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Many of the old Ceardian families which were part of the founding movements of the early Empire pride themselves on their heirloom swords, handed down father to son across lineages, serving as a mark of legitimacy and ancestral honor. Despite that, over the centuries many of these weapons have disappeared to the ravages of time or war, leaving only a few concentrated in the fingers of the major Houses, even then more ceremonial pieces not allowed to leave their cases in heavily guarded rooms. An exception to this is Heartholder, the family plate armor of the Ceardian cultured House Love, which produced a large number of successful jousting champions across the decades who were famous in the Archipelago tournaments for their skill on the tilt. Despite this skill, House Love was never especially politically relevant, its sons spread out across the Knightly Orders or in petty low government roles far from the center of power or the light of the Crown. In something of a series of unfortunate events, the family's members were wiped out one by one in the wars of the early 300s, the last member Thomas - a Viridian - falling into some circumstance of trouble with the Tierraveran warlord Augustín Roca, and being slain by him in a duel. Despite killing him, Augustín returned his famous armor to representatives of the Order, who bequeathed it to Amber Norinn at her Knighting as a mark of accomplishment.
| Heartholder | |
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| Artifacts | |
| Name | Heartholder |
| Origin | Rosendale |
| Tier | Knight Collectible |
| Type | Armor |
Appearance
Heartholder is a heavy plate mail chestplate of burnished iron with iconography of a heart over the center with sunrays radiating out from it. The style is a curious intermediate point between Old Ceardian and modern Regalian, with the jagged linework of the etchings feeling a little Velheim in some senses, but the overall piece definitely not Velheim in nature. The part of it that sits over the wearer's actual heart is surrounded by mottled marks where Augustín punched through it to rip out Thomas Love's heart to kill him, since it had to be reattached by skilled forge-masters after who repaired the piece of armor. It has a high neck-guard which folds out to either side, and expanded shoulder pieces with floral bramble designs carefully marked on them.
Permanent Mechanics
Heartholder is a Knight Collectible Artifact. As an artifact, there are several rules associated with Artifact Ownership, see Artifact Page. It also provides the following Mechanics:
- Oh Yeah, Those Guys: Heartholder is recognizable to many people who jousted with or against the Love family, and is generally seen as a respectable token from a respectable house who had their time come too soon. NPC crowds at jousting events or tournaments in the Regalian Archipelago will always cheer for the Knight wearing it, perpetuating a folk legend that Thomas Love comes back from the dead to win tournaments before disappearing again.
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