The Shield of Bloodbriar

In ancient times, a mighty and bloodthirsty Red Cap chieftain, known as Bloodbriar, challenged the powerful Queen Mab. His punishment was swift and eternal: his spirit was ripped from his body and imprisoned within a shield. Bloodbriar was infamous for his cruelty and bloodlust, surpassing even other Red Caps. This darkness now taints the shield itself. The wielder still retains most of their original cultural heritage but they are “touched” by the Red Caps at the point of possession going forward.

 Wielding the Shield

Any player who takes possession of the Shield of Bloodbriar loses their 3rd level, 6th level, and 9th level cultural abilities. As the Red Cap's influence takes hold, the wielder's appearance and demeanor slowly begin to resemble those of the monstrous creatures.

 Once the shield is acquired it will not leave the possessor unless it is stolen or destroyed. If the possessor does not use the Shield of Bloodbriar at every opportunity then the spirit of Bloodbriar will become angry and take away all of the abilities granted by the shield and the possessor will look at the shields abilities and their cultural abilities.

The shield can be destroyed by certain abilities. If left in a destroyed state the spirit of Bloodbriar will slowly fade away. If repaired before dawn then the spirit of bloodbriar will remain.

Level 3: The player loses their 3rd level Cultural abilities and they are replaced with the following The possessor of the Shield of Bloodbriar can use the shield, even if their class or culture would normally not allow it. The possessor is now also considered a Fae for the purposes of plot, story, event, theme, and some abilities. The possessor can now hear the angry and insane taunts and ramblings of Bloodbriar in their head and can sometimes see Bloodbriar standing near them and talking, or taunting them. This should be role played out to the best of the players ability.

Level 6: The spirit of Bloodbriar, and his insanity, are even more pronounced now and harder to ignore. The possessor’s 6th level Cultural abilities are now replaced with the following Taunt: The possessor can now call out TAUNT. This must be called out and it means that once used all nearby attacking enemies must focus on the possessor and cannot attack any other members of the party. If another member of the possessors party does attack an enemy then that enemy may also attack the offender but that is it.

 Level 9: Bloodbriar and the possessor are now one and the same. The possessor now has the ability to only be harmed by cold iron weapons. This ability can be used six times a day (6x day) but cannot be renewed. Bloodbriar must rest overnight to regain this ability and it resets at Dawn.