Valiant Plate Mail of Protection
| Type | Armour |
|---|---|
| Discovered By | Stilgar Harkonnen |
| Discovery Date | 12 November 2009 |
| Discovery Location | Jerkel, Atamara |
| Abilities | Prestige +5 |
| Current Owner | Botok Bibitor |
Soon after it's discovery the adventurer Stilgar Harkonnen presented this armour to Janna Da Hadez of Norland, at this time the Baroness of Shiverwood and Marshal of The Army of Odin's Spear, as a gift.
The armour itself consists of ornately engraved breastplate, backplate and pauldrons of an unknown metal that looks much like dull copper or bronze. The engravings are faded but along with arcane runes and sigils of unknown origin scenes of some great, forgotten battle can clearly be seen.
Janna had her scribe record Stilgar's story for posterity..
"I found the Valiant Platemail of Protection, two weeks ago, guarded over by an abomination of the most vile nature. I had gone to Jerkel, chasing undead, and seeking to destroy them utterly. As I neared a particulary barren valley, I started to encounter steadily increasing numbers of them, wave after wave the ragged minions of undeath came towards me, so I traveled towards them, and by the score, their bones were battered as they fell prey to the ministrations of my blade. A small undead army lay at the foot of that pass, waiting, their empty sockets ablaze with unholy fire as they sensed the flowing life force within me. I waded forth, waist deep in their shattered remains, the piles of bones lay before me, steadily mounting, a tide line of polished rocks on a particularly rocky beach.
Once the shambling masses were destroyed, I discovered a dark cavernous opening in the valley wall. Unearthly cries emanated from within, piercing the air with shrill cries of horror. I stepped into the cavern, the outer chamber was still slightly alight with the last rays of the setting sun. A foetid odor threatened to overpower me. With the stench of death permeating every pore, I fought to keep the bile in my throat from escaping. The light was quickly fading, and out of the depths of the cavern came a blackness, so complete, so threatening, that I was almost ready to turn back. I had defeated enough evil for one day. But then, I could of sworn I heard a voice, pleading. Resigned to the fact that I was surely walking into a trap, I quickly swallowed an ale, for strength, and courage, then struck a torch and descended into the blackness. The cries grew louder, and echoed repeatedly off of the chamber walls. The echoes grew fainter as I entered, and the torchlight flickered eerily to and fro, the chamber was opening. In the distance, a scratching sound could be heard, and a muffled crunching, like someone pounding gravel with a hammer. Hearing the scream intensify, and get even louder, from directly ahead, spurred me to action.
I threw the torch ahead of me, towards the noise, it landed on a pile of rags and the entire chamber was soon ensconced in dancing flames. Through the flames came a creature from nightmare, a giant bloated thing, with black voids where eyes should have been, and tentacles framing a gaping maw, it's black wings brought forth a gush of rancor, and the tips of its wings screeched as they scraped their talons along the stone roof of the chamber. The thing was holding a man's detached head infront of it, pieces of flesh still hanging from his chewing mouth, blood dripping sloppily from the tips of its tentacles. With a howl, it stomped the flames from the pile of rags, that must of been the decayed body of a previous victim. Only then did it look up, only then did I meet its gaze. For an instant, time froze, I felt myself falling away, into a Black Abyss where demons clawed and scraped for purchase on the fringes of my soul. The falling was replaced with a feeling of being torn apart. Then another screech from beyond registered and snapped me from my trance. The abomination was atop me, it's clawed hands upon my shoulders, tentacles wrapping around my head, probing for openings. Relieved from the initial paralysis I was free to act. Quickly my fell blade shot up, with the strength of a man possessed, and in fear of possession, I impaled its wicked length in the gaping maw of the horrendous beast, its tentacles lashed at my face, and its wicked claws tore at my flesh, I fell away retracting my blade, which was now covered in black gore. The last flickers of the torch sputtered out, and I felt the thing rush by me, out of the chamber and into the night. Suddenly the stench was lessened, and the chamber actually brightened, a malignant crushing force had been removed from my soul. I peered around the dimly lit chamber, finding bodies in various states of decomposure, several weapons, a small amount of gold, and there off to the side of the chamber, softly shining in the gloom of the cavern was the Valiant Platemail of Protection. I employed a sage to restore the straps and buckles, which had obviously been torn free when the abomination used it's massive claws to rip the armor from its wearer. Although it is not in pristine condition, it is a treasure indeed."
Somewhat later, Botok Bibitor of Darka, currently knight of Siebmar arrived before the gates of Brackhead together with the Darkan army. Being mercenaries hired by Minas Ithil they were going to make sure Norland would suffer heavily. There would be no prisoners in this campaign...
For days and days they fought against the brave Vikings, but the odds weren't in favour of the Defenders. Vastly outnumbered the Nobles in Brackhead were swept away by the Darkan troops. only a few of them managed to resist, together with the brave - however pityful - peasants of Norland.
One of these nobles was Janna Da Hadez. Even after 5 days of fighting she stood fiercly on the walls of Brackhead, enjoying the view of war and slaughter the way only Vikings can.
It was said however that one night Janna put the Valiant Plate Mail of Protection aside to treat some bruises she got during the battle, when her scribe - trying to save the pot of ink he dropped - in all his stupidity pushed the Plate Mail over the edge.
"We've looked almost everywhere Sir", the soldier said. "Ok then lads, go back to your tent", Botok replied, "Tomorrow will be another long day of fighting and it seems like those darn Vikings won't give up yet."
Before also returning to the camp, Botok stumbled somewhat further over the corpses when he suddenly heard a terrifying scream coming from the walls, shortly followed by a dull bang. Quickly he took his sword and went looking. There was a lot of rumour on the walls.
Botok looked around and in the light of the rising moon he saw a glittering piece of metal. Quickly he took it and went back to the camp.
When he glanced back, he saw someone climbing down the walls. It was Janna. Botok saw her searching for something she was shouting and cursing while she climbed back up.
