Windsong is a suit of magical plate armor created on Earth by an alchemist and a warlock in 83 AD. The purpose of this armor was for its wearer to be given warlock-like powers or, if already a warlock, to strengthen them ten-fold as well as make him fearless. Sir Talnon of the Meadow, a renowned dragon slayer and warrior, wore the armor during Arthurian times in Scotland. As a tradition, the owner of the armor passed it on to his greatest apprentice who showed the most goodness in his heart. So, the lineage of the armor is not strictly paternal and is difficult to trace. Records of Windsong cease after about 500 AD until the time of the Crusades in the early 1200’s.

During the Fourth Crusade in 1202, the crusaders rerouted to plunder the Byzantine Empire instead of attacking Jerusalem. A hero of the times, Sir Selmond of Bradinshire, was on the crusade and was the owner of Windsong. Disgusted with his comrades and the crusade’s corruption, he gave up his life as a knight and joined the holy order. Over his life he wrote a great many books about the infidelity of the crusades and in one, he outlines the following:

"Defeated in my soul and body from years of the torment of battle, I cast off the shackles of my life as a so-called defender of the faith and donned the truest armor I was ever to wear: the vestments of a priest. I forever cast off my sword, my shield, and even my beloved and holy Windsong into the sea and out of the grasp of mortals…"

Little did Sir Selmond know that even though it was beyond the reach of mortals, his armor still interested the gods. An archangel, weeping for the loss of such a holy warrior in Selmond, took up the armor from the sea. He placed upon the Windsong a kind of curse, making it both dreadfully powerful and equally deadly to its wearer. He placed it back on the mortal plain after Selmond’s death and it has drifted ever since.

The Windsong, now sometimes called Selmond’s Tears, is a spectacular suit of silver and gold plate armor that never blemishes, rusts, scratches, and can never be destroyed. It also makes the wearer a master air warlock, giving him or her all air spells (levels 1-8) at the ability of a third level warlock. Furthermore, it doubles the duration, damage, effect, etc. of all spells that are already known. So all effects are either third level, or double the original, depending on the spell knowledge of the wearer.

There is a downside to using the Windsong. Every time an elemental spell is cast, 1D4 points of damage are permanently taken from the player’s hit points. This damage is permanent and totally unrecognizable until the character is significantly down. When the character is at less than half of his original Hit Points, the character will start feeling sharp twinges of pain after every spell cast. When Hit Points are at one quarter, the character will start feeling something like a sharp blow in the head every time a spell is cast. By the time the character is at ten percent of his original Hit Points, the pain becomes unbearable and totally incapacitating. There is only one cure for this: stop using the armor. Hit Points will recover as the character gains levels of experience, but the lost points are gone forever.

Note: the player character should not know that his Hit Points are decreasing unless he figures it out for himself. GM’s might also want to include an addiction to the armor’s immense power.

Windsong, a.k.a. Selmond’s Tears
Full magical plate armor
AR: 18, any strike over 18 hits the character
SDC/MDC: Indestructible
Special Effects: Gives the user all air elemental spells (1-8) at third level strength. Also, if the character is an air warlock, double all ranges, damages, durations and effects of spells already known.
Special Bonuses: +50 PPE, character is immune to horror factor (these existed even before the curse)
Penalties: Spell casting takes 1D4 HP in the manner described above. Optional save versus psychological addiction 13 or higher for every round in use. Supernatural creatures (MDC) can not use Windsong.