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Cold Steel was made by the Gnomish weaponsmith Alos Talosar in 556 Avard. It was intended to function against red wyrms in general, but against one in particular. Talosar gave the armor to a Granite Clan sub-chief by the name of Khalad Stonefist to use against a local red wyrm that was due to rise. The dragon, Vasdarasalovich, was roused from his slumber early by the making of Cold Steel. The red wyrm laid a trap for Stonefist, and captured all of his band. Cold Steel lay in Vasdarasalovich's treasure hoard for centuries, until the dragon was slain during the Crusades. The red wyrm was killed in the field, and his treasure remained hidden for centuries yet.
Bandits hiding in the Mule Mountains stumbled upon the treasure by luck, and quickly divided the hoard up. Talmoch of Hudea took Cold Steel and several other baubles, including an amulet of warmth. Talmoch retired to some lands further west, and Cold Steel lay within his family for several generations. A tornado destroyed the family home sometime later, and the suit and amulet were lost for several centuries. The historian Jonasa tracked the suit of scale mail down sometime later, and sent a party of mercenaries to recover the armor, along with a pair of boots of the North. The mercenaries, led by McAbrich the Red, double-crossed Jonasa and decided to sell the armor in Kur Maeth, down river. McAbrich bought passage for himself and his mercenaries on the River Rat, a sloop owned by Captain Wyrnack. The River Rat went down on the Dreneb, with half the crew and half the mercenaries dying. Captain Wyrnack made it back to Kur Maeth, where his tale spread from tavern to tavern -- the rest of his crew perished in the jungles, and the mercenary group disappeared. According to the tales, the River Rat went down when she anchored for the night -- and then became locked up in ice; the ice flow shattered the sloop. The River Rat's estimated date of sinking was Vor 3, 1325 Avard, and was thought to lie a few miles south of the Duvin Forests within the Laekenala Jungle. Cold Steel is 'scale mail +3', including shoulder and leg greaves (bAC2). It weighs 26lbs, and is made of steel scales rivetted onto winter wolf hide. The wearer can cast cone of cold, ice wall, and ice storm once per day, each. The wearer becomes protected from fire as though wearing a ring of fire resistance. Weapons striking the armor have a one in twenty chance of shattering from the cold (saving throws apply). Unfortunately, the armor is too cold to touch or wear without some form of protection from the cold, such as boots of the North and the like.
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