Artifact-Grade Curiosity

Witness

Heavy Steel Shield

Every trial needs one. This one has seen all thirty-eight.

Item Statistics

As catalogued, at slightly less personal risk than its counterpart, by the Verod Antiquities Registry.

Armor Class Bonus

+7 (+2 base heavy steel shield, +5 enhancement)

Shield Bash

1d4 × Str modifier, bludgeoning, rarely necessary; Verdict tends to end the conversation first

Weight

~15 lb.

Composition

Forged steel, lined with Aequorite, the same alloy as Verdict's haft and Iüdex's own armor, and the only known reason it hasn't warped from decades spent a few feet from a live core of Explodaminium

Engraving

The Scales of Iüdex in gold leaf, flanked by sun, moon, and orbiting stone, said to catch starlight even in total darkness

Attunement

Not required.

Granted Powers

Passed down with the shield, not printed on it. You just have to know.

Discern Lie (At Will). While the shield is raised, the wielder may cast discern lie as the spell, at will, no components required.
Wardstone of Chaos (Constant). The wielder gains a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against chaos-aligned spells and effects.
Reflection of the Scales (1/day). As a free action, immediately after being struck by a melee or ranged attack, the wielder may force the attacker to reroll that attack and take the worse result.

Origin

As best the temple archivists have been able to piece together.

Witness is said to have been given to Monitor alongside Verdict, on the day Iüdex named him his Grand Judicator of the Eternal Scale, hammer and shield together, judgment paired with testimony. The pairing was meant as a balance in itself: Verdict to render the verdict, Witness to see that it was warranted first.

Whether that balance held is a matter the temple archivists decline to comment on directly. They will, however, note that Monitor has carried both without setting either down since.

"A shield that sees the truth is a mercy. A shield that only ever agrees with the hand holding it is something else entirely." Magistrate-Historian Ovelle Dunn, "An Incomplete Study of Things That Should Not Be Thrown"

Current Whereabouts

As of the last confirmed sighting.

Witness remains at Monitor's side, exactly where it has stood since the founding of his order, raised alongside Verdict, and, as far as anyone can tell, never once set down.