Golden Brooch of Warding

Type	Accessory
Discovered By	Charlotte Grancourt
Discovery Date	17 June 2007
Discovery Location	Arempos, Far East
Abilities	Prestige +1
Current Owner	(unknown)

Golden Brooch of Warding

Item was made by a sage who required a Cracked Sapphire, Rare Woodland Flower and Quality Leather. The location was Arempos. Item was given to Charlotte Grancourt. Item gives +1 prestige. Condition was 91% when made.

The History Behind the Brooch

Ethiala was usually a quiet place. Of course, wars had been fought at the borders since the realm was started, but this is much like any realm. The people were generally happy to belong to such a realm and enjoyed living their lives. They went about the markets hunting for bargains, or selling their own hard work for pittence, but enjoying it all the same.

One such family had been mending fishing nets for some time. It was their family occupation, family business, and indeed their life. They originally had come from Lantzas, in a small village near to the river running between it and the city of Lasop. After years and years of living in Lantzas, passing their skills in finshing net mending down through the generations, they had become rich enough to expand their little business.

Part of the family, lead by a particularly skilled member decided to move to another region and set up their business there. They hoped that by doing this they would have a monopoly onthe market for fishing nets, as the region they planned to move to was called Arempos. It was a landlocked region, but the family had done some research and found that many of the families went on fishing trips to the river. Setting up in Arempos would tempt more peasants to take the trip.

However, Arempos was known to be a much more dangerous place than Arempos. It was a badlands region, and had been known to attract groups of monsters and the living dead to its innermost parts. The head of the family had therefore wished some protection for his daughter who was starting the business there. Taking some of his wealth, he approached a wiseman. Some call them sorcerers, but this was the local healer. He asked the healer what he could buy that might offer protection from the undead and monsters that roamed the countryside in order to keep his daughter and business safe.

The shaman studied the man, and found him to be honest. He really cared for his daughter, and for the survival and spreading of his family. The Shaman agreed to help the family. Searching through some of his valuable posessions, kept in locked chests around his house, the healer found what he was looking for. Taking a small golden brooch from a purple velvet cloth he began muttering some words and moving the brooch through the air in wild circles.

After a few minutes of waiting patiently , the man saw the Shaman turn around.
"Friend, brooch is yours. Safe keep no lose or protect go. I give, you take for noble family for loving daughter. It keep safe her."
"What exactly does it do?"
"Friend, Golden Brooch of Warding make warn you when bad beings be near. You not know how warn, but warn it do. Make sure wear brooch when alone or not seeing all or dark around. Brooch not save, but keep away you from bad."
"So it keeps you safely away from any bad things that may be around?"
"Friend, that is said I! Brooch be good, keep safe daughter from bad. You take, i give."
"And what do i owe you?"
"Friend, you man good. Free gift, take brooch for daughter. She make family proud, Lantzas proud, fishing proud, you proud. I see it, your eyes show. Money no matter, but love do. You keep, i give."
"Thank you, thank you! If you ever need a net...well, if you're ever hungry...hmmm if you need anything...well, i will be eternally grateful to you. Thank you so much. You are a good man!"

And with that, the man took the golden brooch in the purple cloth back to his daughter to give as a parting gift the very next morning. Tears were shed over the departure, but the man was safe in the knowledge his daughter your be protected.

The Brooch is Lost

For many generations, the brooch was kept within the family in Lantzas. Their fishing net business thrived, and their wealth accumulated. One day, not so long ago, one of the daughters of the man now in charge of the business in Arempos was out picking berries with some of her friends. At 14, she was not old enough to go out alone, so she had two friends with her. As they searched for nuts and berries in the heart of the region, they came across an old man.

He was huddled over a dying fire, his tent behind him, and he was taking things from a small pack and studying them for a while before putting them back into his bag. The girls approached him, asking if he would like some of the food they had collected. He told them to sit around the fire, and so, giving him a handful of nuts and berries they did sit. He began to tell them stories of knights, monsters, even dragons. The girls listened to his stories, thrilled by the entertainment. It had been a while since they heard a good one. All they got was the same one every night about this stupid brooch that never did anything.

