OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a standard shield for the Danari Kingdom
- Image Source: Image Source
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Danari Kingdom
- Affiliation: Danari Kingdom
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: N/A
- Modularity: No
- Production: Minor
- Material:
- Vanheim Steel
- Leather
- Wood
- Classification: Shield
- Weight: Heavy
- Resistances:
- Energy: High
- Kinetic: Average
- Lightsabers: Average
- Other:
- ION/EMP: None
- Elemental: Low
- Vanheim Steel
- Deflective: The thin coating of Vanheim Steel across the surface of the shield, along with the central solid Vanheim Steel piece, gives the shield a deflection quality. If held at the proper angle, incoming blaster bolts can be deflected away from the shield, and sometimes back at the wielders enemy. When not deflected, the blaster bolts will simply crash against the shield, scorching a section but not breaking through.
- Bulky: The Vanheim Shield is large, capable of covering an entire mans body should they crouch down. Add this to the weight of the Vanheim Steel used in its construction, and the Vanheim Shield becomes a bulky, heavy object to use in a fight.
Every year, when the Danari people come to the Temple Mount in the major settlements of the world, a ritual is carried out. Before the Temple of Bolnair, every warrior recently elevated within the Jarl or Earls army forms up into two columns on either side of the temples entrance. They stand in just their small clothes, no matter the weather, and remain in this position overnight, with their lord present at the head of the two columns. As the sun rises and casts its warming light across the assembled warriors, the temple doors open. For months before hand, the priests of Bolnair ad worked day and night to create a new batch of Vanheim Shields, each one painted in the colors of the Earl or Jarl, and stored within the temple until the day of the ceremony.
In their charcoal colored robes, the priests of Bolnair emerge from the temple, each one carrying two shields. They go down the line, giving each new warrior a shield and charging its care and integrity in battle to that warrior. This process takes several hours, and a choir of priests of Tovanir, the Danari God of War and Honor, sing the songs of their deity over the event. At the end of the ceremony, the two columns of warriors lock ranks into shield walls, and hold a mock battle. Crowds of spectators come to see this part of the ceremony, and it is a great time for the people to see their children, so recently turned adults, fight for the honor of their gods and lord. After an arbitrary amount of time, the lord of the settlement will call an end to the battle, and a feast will be held for the warriors.
Vanheim Shields are only ever made for these ceremonies, unlike Vanheim weapons which are forged on a case by case basis. A Danari Earl or Jarl must keep this in mind when in battle, for the shields they are given each year are all they will receive, and great care is spent to care for them, and retrieve them should its wielder fall in battle.
