Swallow - The Possessed Armour

On the picture: Aratos losing control to demon Zaharihn lurking inside the magic armour Swallow

Magic armors are artifacts of high demand for adventurers and especially valued by everyone who benefits from their defensive properties. Fighters, paladins, knights and others who use defensive garment  will seek for a powerful items during their quests and adventures. Every single piece of armor will bolster their defence and will benefit the party as the users will be able to protect them better. Usage is usually extremely simple. Most of these items are meant for people who are not  adept in deciphering mysterious characters so their power activate simply by wearing them.  Sometimes the wearer is not aware of all their powers until they test their finding in the field and rarely some magic properties activate in certain conditions and usually they are beneficial to the wielder. Although in some cases the armour is something more than just an item...

Enter Swallow. An artefact that emanates with power, to the finder who is able to wear it, it will appear as the most beautiful armour ever created, others will see it as a powerful magical item indeed but still just an usual magical item. This should give some of the folks a hint there is something mysterious about this piece of equipment but the finder will reject any mentions of leaving it behind or getting rid of it, even questioning item’s doubtful source of power is like a sin to the most zealous cleric. The immense magical properties are indeed alluring and definitely some of the powers were infused into the metal in traditional way when masterful armourer together with skilled spellcaster join their efforts to create a potent artifact .

The truth behind the powers which are not so obvious is a different story...

Swallow was a name given to a certain notorious demon by other of his kind. His true name is Zaharihn the Obsessed and he was one of these entities who relished in devouring everything weaker than them. According to Zaharihn himself the true delicacy lies within the soul of mortals, especially the ones with resolve. The true flavour is drawn out of their souls as their resolve breaks when they fight against their inevitable end and this creates the ultimate nourishment.

Zaharihn has come with a devious plot. Together with his brother Ourabhar they have travelled to the realm of mortals with a help of a demonologist, Mabar the Blind who did they promise immortality and the unbelievable might. Demonologist opened a portal for demonic twins and his body was immediately stolen by Ourabhar who took it as a shell so he would be able to stay in the realm for a longer period of time. Zaharihn on the other hand stayed in his demonic form and requested from his brother he demanded Mabar’s followers  to create a vessel for him in a form of an magic armour. After the item was deemed as satisfying the demon abandoned his physical form and entered the artifact.

Ourabhar who now act as Mabar told his follower to take the armour to one of the cities and sell it as an magical item that was found in the ruins. Shortly after Ourabhar hired a band of bandits to attack the caravan which was taking Zaharihn to the settlement and promised them they can keep everything they find. The outlaws didn’t think too much and went away with money to prepare an ambush. Not only they got gold for the job, they could also keep all the belongings of the caravan. But this was not a final step of demonic twins plan. Few days after the transport was robed and its crew killed “Mabar” visited the settlement himself, changing his form with his magic, pretending to be an owner of trading company and offered a pile of gold to anyone who can clear the tracks from bandits and retrieve stolen goods.

The plot went well. Group of adventurers came to town as the rumour spread. They were searching nearby forests and caverns in order to find bandits hideouts clearing them from dangerous beasts, goblins, bandits and other small time villains. Ultimately the goal was achieved by a group calling themselves The Silver Hammer lead by a paladin Aratos of the Bronzewalls. The party brought back all the items found in the bandit hideout including the “armour”. Ourabhar acting as a trader showered them with gold but refused to take the breastplate as he claimed it wasn’t a part of stolen goods, instead he insisted the group will take it as a part of the prize. Aratos did not oppose and took the artifact as he was charmed by its beauty.

Aratos quickly adapted the part of this defensive garment as part of his equipment and was bestowed with inhuman strength and stamina. Rest of his group was a bit sceptical about how much time paladin spends to care for his new possession but they thought he will get over it with time given.

Days have been passing and The Silver Hammer went to accomplish more of their goals helping folks around the kingdom. With new tools in possession it was almost trivial, Zaharihn bestowed Aratos with unique powers time to time like being able to breathe immobilizing fog or shooting lightning from his hands. At the same time demon was whispering the tainted truths into paladin’s dreams, appearing as a celestial, messenger of gods. urging him to act to reach his goal, telling him about evil that lurks in the shadows of the world, waiting for a best moment to strike the defenders of the people where they expect them the least. He told him about Mabar the Blind and his plot to bring more demons to the world.

Paladin gather his companions and told them about visions he dreamt about. The Silver Hammer agreed it is a time for them to end the plot of the demonologist and they began their quest to find the evil mage’s hideout. When they have arrived at The Sallow Murk, a local swamp just as they could see ruins of an ancient reptilian temple the demon was ready to strike. Zaharihn revealed his true colours and partially transformed the breastplate with part of paladin’s body into his huge gaping mouth. Multiple eyes emerged on both sides of the head and a long scaly tail with numerous venomous stings erupted from Aratos’ back and two huge horn grew from the head just above human shoulders. The Obsessed opened his mouth widely showing a huge slimy tongue covered in warts among his enormous pointy teeth and exhaled vast amount of his immobilizing vapour. Paladin although struggling against demon possession lost control of his body and could only watch as his party slowly fell to their feet. Not waiting long Zaharihn broke all their limbs so they could not escaped and called for his twin. The party was taken to the hideout and the demons had feasted for days making paladin witness the horrors. At the end Aratos begged demons to end his life knowing he no longer can act against them though he did not want to become a tool to their ploy.

They had a different plan for him, they have gathered more sacrifices so they could use their souls to put a curse on a paladin making him unable to speak of the demons nor act against them, also he could not take his own life. Aratos became a puppet of demonic twins to gather unsuspecting parties who were supposed to defeat the Mabar and end his plot with only one conclusion at the end. The twins both feast on the mortal souls to this day and no one yet found about their hideous game. The only thing that have changed was the wearer of the armour whose soul will ultimately be devoured by Zaharihn the Obsessed whenever he will think it had matured well to be consumed.

 Remember: Do not pick up everything which lies around in a dungeon and don't take gifts from strangers!