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Varunium Steel is a myth-charged Templar metal most commonly associated with bladed weapons. In narrative use it reads less like “just an alloy” and more like a material that holds Varuna’s power in a stable form—often described as visibly alive with a contained, colored glow.
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Varunium Steel is the luminous metal used in high-status Templar swords and similar relic-grade weapons. Unlike ordinary steel, Varunium is repeatedly described as illuminated from within—a soft, fuzzy glow that carries color but does not necessarily cast strong light into the room. When characters recognize it, they do so immediately, as if the material’s presence is as distinctive as the blade’s shape.
In practice, “Varunium Steel” tends to function as an authenticity marker: a way for the story to say, this weapon is not conventional, and the person holding it is connected to Templar lineage, doctrine, or hidden power networks.
Varunium’s most consistent tell is its internal glow, which can present differently depending on the blade and the wielder’s lineage.
One prominent reference describes a matched pair of Varunium blades, owned by Amos, that emit a soft dark purple fuzzy glow, strong enough to be unmistakable but not bright enough to light a room. The weapons are displayed ceremonially (on a wooden stand) and are recognized as being structurally identical to Sun Jin Kaisara’s paired swords: one straight sword and one katana-like blade.
Elsewhere in the story, Varunium blades are described as orange-glowing, implying that “Varunium Steel” is a category that can hold multiple glow signatures rather than one fixed color.
The best-known modern-era Varunium set is the paired configuration associated with Sun Jin Kaisara: Himmel and Hölle, Himmel, a straight sword, and Hölle, a katana, described as orange-glowing in some scenes. Kaisara wields the pair using Sōyō-Ryū, the dancing sword-fighting style developed around this iconic straight-sword-and-katana configuration. These blades are treated as rare prestige weapons—typically found and claimed by warriors who endure on Magnum, with only a few pairs circulating beyond it.
Kaisara later donates Himmel and Hölle to Sun Jin weapons R&D (linked to Professor Denim and RD10-003) to support attempts to study Varunium blades and eventually mass-produce comparable weapons. This is intended to be a temporary donation. During that program, the blades are used to outfit Forza for “live” field testing (alongside the Templar Gotanenks Armor) while he is drugged and mind-controlled into compliance. When Forza breaks free of RD10-003, he steals Himmel and Hölle; the pair become his signature weapons throughout the Red Sun Rising saga, along with the associated Sōyō-Ryū fighting style.
Varunium Steel is inseparable from how the setting frames Templar power: it is not merely a weapon material, but a kind of cultural condensation—a way the Templar turn belief, ritual, and cosmic energy into a tool that can be carried by hand. When a character notices Varunium, the moment often carries an implicit weight: recognition of hidden history, forbidden technology, or a lineage of violence and doctrine.
Because the Templar myth positions the Red Sun as Varuna’s embodiment and the source of Templar magic, Varunium reads as the “portable” form of that same sacred force—dangerous precisely because it makes the sacred operational.
Templar legend frames Varuna as the goddess-source of Templar magic: a vast cosmic, birdlike being said to roam the universe and “seed” worlds with radiating energy that later manifests as what non-Templar cultures would call magic. In the deep-time myth, Varuna is wounded in an ancient confrontation and recovers by wrapping her wings around a star—transforming it into the Red Sun.
In this framing, the Red Sun (orbited by Magnum) emits an excessive, continuous “radiation” of Templar energy. This is cited as the reason the few Templar who endure on Magnum can become unusually powerful, and it is also said to enrich Magnum’s ore—the raw source material from which Varunium Steel is forged.
Naming Note: Earlier drafts sometimes spell the material as “Varuniun Steel” (notably all text before rev3.1). This page uses the standardized “Varunium Steel.”
Tanuki was a master craftsman of Varunium weapons both during and after his infection by Jethro. His skill allowed him to shape Varunium into artifact-grade weapons whose purpose extended far beyond ordinary combat.
During the infection, Tanuki’s mastery made him uniquely dangerous: Jethro could exploit an already exceptional weaponsmith capable of manufacturing Varunium artifacts designed to carry power, intent, and lasting influence. After Jethro abandoned him, Tanuki continued the same craft under a radically different doctrine. Rather than building instruments of escalation, he forged failsafes meant to prevent another host catastrophe—including Rainru and its sister blade, Delrain, created by combining exceptionally rich Varunium with Red Matter.