Hero's Hauberk

Description

This heavy armour is usually fashioned from mithril or steel infused with orichalcum and weltsilver. Alloying the base metal with these two materials in the right quantities helps to give the armour its defensive properties, enabling the wearer to keep on fighting even when badly wounded. The dragonbone, although small in volume, is a crucial element of the enchantment, helping to bolster the fortitude and strength of will of the bearer allowing them to endure pain and injury that would stop a bull in its tracks.

After Wintermark joined the Empire it become common for wealth Thanes to present a suit of hero's hauberk to a young warrior who has recently passed their Test of Arms, or when a warrior gains their name from a scop. The gift is a recognition of a person's worth, an indication that that the Thane values their service so much that they want to ensure that the recipient can fight alongside the hall's other warriors even if injured.

Runesmiths who craft Hero's Hauberk are usually careful to remind whoever acquires it that the armour won't stop them getting wounded, only from feeling the effect of the wound. There are cautionary tales of warriors who dropped dead suddenly after a battle having failed to visit a grimnir because their Hauberk allowed them to ignore the traumatic wound they had received.

Rules

• Form: Armour. Takes the form of a suit of heavy armour. You must be wearing this armour to use its magical properties.
• Requirement: Any character can bond to this item.
• Effect: You gain one additional rank of endurance. The armour counts as a source of spiritual strength for overcoming roleplaying effects caused by traumatic wounds.
• Materials: Crafting the Hero's Hauberk requires seven ingots of orichalcum and two measures each of Weltsilver and Dragonbone. It takes one month to make one of these items.

Runesmith's Law

This magic item is part of Runesmith's Law rather than Imperial Lore. Any Wintermark character with the artisan skill can learn to make this item. Before they are able to do so they must swear a powerful geas, and if they later leave the nation they lose the ability to make this item.

Hufi worked the pestle back and forth around the mortar as he expertly ground the dragonbone into a fine powder. "Watch carefully Sanna, the finer the powder, the stronger the enchantment." He passed the pestle to his apprentice "You need to keep grinding until you cannot feel the grains between your fingers. It should feel like the smoothest dust when you rub it between your fingers. Only then can you be confident that your work will see the year out."

Sanna groaned and her face fell as she looked down at the mortar, and the rough clumps of dragonbone that half-filled it. This was going to take hours. She half regretted not drawing the short straw. She'd been ebullient when Kai was assigned to sweeping the forge. Now she was not so sure.

"The Thule used to mix a drop of the artisan's blood with the dust to form a paste. We'll be using a weltsilver amalgam because we're not barbaric idiots - but you can use a child's tears if you're short of weltsilver."

"Really?" Sanna stopped rotating the pestle and looked up at her teacher in surprise, her jaw half open.

Hufi burst into peals of laughter. "No, not really. Now, stop looking so miserable and get to work."