by Ed Greenwood
The ranger Dzance found this shield in a
chest in the depths of Gauntulgrym, the
Lost City; its origin is unknown, but it is
thought to be of dwarven manufacture.
Dzance?s Journals tell us of the properties of
this item. When he retired from adventur-
ing to live in the Lady?s Court at Silvery-
moon, Dzance gave the Guardian to Belpir,
a young knight of that city. The new owner
forthwith went adventuring and has not
been seen since. The fates of Belpir and of
the Guardian are yet a mystery.
The Guardian is a ?+0 shield,? magical in
nature but conferring no armor class bonus
to its bearer aside from the one-place bene-
fit provided by any shield. However, it has
a special defensive power: when worn, it
radiates an insubstantial magical energy
field that envelops its bearer (and only the
bearer) like an aura. Any magic missile
directed at the Guardian?s bearer from any
direction ? not just at the shield ? will
strike this field and be reflected unerringly
straight back at the sender with no damage
to the shieldbearer.
This field also absorbs all electrical dis-
charges of natural or magical origin, such as
shocking grasp, lightning bolt,
or chain
lightning, without harm to the bearer.
These attacks dissipate gradually and harm-
lessly if the shield is taken off, but if the
shieldbearer can bring the shield into physi-
cal contact with a foe within 4 rounds of any
such discharge(s), the entire stored electrical
energy of the field can be transmitted to the
foe (save vs. paralyzation for half damage).
The bearer will be made immediately aware
of this storage and discharge power when-
ever the field intercepts electrical energy.
When this discharge is activated by the
bearer?s will, there is a 30% chance that the
bearer and shield (but not any companion
creatures or foes unless direct, physical
contact is present at the time) will be plane
shifted to a random known plane of exis-
tence. This power will be unknown to the
bearer until it actually occurs; identify and
sage-lore will not reveal it.
| Dragon | - | Six Shields | - | Dragon #89 |