why would they want to risk losing it in one form when they could easily wear it in another? Necklaces probably make more sense for characters on four legs unless you don't mind things getting tangled around your paws~

Consider what might have a Luperci even consider looking into a safe. If they've never seen one before, or if they know they're hard to open, why would they try and get into one?

[Vicira Tears]

I do think that something could potentially be adjusted to wear on four legs if it was very snug, but it would probably slide close to the paw regardless and could be distracting and easy to lose while running. Additionally, the character would need someone to help them adjust the piece of jewelry each time they shift. :>

I think your best bet would to keep the jewelry to necklaces if worn in different forms, and go with a combination of scavenged jewelry pieces and Luperci leather or rope with the buckles/knots that Myst pointed out!

[Iorek Stormfast]

Well Iorek is going to need to get into the practice of taking off his bracelets before he shifts it seems. But allll the necklaces ever.
Thanks guys! This was really informative and I can't wait for Iorek to start making jewelry himself instead of being a thief!