Shield of the Hidden Lord
The Shield of the Hidden Lord is forged from pure mithral, inlaid with scores of tiny gems. The many rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds arranged into the obverse of the shield sometimes give the impression of a bestial face.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
While holding this shield, you can speak its command word as a bonus action to cause it to animate. The shield leaps into the air and hovers in your space to protect you as if you were wielding it, leaving your hands free. The shield remains animated for 1 minute, until you use a bonus action to end this effect, or until you are incapacitated or die, at which point the shield falls to the ground or into your hand if you have one free.
While attuned to the shield, you have resistance to fire damage.
The shield has 3 charges. You can use an action to expend 1 charge to cast fireball or 2 charges to cast wall of fire from the shield (save DC 21 for each). The wall of fire spell lasts for 1 minute (no concentration required). The shield regains all expended charges when the attuned owner takes a long rest.
History
While the exact origins of the Shield of the Hidden Lord are unknown, Faerûnian sages believe it was first used in a battle that took place in the Fields of the Dead.
In the Year of the Shining Shield, 889 DR, Duke Tithkar Illehhune joined the mercantile consortium known as the Knights of the Shield, bearing the mithral shield. He claimed the mystical artifact was a divine gift that heralded the group's ascension as a force to be reckoned with across the Realms. In fact, the archdevil Gargauth was using the shield to manipulate the First Lord of the Shield Council, and would continue to do so for centuries. Through the shield he imposed his will upon the group, involving them in a number of wars and conflicts that spanned all of western Faerûn. The shield remained in the possession of the Illehhune family as it eventually became the Hhune patriar family of Baldur's Gate.
Unfortunately for Gargauth, his ambition to attain divinity and create his own level of Hell drove Asmodeus to arrange the devil's downfall. Celestial powers subdued Gargauth and used powerful magic to literally transmute Gargauth into the Shield of the Hidden Lord. Though no longer a sentient creature, Gargauth's corrupting nature is so great that he could cause moral decay in the entire city he was in. Lying for decades in the Hhune family vaults, the shield contributed to the rampant greed and hate in the hearts of Baldur's Gate's residents.
In 1492 DR, Duke Thalamra Vanthampur used her knowledge of the Baldur's Gate sewer system to infiltrate the Hhune vault and steal the Shield of the Hidden Lord, with the intent to use it as a focus to send Baldur's Gate to the Nine Hells as had recently been done to the city of Elturel.
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