Complete and combined sets of armour are well known. Much less well known is the set of magic items that the bard queen Sophietta collected during her days as a thrill seeking adventurer. Sophietta became famous for her matching red and silver ensemble and her mantra of looking glamorous even when dungeon crawling. Now an old woman, she wants to recombine the set and gift it to her granddaughter as she sets out adventuring. The set is far more powerful than she needs, but it’ll keep her safe and it would be embarrassing if she got killed by rats on her first quest.
The Dress
A dark red, the magic within allows it to be shaped and tailored into whatever style is most appropriate for the setting. The mithril fibres in the weave means it functions like a mithril shirt. It also has provides a minor resistance to cold and heat, so you can look fashionable and not feel the weather. The centrepiece of the set, was on a short loan from Sophietta as part of an exhibition of famous clothing. After a break in at the museum it’s likely one of the smuggler barons has it in a private collection.
Earrings
An enchanted pair of silver studs with rubies. On activation, the wearer can always hear what up to five people are saying, no matter obstacle or volume as long as they are within 300 metres. Requires the blood of the speaker be spilt on the rubies for them to be attuned to the earrings for one month. Gifted to a friend who then lost them to inheritance tax when they died in the catacombs beneath the city of Fallmouth. The Fallmouth Bureau of Secrets now uses them for intelligence gathering.
Boots
Red leather, they can be rolled up or down to adjust the length. The spike heels and reinforced toes give the wearer additional unarmed damage and an extra 4 inches of height. The heels fold away when the once a day haste or balance enchantments are activated. Left in a sinking bog when they became stuck in the mud whilst escaping from a tribe of bog men. A bog hag was seen recovering them from the muck.
Bag
A large clutch made of red leatherwith two long straps so it can be worn as a small backpack. It’s covered in zips and small pockets and enchanted with an exceptionally powerful holding spell. Sophietta has the bag, but an errant spell from a wizard has sealed all the zips inside out. The zips can now only be opened from the inside.
Gloves
Mostly mithril plates mounted onto red leather shaped to accommodate any nail length. The fine plates cover and protect from the forearms down to the fingertips. If the user is dexterous enough, the gloves can be used like a shield to block attacks. The fingertips and palms have an abrasive surface that aids with climbing. An angry guard captain confiscated the gloves getting his face raked during a bar fight in the county of Bellweather.
Hairclip
Made of silver and adorned with rubies it unfolds into a comb and brush. It can magically remove and store up to a kilo of dirt, mud and blood before it needs to be emptied. It went missing in the belly of a Grand Tunnel Worm during delving beneath the Mountain of Holes. Sophietta doesn’t like to talk about that day, saying only that it was sticky.
Belt
A dwarven crafted object of red leather and weird iron plates. The plates are strongly attractive to all other metals, allowing up to five metal items to be stored or held on the belt. Stored items are easy to reach and take for the belt’s wearer, but anyone else will find it very difficult to take an item. An iron golem was secured to the tomb doors it was guarding with the belt but the automaton was too heavy to be removed afterwards.
Necklace
A simple elven design in silver with rubies that by itself is simply pretty jewellry. If in the presence of the complete set it provides a glamorous bonus to the wearer’s charisma and increase the power of all spells that require the subject to be paying attention to the caster. Thanks to a desperate piece of fast talking Sophietta traded the necklace in exchange for her life to a red dragon that had taken a particular dislike to her.
Ring
The newest item in the set, the ring is, as you’d expect, silver with a ruby set in it. When worn and activated it produces a thin red line that points for up to fifteen minutes towards the nearest piece of the set. Once an item is touched by the ring, the ring no longer tracks it. Sophietta gives the party the ring as they leave.
Backstory
The matching jewellery was a gift from an elven prince on the occasion of his and Sophietta’s wedding. The rest of the set Sophietta has collected in the previous five years. She kept the set together for another five years of dungeon delving before she started to lose pieces. After the hairclip became the final piece of jewellery to be lost, Sophietta took it as a sign to settle down with her elven prince.
Lady Sophietta lives on a large wooded estate near the capital of the elven dukedom of Cinta Tavar. A very minor duchy, it’s a mostly titular holding given to Prince Hasartain as the youngest of several sons. Succession law means that the duchy will revert to the elven king on Hasartain’s death as his half-elven children won’t inherit. He’s endeavoured to use his limited means to make sure that they’ve actual careers and educations.
Sophietta will reward the players for the return of the red set. Having spent most of the adventuring treasure on improving their holding, there is no material reward available. Hasartain will give them a bound folder of maps that show the locations of at least two dozen old towers, castle and dungeons that he is reasonable sure are intact. Sophietta hands over a red leather calling card. She’ll tell them that it is good for one favour from any of the names listed on it. Some of the names are of powerful nobility and merchants.
Should the party decide to keep the red set for themselves, they can expect to hear from Prince Hasartain. A poor prince he may be, but he is still an elven prince and will not stand for the insult. He and his wife’s favour network will turn against the party. Prices will increase, service will be refused, guards will become even more unfriendly and a message demanding the return of the set at least once a week. Ignoring these for too long and wanted posters issued by the elven king will start to appear, offering an expensive reward. The party can expect to be chased by increasing numbers of bounty hunters. The party will also find they have been magically branded as Enemies of Elves.
Image Credit – Red Leather by Alison Curtis – CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0