The Cymbal Shield
"Strike it once, and you may never strike again."
The Cymbal Shield is a masterwork of Viridite craft, a rounded buckler capable of deflecting blows that would shatter castle doors. Its surface gleams faintly with a verdant luster, dense, glossy, and alive with the hum of captive resonance. Gold and silver accents frame the shield's expanse in rings across its face, forming concentric ripples of design that mirror its purpose, to take sound, vibration, force, and return them magnified a hundred fold. Originally wrought by the legendary Forgemaster Sten of the Giants; A war-smith who's works are said to have armed ten-thousand folk. The shield was made not as commission, but as his personal defense, forged of the magick steel born from The Fall's calamity that destroyed his people's home and sent the world into the Schism; He carried it himself, his greatest work and tribute to his people, into long, hard battles one after the other. It bore him through dozens of brutal fights until at last he fell to a rival champion, their duel ending in mutual death when the Cymbal Shield’s deflection shattered his foe's weapon into storms of steel, leaving only blood and an echoing cry like shattering the brass instrument from which it takes its name. The buckler was looted from their corpses, beginning a long cycle of inheritance and bloodshed that continues in stories told today. To the wielder, the shield feels nearly weightless in the hand, resonant but never straining. To their enemies, it is catastrophe incarnate. Strikes deflected upon its surface rarely end in stalemate, instead, the force rebounds in a vibrational bloom so violent that weapons splinter, arrows disintegrate, and steel hammers burst into shrapnel. Those who bear it often “suffer from success,” for each parry risks turning the enemy’s force against them in the form of an explosive fragmentation that kills attacker and attacked alike. One of its more personal flourishes remains a narrow locking slot at the grip’s side, designed to sheath Sten’s favored dirk. With a flick, he could draw the blade from the buckler itself, turning defense instantly into counterattack. Later wielders often ignored this feature, but among Giant historians this detail is remembered with reverence, calling the weapon Omendahl’s Legacy, a relic born from the viridite veins unearthed when Tarmahc was shattered and the lands of Omendahl sank beneath the sea.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
A buckler in form, but built for the massive Giants, making it a reasonably sized shield when wielded by smaller races such as Humans. It's predominantly recognizeable qualities are less-subjective:
- Resonant Deflection. Any impact is perfectly absorbed and redirected. The shield turns force into vibrational energy, exploding outward in a cymbal-like concussion that shatters the attacking weapon.
- Perfect Parry. Unlike ordinary shields, no recoil is felt by the wielder, every ounce of energy is carried away. The wielder may stand firm even against charges from giants or siege-strikes.
- Collateral Harm. The shield cannot distinguish friend from foe. Explosions of resonance often kill attackers, but nearby allies, or even the wielder themselves if caught in the shrapnel storm, suffer equally.
- Eternal Hum. When not in use, the Cymbal Shield hums faintly, a low note like a plucked string that never ends. Striking it while idle produces a gong-like thunder heard for miles.
- Dirk-Slot Counter. A narrow locking slot near the grip holds a short dirk, originally Sten’s personal blade. This allowed him to parry and then counter in one motion.
Manufacturing process
Forgemaster Sten alone could fashion such a relic. Drawing viridite ore from the veins exposed during Tarmahc’s cataclysm, he smelted the green metal within forges bound to leylines, using silver inlays as stabilizers and gold tracery to “conduct” vibration across its rings. Legend claims he struck the shield to shape with hammers wrapped in silence-runes, each blow guided by the rhythm of war-drums. When it was quenched, he dipped it not in water or oil, but in the blood of fallen soldiers, binding its resonance to the chaos of battle forever.
History
The Cymbal Shield was first raised by Sten himself during the Schism, carried by the smith as both his personal tool of war and proof of his craft. Wielded with a hand axe and the dirk it was designed to hold, he became as much warrior as forgemaster, unassailable on the front lines. His end came in a fateful duel against a rival champion, when their clashing strikes detonated into a storm of shrapnel that killed them both. The shield was taken from the ruin of their bodies, passed to another, and then another. Each bearer repeated the cycle: triumph bought with reckless collateral death. Over centuries, it became a cursed prize, locked away in reliquaries, stolen by warlords, or hidden by fearful rulers. Among Giants it is remembered as the last echo of Omendahl, a reminder that even defense, if made perfect, can become destruction.
Significance
To historians, the Cymbal Shield is proof of viridite’s powerful, and dangerous, potential. To warriors, it is the ideal parrying tool, a buckler that can stop even a dragon’s claw. To rulers, it is a nightmare, a relic that could slaughter armies by accident. Some covet it for its artistry alone, for its rings are said to sing when the wind strikes them. Others whisper that to hold it is to hear the heartbeat of Tarmahc itself, still grieving beneath the waves.
Creation Date
Forged during the Schism, c. 12-20 CA, decades after the Fall and the cataclysm that destroyed Tarmahc.
Rarity
There is only one Cymbal Shield.
Weight
11 lbs, unusually light for its size, owing to viridite’s resonant density and Sten’s unmatched craftsmanship.
Dimensions
32 inches in diameter with a thickness of 1.5 inches at center, tapering to 0.5 inches at rim balanced to allow rapid deflection. It also possesses a narrow dirk-sheath embedded in the grip’s inner lining.
Base Price
Beyond value; kingdoms have bartered armies for rumors of it.
Raw materials & Components
- Viridite Core: Master-forged, smelted amid leyline fire.
- Silver Inlays: Channeling bands along concentric rings, focus of resonance.
- Gold Filigree: Ornamental but functional tracery amplifying vibrational bloom.
- Rune Inscribed Wooden Grip: Shock-resistant, prevents wielder’s hand from shattering.
- Dirk Slot: Reinforced slot for insertion and locking of a short blade.
Tools
- Leyline-bound forge fueled with resonance chants.
- Silence-rune hammers to prevent premature resonance.
- Silver chisels for concentric groove etching.
- Dirk-fitting molds shaped into the grip.
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