Rune Shield of Valselle (Rune Shield):


Lady Valselle backed up as the two Gigantes circled her. The incredibly deformed creatures stood over twice her height and likely weighed twenty times as she did as well. Suddenly, a large club cam swinging down. It was almost a tree trunk and appeared that it actually weighed more than the woman they were circling did. While the club missed, all it would take would be one of their blows to strike her and that would be the end.


Dressed in the armor of a knight, she carried a light sword along with a large kite type shield. Mystic runes could be seen, deeply carved into her shield, but they would do any real good. Parrying one of these clubs, even though the shield itself would not be damaged, would break the arm underneath.


She appeared to not understand that and as the club swung down again, she held out her shield to parry the huge weapon. The cudgel struck the shield and the shield did not appear to move even a hair width. The blow jarred the arms of the creature and it almost dropped its club. The stun of the creature was as much from the surprise of the tiny figure being able to parry the blow of the massive club as energy rebounding back into the arms.


For what seemed like endless moments, the creature did not move. Before it could recover from its stun, the light sword swung out from the knight, striking the deformed giant just below the groin. It dug deep and blood spirts from the wound. From the amount of blood streaming from the deformed monsters leg, she had managed to hit a major artery.


Suddenly fear could be seen in the eyes off the creature. It was not fighting a normal human. The Gigante tried to limp away although the blood loss was causing it to weaken by the moment. As it backed up, it looked around to see what its companion was doing. The other creature was also staying out of sword range from the human woman.


As it continued to back up, there were two large columns which still stood intact. The fight had started in a half ruin, probably from the Elf and Dwarf War from a couple of generations before, and the roof was on the verge of collapse. It was likely that the ceiling was only still surviving due to the surviving columns.


The injured Gigante motioned to one of the columns as it prepared to swing the huge club against the other support column. Both cudgels hit the stone pillars within moments of each other. The stone shattered and the columns began collapsing. Both deformed giants jumped from the ruins before the roof began collapsing along with the supports.


The stone blocks of the ceiling seemed to fall in slow motion but there was no way that the female knight could get out from the falling rubble before the building completely collapsed. She held the kite shield above her head. The Gigantes consisted it a move of desperation and there was no way she was strong enough to resist the tons of stones falling against her. In moments, dust from the falling rubble completely obscured the creatures sight of the knight.


When the dust began to clear, it appeared that Lady Valselle was completely buried in the rubble. Suddenly the creatures saw the rubble shift and the woman began climbing from a hole in the rubble. There was a hollow where it appeared that she had sheltered from the collapsing stones. As she pulled herself from the hollow, it was clear that she was covered in dust but she appeared to no be injured at all from the falling rocks.


What would it take to kill this woman knight.



Legends tell that it once belonged to a knight named Valselle the Defender. These same legends tell that she was a human knight who lived in the lawless times just after the fall of the great Elven Nation. The knight was one of the few who kept a kingdom relatively peaceful during the times which followed. Unlike some other historic figures, virtually all scholars support her existence as a real person. Where and when the shield came from is unknown although some tales tell that the shield was made by one of the last great rune smiths specifically for her just before they died. Some scholars consider it more likely that the magic shield was truly ancient, long predating the Elven Kingdom, but was rediscovered after having been lost for untold millenniums.


The shield only has a single power beyond those of a lesser rune weapon but it is a very unusual power. The enchantment is such that the shield can resist any blow against it when the wielder braces the shield. These can include the blows of a giant with supernatural strength, the impact of a siege weapon, and even the collapse of a stone building around the wielder. There is even a tale of Valselle holding the shield against an avalanche. There have been various wielders of the shield after Valselle but not have ever reach her historic status. It has also been lost several times, for over a century in one cases, but was rediscovered each time. Several major quests were mounted for the item and many have died in adventures for the rune shield.


The rune shield appears to be made from blue grey metal which has a slight gloss to it. It is a large kite style shield but for some reason feels lighter than one might expect. It is incredibly well balanced and is trhe equal of any shield ever made. Deeply carved into the face of the shield, in a ring, is a series of large runes. This surrounds the symbol which appears to be a "V." Some consider that the letter is for Valselle but not all agree. Of course the shield shows no signs of wear even though it is at least seven thousand years old.


All rune weapons possess souls of their own and this rune shield is no exception. This one appears to be fairly low key and not often giving suggestions. Most often these suggestions are in the form of feelings than actual thoughts. Some wielders have claimed to feel thoughts from the rune shield although this is discounted by some scholars. As far as what Valselle felt, no one really knows. There is a sense of honor in the shield and as a result, it will only bond to those of principled and scrupulous alignments. It is not a nobles sense of honor but more of a sense of honor to help the weak and powerless. The possessor will get the urgent feeling from the shield that they must help another in some cases.


The Rune Shield of Valselle has all the more common abilities to rune weapons including that the shield will bond to a wielder within six months of being in contact with each other. Like virtually all rune weapons, the shield can be used as an effective weapon although primarily designed for defensive uses. The main enchantment, as mentioned previously, is that the shield can parry any impact. The enchantment appears to work by freezing the shield in one place when braced. As a result, it is not the wielders strength which parries the blow. The freezing of the shield is only as long as braced and the wielder can move the shield just as quickly as a normal shield could be used. As well, the shield cannot be let go and have it continue to act as a barricade.


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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).


Copyright © 2007, Kitsune. All rights reserved.


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