Memorial Ribbon

Aura moderate abjuration; CL 7th
Slot shoulders; Price 7,500 sp; Weight —

DESCRIPTION

This finely woven silk ribbon is intended to be tied around the upper arm, shoulder, backpack strap or cloak clasp. Though available in any color, many are chosen to represent a person, community or cause the wearer wishes to honor. The ribbon never frays, fades or stains, regardless of age or weather.

While worn, the Memorial Ribbon grants the wearer a +2 competence bonus on Concentration checks and saving throws against enchantment effects that would compel them to abandon, betray or willingly harm an ally.

Once per day, if an ally within 30 feet would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, the wearer may immediately move up to their speed toward that ally as an immediate action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity and ignores difficult terrain, though it cannot pass through solid barriers or otherwise impossible terrain. If the wearer ends this movement adjacent to the ally, they gain a +2 sacred bonus to AC and saving throws until the beginning of their next turn while defending that ally.

The ribbon serves as a reminder that remembrance is not passive. The greatest tribute to those who sacrificed themselves for others is to continue protecting those who still remain.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, remove fear, shield other; Cost 3,750 sp + 300 XP

LORE

The origin of the first Memorial Ribbon has long since been lost, though nearly every culture tells a remarkably similar story. In times of great tragedy, survivors would tear strips from the garments of those they had lost, wearing them not as symbols of grief alone, but as reminders that the virtues of the departed deserved to live on. In time, magic found its way into the tradition, transforming simple cloth into a powerful emblem of remembrance.

Unlike medals or titles bestowed by rulers, a Memorial Ribbon cannot be earned through ambition or purchased through wealth. It is almost always given freely by one person to another, carrying with it the memory of someone whose courage left an enduring mark upon a family, a community or an entire nation. Many are embroidered with names, dates or simple patterns meaningful only to their wearers.

Bards often remark that while statues honor the past, Memorial Ribbons honor the future. They remind each new generation that sacrifice is not an invitation to endless mourning, but a challenge to live with the same compassion, conviction and selflessness shown by those who came before.

KELWYN'S NOTES

"There exists an unfortunate belief that remembrance is something accomplished in silence. We gather before monuments, bow our heads, speak familiar names and then return to our ordinary lives believing our obligation fulfilled. Such ceremonies have their place, but memory without action fades into sentiment.

This ribbon teaches a more difficult lesson. Every thread asks whether we have truly learned from those we claim to honor. The finest memorial is not carved from marble nor cast in bronze. It is found in the quiet decision to help another because someone else once helped you.

I have seen warriors wear these ribbons beneath polished armor where no one else could see them. I have watched healers stitch them into their robes and sailors knot them around weathered wrists before venturing into impossible storms. None wore them to display grief. They wore them to remember the standard they wished to uphold.

The dead ask very little of us. They require no praise, no offerings and no monuments grand enough to touch the heavens. They ask only that the kindness, courage and sacrifice which defined their final moments do not end with them.

If this ribbon possesses any magic beyond the enchantments woven into its silk, it is this: every time its wearer chooses another's well-being above their own convenience, another invisible thread is added to a tapestry stretching across generations. Though no eye may ever see that tapestry in its entirety, I have little doubt it is among the most beautiful works ever created."