Armor of the Autumn Kings [3e]

(Due to time constraints and a two-year old sitting on the sofa with me, this entry will be slightly revised and enhanced to S&W style...later.)

Armor of the Autumn Kings
+4 chain mail armor of strength.

Properties: +4 enhancement bonus to Armor Class; +4 enhancement bonus to Strength (one point of enhancement bonus to Strength becomes an inherent bonus to Strength each time the wielder is reduced to –1 hit points or lower as a result of melee combat and subsequently regains full hit points. Conferred inherent bonuses are retained if the armor is lost or destroyed.)

Description: The Armor of the Autumn Kings is a full suit of chain armor, including leggings and coif. The armor has the properties of fine steel, but the metal is colored a dark, rusty red-brown. Repairs made to the armor take on the distinctive coloration within a week. An amulet fashioned into the symbol of the Autumn Kings, a longsword point downwards superimposed over an oak leaf, likewise pointed downwards, is fastened to the right shoulder and cannot be removed.

History: The Autumn Kings first ruled a small kingdom in the Shalanwode, near present-day Shalaen, in the years between the retreat of Illendia and the beginning of Amerite rule. Amatheir invested the line of the Autumn Kings with governorship of the existing domain during its rule, and when the Empire withdrew from the borderlands, the Autumn Kings took up their former title with nary a blink. Sadly, the Autumn Kingdom lasted only another century before falling to an orcish horde from the Sarn highlands.

The Armor of the Autumn Kings was forged late in the kingdom’s life, by the half-elven crown prince Mierillinar Forestforge. Mierillinar dedicated his life to uniting the nature-oriented, independent druidic traditions and practices common to the Autumn Kingdom with the metallurgic skills and feudal structure of the growing Woodmarch kingdoms. His quest was cut short by an early death, and his armor was passed onto his son, Anturaen the Red, the last of the Autumn Kings, who fell in battle against the orcs.

The armor has circulated throughout the Shadowend region since that time, appearing periodically over the centuries. The armor is rumored to be drawn to descendants of the royal line; certainly it has shown an uncanny knack for remaining in the region, despite being acquired, at various time, by a Vanar raider, a prince of the Hundred Kingdoms, and a Behrunian merchant-adventurer. Whether this is more than coincidence, however, is still a mystery.