Not all shields are created equal

“You need one of these boards!” Brohdan the shield-merchant called again, waiving toward her stall. “You know your guard is predictable. It’s boring! Surprise your foes with one of these strong slabs! Spend a coin today, save your life tomorrow!”

The market was awash with mercenaries assembling for the Lake Wars. They poured through the stalls buying up every scrap of kit. The neighboring stall was doing brisk business in arrows—“Elven-made, I swear it on my mother’s grave!”—but Brohdan hadn’t had a customer all day.

No one wants shields these days, Brohdan thought to herself. Everyone wants to be a stealth-archer.
Then Brohdan saw her first customer. A true campaigner, the tall man approached with a polearm over his shoulder and a sword at his side. The sword had a beautiful, glittering scabbard, but the man carried no shield. When they made eye contact, Brohdan knew her luck had just changed.

“I will… Just stay quiet,” the warrior said, though he seemed to speak to no one. It isn’t unusual for battle-worn veterans to talk to themselves, Brohdan thought, but she made a mental note to add helmets to her inventory next season.

“We demand to see…” the warrior paused before starting again. “I demand to see your finest shield! I have for trade this bill-guisarme, old but fair-crafted, and proven in the Lizard Wars.”

Brohdan was surprised that a campaigner would give up his polearm, the mark of a professional soldier. The man’s comfortable grip on the haft spoke volumes of his experience with the weapon. But the answer soon came in the mutterings shared between the warrior and his sword.

A magic sword. Brohdan thought. No, a cursed sword. It’s jealous of the polearm and making him get rid of it…

Brohdan wondered if the man had any training with sword-and-shield fighting. She briefly considered fetching a cleric. A merchant shouldn’t take advantage of someone in such a state. Then she smiled and pulled back the curtain of her stall, revealing a line of magnificent shields.

Contents

• A cute little story about a shield merchant
• Six historically accurate shields, except one which is based on Captain America:
  • Spiked Shield
  • Notched Shield
  • Throwing Shield
  • Pavise
  • Cavalry Shield
  • Tower Shield