The man began to talk to them about a special item he had come across. He said it was called "Gwendolyn's Garter". It was said that the item when worn would make any man fall instantly in love with the wearer. Of course, the girls bought every word. The old man told them that he had the garter in his possession, and would be willing to trade it with the girl for the pretty golden brooch she had. Without hesitation, the girls agreed to the exchange and hurried back to their town to test it out.

The old man chuckled to himself, holding the brooch he had longed for since he had known about it. It was now his.

Charlotte Meets The Old Man

It had been a fruitless day of searching. Charlotte and her old friends who she had recently met up with in Arempos had been scouring the outskirts of towns and villages for anything worth having. Not having much luck, Reika had gone into the town with Kuri her raccoon, and Darimad was off gazing at the local girls again. Charlotte headed back to their campsite at a small pool in the middle of a clearing in a nearby wood. It was made by a natural damn in a small stream, and was large enough to bathe in. She was looking forward to a quiet bath, when suddenly she stumbled across an old man in trouble.

The man had somehow got himself stuck inside a hollow tree. Upon questioning, the man said that he had ran into a group of foul creatures by mistake. Not having his staff with him, he immediately ran for safety. Clutching the only two thinigs in his posession, a golden brooch and small rucksack he hand ran off into the woods, the monsters following. Finding a particularly dense section of trees he had found a hollow tree and hidden inside it quietly.

The monsters came by not soon after, laughing an evil laugh as they taunted the man in whatever language it was they spoke. Harsh gutteral sounds escaping their disgusting lips. They could not see the man, but they could smell him. After a couple of hours of fruitless searching, the monsters had smashed a few trees in their anger of no supper and wandered off to terrorise someone else.

When the man had tried to get out of the tree he had found himself stuck. Not wanting to shout, in case the monsters came back he hat to wait it out. That was when Charlotte had arrived. Now he was begging her to free him. He even offered her a beautiful golden brooch he was cluthing if she would set him free. Charlotte left to find her rucksack and small axe. Returning to the tree, she began to chop at the tree, being careful not to hit the man. Eventually she had hacked enough of the hole away for the man to climb out shakily.

He thanked her profusely, even kneeling before her and kissing her hand. Pushing the brooch into her hand, he thanked her again and skipped away into the woods. Charlotte picked up her bag, and carefully put the golden brooch inside. It was only then that she noticed her Cracked Sapphire, Rare Woodland Flower and Quality Leather were missing. Still, it seemed a fair trade to her, for the brooch was beautiful. The most beautiful thing Charlotte had ever seen.

The Brooch

Charlotte studied the brooch once she had got back to camp and washed. Taking it out of the fabric the man had given it to her in, she rolled it over in her hand. The underside was a sturdy pin made entirely of gold with a very oldfashioned hinge lock to fasten it in place. The pin was also rather thick, sure to make holes in whatever clothes wore it. This obviously had belonged to somebody able to afford plenty of clothes! Charlotte thought to herself. Looking at the front, she saw tiny images engraved into a reasonably flat oval shaped face. On closer inspection, she saw that the patterns were actually made out of tiny fragments of jewels.

While she couldn't make out any of the inscriptions around the edge of the brooch, she noticed that the picture in the middle, still entirely made out of gems embedded in the gold, was a scene she knew well. The picture showed a group of undead, and a group of monsters closing in on a small child, her mother bravely standing between them. The mother was wearing a brooch, almost identical to the one Charlotte was holding, and between the groups of monsters, undead and her, the ground had begun to split.

She had heard about this brooch she remembered. It was a legend all over the continent. She really hoped this was the real thing.

The New Owner

Charlotte had never seen a city so big as Remton before, and already she had attracted attention. Her two unique items had caught the aye of a very noble lady indeed. The Queen of Arcaea, Trinity had personally contacted Charlotte, saying that she would be interested in purchasing one of her unique items.

Charlotte explained that the scroll wasn't in very good condition, and the Queen might not be able to read it, so it would probably cost more in the long run. She did however explain that she also carried a very beautiful brooch. The Queen was instantly attracted to the golden pin, and agreed to the price of 10 gold and a recommendation for Charlotte.

After the exchange, the Queen thanked Charlotte graciously, leaving her with a piece of paper with some black scribbles on (well that's what it seemed like to Charlotte!) and 10 gold pieces. What a busy day it had been!

Charlotte will attempt to keep track of the location of the item. And possibly help Trinity to repair it whenever the brooch wore down somewhat.