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I am your new friend, ornately adorned,
With a prime seat at the table and manners to match.

I was summoned from the vault for destruction,
And in purity, purify.

But should I join with another, don't let it rain on your parade -
Smile big for the camera!

Who am I?

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  • $\begingroup$ Sounds chemical... $\endgroup$
    – Brent Hackers
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 21:22

3 Answers 3

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I think you are:

Silver (Ag)

Because:

This element sits on the 47th place in the table of elements, which is a prime number. Silver is clearly our "friend", because many people carry ornamental accesories made of it (jewellery). "Summoned from the vault for destruction and in purity, purify" maybe means when Silver was used as a material to produce bullets, and Silver ions is used nowadays to purify water. When you say "should I join with with another, don't let rain on your parade" maybe you could be talking about the Copper-Silver ionization, used as a water disinfection agent. Finally, "smile big for the camera" might be giving us a clue of the uses of Silver in photography: films, photo printing papers and batteries.

Hope it's not too far!

Full solution

I am your new friend, ornately adorned,

There's a song which goes "Make new friends, but keep the old. / One is silver, the other is gold." "Ornately adorned" refers to fancy jewelry and accessories.

With a prime seat at the table and manners to match.

Number 47 (a prime) in the periodic table of elements. Fancy place settings have lots of silverware, and knowing which fork to use is important etiquette.

I was summoned from the vault for destruction,

History trivia, silver was borrowed from the U.S. Treasury for use in WWII weaponry, including the Manhattan Project.

And in purity, purify.

Silver nanoparticles are used to purify water.

But should I join with another, don't let it rain on your parade -

These lines are both about silver alloys. Silver iodide is used to seed clouds to produce or attempt to redirect rainfall.

Smile big for the camera!

Silver mercury alloy is used to fill cavities, and film uses silver nitrate or silver halides.

And the title: "A Rhymeless Riddle"

"Silver" does not have any perfect rhymes in English

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  • $\begingroup$ Correct answer :D Not what I was hinting at with the vault and rain clues though (forgot about the bullets, actually!), and there's still a few that I hoped someone would pick up on. I'm pretty new here, should I wait to accept or just add the rest of the answers? $\endgroup$
    – user812786
    Commented Jun 4, 2016 at 0:43
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks! If this is the answer you had in mind, you can go ahead and accept it - if some details are missing, you can just edit my post to make it fit your ideas! Upvoting it is also helpful. Oh, and great puzzle by the way!! $\endgroup$
    – Jose Lopez Garcia
    Commented Jun 4, 2016 at 0:45
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks :) I added the rest of the answers I was thinking of, hope that's ok. Of course, feel free to edit it how you like! $\endgroup$
    – user812786
    Commented Jun 4, 2016 at 1:02
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Maybe-

hydrogen?

With a prime seat at the table and manners to match.

prime number in the table of elements?

I was summoned from the vault for destruction, And in purity, purify.

reactive and can seperate compounds when in its pure form?

But should I join with another, don't let it rain on your parade -

combines with oxygen to make water/rain.

Smile big for the camera!

used in ye-olde photography maybe?

My subject knowledge is shockingly bad...

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  • $\begingroup$ You're definitely thinking along the right tracks, but this isn't quite it - there's also a few clues you missed that don't work with this answer. (To be fair, I did do a little research to fill out the lines, but it's not very obscure and/or is easy to find, once you know what you're looking for..) $\endgroup$
    – user812786
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 22:10
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I am too new to comment, but the correct answer did not note that

silver iodide is used for cloud seeding

and regarding destruction:

Ancient Greeks used silver to 'destroy' bacterial infection

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  • $\begingroup$ Just added to that answer, you are spot on with the first! Nice interpretation on the second too, I am learning all sorts of new things through this :) $\endgroup$
    – user812786
    Commented Jun 4, 2016 at 1:03

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