TheHoverpope/StandardUnflinching
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The Standard Unflinching
Rating: 0000
Material: Orichalcum
The commander's flag is as much a weapon as his sword and his strategy; it is the symbol around which his troops rally when they are struck, and it is the thing whose advance signifies to the enemy that their final loss is at hand. The banner is more than a piece of cloth, more than an identifier; it is a symbol for the whole battle, for the whole engagement, for the war.
Never has that been more true than in the presence of the Standard Unflinching. The standard is a sashimono, the cloth of which is woven together from the singing earth where Lykkennan fell, from prayers that have been stolen from the unrighteous, from the souls of children's dreams of battle, and from the immutable truth of solar glory. The orichalcum frame from which the banner hangs is itself tall as a man, and the reflections that glint off of it show a perfect world, where the wounded are whole and the foul is gone, the world that the sashimono's bearer will bring to pass.
The Sashimono commits for three motes as orichalcum. When it is simply borne in the usual manner, the unit of the bearer reduces the difficulty of rout checks by 1.
Far more versatile and powerful is its second option. Planted in the ground, it bellows a message to the stars. The bearer writes on the banner, and his words sear into it with golden essence. Any writing or art, mundane or enhanced by linguistics or other appropriate charms, may be so inscribed, as long as it can fit in a 3x2 foot space. When the standard's staff is planted on the ground and the bearer spends eight motes, it lights up the sky with a monumental aurora of golden light, reproducing the message exactly, including any charms used, in mile-high text. This can be seen for miles around in day or night, and burns through cloud and fog like the brightest rays of the sun. Anyone who does not close their eyes cannot refrain from reading the text. This is a compulsion effect.
