Shadow Armor

Gregory Antirel was one of the deadliest assassins in Vridara's early history. A blade for hire under Baron William Trinet, Antirel used his considerable skills to blackmail, murder, or steal anything or anyone to raise the baron in power. The assassin knew a good bet when he saw one, and whether Antirel did it or not, Baron Trinet would one day be king of Vridara.

The assassin was so good at what he did, because he knew both his strengths and his weaknesses. Antirel was perhaps not as silent or as invisible as he might have liked. Before he hired out under Baron Trinet, Gregory Antirel was well known in the Vridaran underworld, selling his weapons to whomever would buy them. The assassin knew he was good at killing, whatever the weapon.

While helping William Trinet rise through the ranks in Vridara, the blade for hire had several close calls. The amount of gold involved for a bid at the Vridaran throne entailed massive numbers of thugs, mercenaries, knights for hire, merchants' men, and other hired brawn. Gergory Antirel occasionally had to wade through a fair number of those hired brawn, regardless of how stealthy he was. Antirel was about to either up his price considerably, or retire from the game.

Duke William Trinet had the solution. During his bid for power, he had captured all of the Tolinet House, including a mage passing himself off as a chamberlain. The mage was not very powerful, but when the duke found out about the existance of a mage in the aftermath of the Inquisition, the duke spared no expense.

As the assassin had to use newer and more diverse methods of accomplishing his mission, Duke Trinet's personal mage gained access to stolen and cached books from before the Inquisition. The Duke's men managed to raid various churches or monastaries, where confiscated artifacts from the Inquisition were held, before the shaping of the Vaults. The items and books helped the duke's mage make considerable advances in understanding.

The mage, a Vridaran by the name of Dunstan Colithe, was not an exceptional genius. He wasn't a specialist by any means. Basically, he was a general-studies mage that was handed the books and works of men far more powerful and wise than he. Among the books he had access to were the shadowmancer Arkanen's, the transmuter Dalentar's, and the arch-sorceror Sadeleth Mordai's. Dunstan Colithe made quick work of the information at hand, shielded as he was by the duke's men and powers.

The duke himself managed to corrupt a fair number of men in the Church of Vridara, helping him to hide Dunstan Colithe's works. In return, the mage turned out items and spells for everyone in on the duke's pay, and casting magics to defend William Trinet from his adversaries. When the assassin Gregory Antirel outlined the reasons for his impending retirement, the duke frowned. Antirel had made himself the single most valuable man in the duke's employ, and could always be depended on. Thus, the duke outlined for the mage a new assignment.

Colithe became well-versed in the works of the men whose books he had, combining the words and works of all three into a new whole. His art advanced ten-fold, utilizing the highly analytical skills of Mordai's books, and transmuting para-elemental shadows through various forms. The end result, after close to half a year's intense study, at the exclusion of all else, was shadow-planar theory.

Dunstan Colithe postulated that the barriers between the worlds could be harnessed into near physical forms -- and that the absence of those barriers could take on physical forms. He mathematically defined a two-dimensional space that bordered on the barrier of para-elemental shadow. Some of the shadow-plane leaked through the barrier, very slowly, giving the two-dimensional space a wispy and sharp appearance, all at once. The planar form was constantly in a state of flux, yet it served as an effective barrier, similar to a phantasmal force.

The mage incorporated his shadow-planar forms into a suit of black-dyed leather. Because of the blackmail, danger, and larceny involved just in the research of the spells used, Colithe incorporated a two-tiered set of command words. The first command word tier -- the one that Gregory Antirel and Duke Trinet knew of -- activated and deactivated the shadow armor.

When the first command word was spoken, the leather would shimmer of darkness for a moment -- black over black -- and then angular, plane-defined black plate-mail would appear around the wearer. The two-dimensional shadow planes that made up the armor was nearly as effective as steel, but without the weight or the encumbrance. In addition, the black-within-black nature of the planes made it even harder to see the wearer in dark conditions, and helped to silence whomever wore the leather. The second command word deactivated the shadow planes.

The second tier of command words had a significantly different effect. Colithe never told either the assassin or the duke about the second tier, reserving it for self-defense -- should the assassin be turned on the mage. The other command words would activate and deactivate the two-dimensional planes over the armor, but the barrier border would not be with the para-elemental plane of shadow. The planar border would be with the para-elemental plane of light. In effect, the leather armor would light up as bright as the sun, blinding anyone nearby, and giving away the location of the wearer to everyone in the area.

Antirel wore the armor for several years without ever knowing the second tier of command words. William Trenit became King of Vridara in the intervening years. To keep the peace with the Church, and keep the priests off his back, he arranged for Dunstan Colithe to be 'discovered' by the Inquisition. The books of Arkanen, Dalentar, and Sadeleth Mordai were returned to the Church, as well as the books that Colithe had written. Colithe's panicky defense killed several Inquisitors, and the Church brought in several monks and paladins to take the mage down. The mage was put to death rather quickly, never revealing his secrets or the second tier of command words.

Antirel eventually did retire. (Not long after his retirement, King Trenit's bloody reign ended as a more noble and just man took the throne.) The shadow armor, and the other shadow items the assassin had, were locked away until his death. His family, not knowing the trunk held such magical items, and unable to open it by any means, kept it for several generations. When Brevit burned down in 1320 Avard, the trunk was thought lost, though it was actually just buried beneath debris.

A member of the masonists' guild found the trunk, and tore the lock off. The trunk was well built, so he kept it -- and tossed the shadow items into the gutter, where they washed into the sewers. A beggar-thief found some of the items deep within the sewers, and used them without being aware of their special properties for several years. During the War of the Undead, a wraith found the beggar-thief's body, and recognized the inherent nature of the items. The items were then turned over to the death knight Variss, who used them until his defeat high in the Avris Mountains by the paladins of Yatindar from Kur Maeth. The shadow armor was then turned over to the Rakoran mages for safe keeping, during an exchange between the Kur Maen government and Rakore.

The Shadow Armor acts as leather armor +1 when worn. All black and well-oiled, the leather garmet is fairly well enchanted, sealing tears and rips if given enough time; in addition, the armor did not penalize a thief's ability to Hide in Shadows or Move Silently as normal leather does. Colithe was looking ahead to the time when the assassin gained a few pounds, when he made the leather adjust size to fit the wearer. When detect magic is cast upon it, it glows of para-elemental shadow and transmutation magics. When the activation command word from the first tier of command words is spoken, black mist appears to rise up around the leather, forming sharp, hard planes that define a full suit of plate-mail, complete with gauntlets, boots, and an open helm that doesn't restrict the wearer's vision. With the shadow plate active, the armor functions as full plate +1 against weaponry, yet feels and acts like leather for the wearer. The activated Shadow Armor also increases the wearer's ability to Move Silently by 5%. His Hide in Shadows goes up by 10%, save when in near darkness; then the Shadow Armor bestows 70% invisibility. The second command word deactivates the plate, and the hard planes of the armor soften, and then are sucked back into the leather.

The second tier of command words activate and deactivate the extremely bright aspects of the armor. When active, it still functions as full plate +1, while wearing as leather. The wearer is effectively blind, however, as is anyone within 35' of him. Infravision, supravision, and most other forms of vision are rendered inoperable as well. The brighter armor still allows the wearer to Move Silently with a +5% bonus, but his Hide in Shadows becomes impossible. The second command word can shut off the bright aspects of the armor. It should be noted that keeping the armor bright for too long (1d10 rounds) can render the wearer permanently blind unless healed of the malady.