Terrestrials of the Threshold learned that they could take on the characteristics of an animal by wearing a jade hide in the shape of it's skin. In ordinary artefact armour this direct physical effect is limited, pelts of northern animals protected against the cold. This evolved into the magitech artefacts known as Dragon Armour where they became half like the animals they represented and finally the ultimate expression in the Warstriders. Magitech armour is inseparable from the wearer, it's truly a part of their body and they experience everything through it at first hand. With a Warhawk it's possible to experience unrestrained flight. In a Warkraken they can swim through the darkest depths. Attuning to a Warstrider doesn't just connect them to a suit of armour- they actually become a creature and live as it does. This is why Magitech is so advanced and valuable.
The Warstriders were created by the Celestial Incarnae and the Elemental Dragons for the Exalted to fight against the Primordials.
Because Warstriders become part of the wearer's body it is not armour and does not prevent them from using martial arts.
The original Warstriders dating from the First Age were great heroes given form. At the pinnacle of this art where the Royal Warstriders, reserved for the Celestial Exalted, not least because of the massive difficulty in making them. All Warstriders made for the Celestial Exalted were they forms of heroes the Exalted could become by attuning to them. The Royal Warstriders even had their own spirits the Exalted who piloted them became.
