The Lazarus Consortium stealth shrowd is a wearable shrowd which allows a user to appear as somebody else or match the texture and form of their environment. It was introduced in YE 37.

The unit sells for 2300 KS for a complete unit and 1100 KS per cubic litre of replacement specialist structol (lasting 60 disguises).

The stealth shroud excels primarily in making the user disappear into foliage, into a crowd or down into the ground. It is light enough to be worn often, rugged enough to be worn in combat and is highly concealable with some planning. It is best worn atop existing armor or integrated into other attire and is an accessory.

Importantly, the shrowd is an adaptive cloak, not to be confused with active camouflages or active cloaks in that rather than displaying an image, it replicates the optical properties of the environment or individual or animal it is trying to replicate.

The stealth shroud is a fairly simple device, composed of substrate nodes which are usually about the size of a boil-in-the-bag-rice, with a body strapping system, or in the form of a lycra-like skin-tight altex suit which is worn beneath clothes revealing only the face, ears and hair, covering the neck and entire body. Both track and regulate thermal and monitor movement patterns. The IRI Hardlight projection component sits on the back of the wearer as a disc or upon the shoulders, creating the armature which the structol (which is pumped from the sacks or extruded from the skin) then sits upon in a very thin layer.

Deployed, the cartridges explode outward, then wrap back against the user, unrolling over their bodies over several seconds, akin to the way a yoyo is swung, then knitting and joining to seal itself, covering almost all of the user's body.

The included IRI-Type Hard light Apparatus is considered an entry-level unit and can also be repurposed by the user if so desired. It is powered by a hotswappable QNC.

This layer offers very limited protection against stabbing, low calibre gunfire and electrocution due to its hardlight and altex components DR1 (Damage rating: SP2), but its primary purpose is the masking, concealment and redirection of the heat of the wearer or unit as well as creating a large false representation of an object or person larger than the user.

Its ablating form when discarded may serve to misdirect, ideal for near misses or rapid departures (especially in enclosed spaces).

To get the most out of it, a user needs to practice and train, being very aware of what the unit is and isn't capable of. Overconfidence is generally suicidal.

A form of stealth camouflage and disguise, the stealth shroud is an application of hard-light and structol substrate; forming a photon armature ontop of the wearer for the substrate to rest upon in a size and shape differing from the wearer in order for the substrate and hard-light to create convincing artificial coverings: to resemble another person, object or to not appear at all if used correctly.

The shroud itself can authentically replicate skin, metals, plastics, glass and other hard objects and can replicate faces, hands and expressions but does nothing to change the voice of the user. Unfortunately however, hardlight does not behave like conventional matter and relies on the structol for flowing moving pieces like hair. The projection itself is incredibly light, scarcely heavier than a cloak or small backpack.

Deployed, it is ideal for disguising one's self as matched textures of other objects (a dint on a container, a rock, blending in with tree-bark, to flat against a wall or hunker down with terrain) or to match clothing, such as uniforms.

It is quite poor at replicating faces. As such, if the description of the user's face is known in uniform mode, the user can still be identified. It is excellent for disappearing into crowds, or to use as a tarps over a large object to hide it.

Common disguises include trees, rocks, crates, containers, boxes, walls and other people. In the case of other people, the shroud's lightness can mean that the disguise does not move correctly: with weighting, balancing and other movement unrealistically replicated which can be a dead give-away; moving in an unconvincing way. As such, if replicating a person acting is required on the part of the wearer – weighting, motion, inertia and body language all being important and dead give-aways. Disguises are always larger than the wearer, meaning for example an IDSOL is not going to be able to replicate a small L'manel – wheras the L'manel may replicate the IDSOL with limited success.

If on a moving vehicle, the shrowd may appear to wobble, but should otherwise resemble another object or element of that vehicle.

The shrowd can be outed or revealed quite easily by someone familiar with its limitations: Failures of detail in uniforms (example, rank) are a common error in disguise mode replication. Another is that in texture mode, the texture will not always update appropriately (for example vaporous dye or phosphorous, changes in weather conditions).

The fastest way to usually out a shrowd is to send a high voltage current through it (such as a tazer) which will blister the disguise making it drip and ooze, slowly melting.

When the system is shut down or a disguise is abandoned, the previous disguise ablates: hardlight vaporizing into smoke and ash as it decays back into conventional light. A smart user can take advantage of this to make an exit or deny the enemy an accurate shot.