Ashen Veil Snake Chain — 925 Sterling Silver

The Ashen Veil Snake Chain is a 925 sterling silver snake link necklace — punk in register, unisex, available in lengths from 40cm to 75cm. The links move like what they're named for. The silver is real. The origin is complicated.

The snake chain is not a Fenrisheim pattern. It is not a Soraveen offering. It did not crystallize in the Aether-Reach or surface at the waterline of the Becoming Places. The snake chain comes from the Ashen Plains — or rather, it comes from the edge of the Ashen Plains, from the market district where the intelligent denizens trade in things they have acquired through methods they do not explain. The scouts who dragged the vessel back from the northern farmlands were not the only ones who understood what silver was worth. The traders knew. They have always known.

Luna found it at a stall she had been watching for three weeks.

The stall operator was one of the intelligent ones — the kind that trades, that negotiates, that understands the concept of a fair price well enough to offer one that is almost fair while keeping the part that matters for themselves. He had silver. Not the raw form, not the Reach crystals or the Soraveen waterline finds — worked silver, refined silver, silver that had been through hands that understood its properties and had shaped it accordingly. The snake chain was on the display. Coiled. Precise. The links so fine and so consistent that the chain moved as a single thing, fluid, the way something moves when it has been made by someone who understood what they were making.

She bought three lengths. Paid what he asked, which was less than she expected, which meant he was getting something else from the transaction that she had not yet identified. She noted this. She filed it. She left without looking back, which is the correct way to leave a stall in the Ashen Plains market district — looking back suggests you are uncertain, and uncertainty in that market is a currency the traders collect.

Cinder was at the edge of the market when she came out. He had been there the entire time. He looked at the chains in her hand. He looked at the stall she had come from. He looked at her face. He fell into step beside her without comment, which is how Cinder says I saw what you paid and I saw what he kept and I have already assessed the situation and I am not going to say anything about it right now.

Ash materialized from somewhere between two stalls — she always does — and pressed her flank against Luna's leg for exactly three steps before peeling off to knock something off a nearby display that turned out to be exactly what it appeared to be, which disappointed her, and she moved on.

Midnight was on the rooftop when they came through. He looked at the chains. He looked at Luna. He rumbled — not the rumble of recognition, not the rumble of approval. The other rumble. The one that means I know where that came from and I know what it is and I know you know too and we are going to keep it here where it belongs. He tilted his great head. He did not elaborate. He never does.

The chain is 925 sterling silver. The snake link is precise — each segment connected to the next with the particular fluidity of something that was made to move, to drape, to lie against the skin with the weight of something that knows what it is. Lengths from 40cm to 75cm. Wear it close or wear it long. The silver is here now, which is where it should be, which is the whole point of everything the Attic does.

The stall in the Ashen Plains market district is still there. The trader is still there. He is still acquiring silver through methods he does not explain, and he is still offering prices that are almost fair, and he is still keeping something from every transaction that the buyer has not yet identified. The Attic keeps buying. The silver keeps coming here instead of going wherever he intended it to go. This is the mission. This is how it works.

About This Piece

• What it is: Ashen Veil Snake Chain — 925 sterling silver snake link necklace
• Lengths: 40cm | 45cm | 50cm | 55cm | 60cm | 65cm | 70cm | 75cm
• Material: 925 sterling silver
• Wear: Unisex — daily, layering, statement
• Series: The Silver | Dragonforged
• Origin: Ashen Plains market district — acquired from a trader who keeps something from every transaction
• Character lead: Luna. Cinder assessed. Ash knocked something over. Midnight used the other rumble.
• Select length at checkout

More from The Silver: The Silver Collection | Fenrisheim Chain Bracelet | Fenrisheim Oath Ring
The Silver's origin story: The Apex of the Stars | For a Bundle of Tees

What is the Ashen Veil Snake Chain?
A 925 sterling silver snake link necklace in lengths from 40cm to 75cm. Acquired from a trader in the Ashen Plains market district — one of the intelligent denizens who understands what silver is worth and keeps something from every transaction. Luna bought it. Midnight used the other rumble. It's here now, which is where it belongs.

What does "the other rumble" mean?
Midnight has several rumbles. The rumble of recognition. The rumble of approval. And the other one — the one that means he knows where something came from, knows what it is, and has decided it needs to stay at the Attic rather than go wherever it was intended to go. The snake chain got the other rumble. Draw your own conclusions.

What lengths are available?
40cm, 45cm, 50cm, 55cm, 60cm, 65cm, 70cm, and 75cm. Select at checkout. Wear it close to the throat or long against the chest — the snake link drapes either way.

Is this real sterling silver?
Yes — 925 sterling silver. Polish with a soft cloth. Avoid prolonged exposure to water and chemicals.

What will you find?: Ashen Veil Snake Chain — 925 Sterling Silver, select length at checkout