Armor of Tiamat
The Armor of Tiamat is a set of powerful armor pieces crafted from Tiamat's first children, the five original chromatic dragons. As such, the armor has a strong connection to Tiamat and can serve as conduits for magic to summon Tiamat, potentially freeing her from her chains in Avernus.
All six pieces of the Armor of Tiamat were rediscovered shortly before and during the Great Dragon War. Today, the pieces are scattered between the Prime Material Plane and Avernus.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Though the pieces of the Armor of the Chromatic Dragon are different in form and function, each piece shares certain similarities. The pieces are all made from dragon scales of their original chromatic dragon type. The pieces can resize to fit their wearer and, once put on, melt into the skin, replacing parts of the wearer with that of a dragon, in the case of the greave, the helm, and the gauntlet, or causing dragon parts to grow, in the case of the cloak or the belt.
With mastery and proper attunement the pieces can also grant their wearer many benefits, such as the ability to revert back into normal looking armor pieces, the ability to breath fire, poison enemies, coat weapons in acid, and so on. Extreme mastery can also allow a wearer to transform temporarily into a chromatic dragon, though doing so risks succumbing to chromatic dragon's evil nature.
The Breastplate of the Chromatic Dragon is an exception to the others. The breastplate was created from scales of the five original chromatic dragons, therefore the various dragon's natures conflict, preventing the armor piece from fusing with the wearer. Despite this, it radiates powerful evil energy and still serves as a magically enhanced piece of armor. In addition, the breastplate can channel magic directly to Tiamat, making it the only piece required to have on hand when attempting the summon the dragon queen.
Since the reappearance of Armor of Tiamat, scholars have wondered what would happened if one person were to wear all six pieces at once. Though only theory, most scholars agree that such a combination would be too powerful to risk creating.
Significance
The Armor of the Chromatic Dragon was forged following the realization that the age of dragons and giants was ending and the age of humanoids was starting. The pieces of the Armor of the Chromatic Dragon serve as a way for humanoids to continue their worship and reverence for dragons and potentially be used to free Tiamat from her prison in Avernus. Despite this, the vast majority of the pieces of the Armor of the Chromatic Dragon were lost to time prior to the late 1400's, having been dismissed as a myth by most scholars.
Following Don Rel's reformation of the Cult of the Dragon, a massive, continent-wide effort was launched to locate and acquire all the pieces of the armor. Over nearly two decades, all pieces had been located by the cult, save for the Gauntlet of the Black Dragon, which was found by the Breadwinners adventuring group.
The pieces of the armor changed hands many times during the Great Dragon War. During the Battle at the Well of Dragons, Don Rel attempted to summon Tiamat with the only pieces of the armor the cult had left: the Breastplate of the Chromatic Dragon, the Helm of the Red Dragon, and the Belt of the Green Dragon. However, the ritual was stopped by the Breadwinners, confining Tiamat again tothe Nine Hells.
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