Hunter's Splint Coat

The Hunter's Splint Coat is a weathered shield of leather and steel, its panels of aged hide stitched to slender bands of tempered splints that travel from shoulder to hip. The leather bears the patina of long treks through thorn and rain, a quiet mosaic of scuffs, burn marks, and the occasional knife-thin scratch from a hunter’s camp. Its color—a dark river-brown streaked with coppery shine along the rivets—drifts into gray at the edges where sun and weather have gnawed at the seams. A hunter’s sigil is etched on the left breast, filled with a pale green enamel that has dulled over years of travel, like a compass that has seen too many horizons. Touch the coat and you feel the texture: the outer leather is slick with oil, smooth to the palm, while the inner lining is a coarse weave, warm against the skin. The splints themselves are light but unyielding, a lattice that keeps a blade from biting through without turning air into a shield. The heft settles in a quiet way, as if the garment inhales with you and exhales only when you pause. In the right light, the stitching glints like a line of small teeth, a reminder that this coat was built to endure, not merely to endure appearances. Lore whispers that it was woven by forest rangers who trained to move as one with the trees, folding metal and hide into a single breath to survive ambush and pursuit. Some stories say it was issued to a caravan guard who outran ruin through a rain-soaked pass, every scar on the coat a map of a missed trap and a hard-won escape. Whether myth or memory, the Splint Coat carries that lineage in its weight and in the way it sits on the shoulders, ready to answer the call of a hunt or a stubborn night on patrol. In the world of play, the coat is more than ornament; it’s a reliable partner for those who ride the line between stealth and skirmish. Its defensive heft makes it a sturdy choice for hunters who stride into brush and ambush locales, yet its design preserves mobility—allowing a quick draw, a pivot, a step back into cover. It favors builds that hinge on balance: steady might and precise timing, conditions that reward both patience and courage. Worn with the right accessories, it can amplify resilience without surrendering the agility a ranger or scout relies on in a difficult pursuit. The Splint Coat does not shout its power; it whispers of endurance and steadfast tracking, a quiet chorus for those who study wind patterns, animal tracks, and the pulse of a distant march. The market breathes its own life into the tale. On a dawn at Saddlebag Exchange, the coat hangs beneath a canvas awning, its copper rivets catching the first light as traders haggle over leather’s scent and history. A broker with hands streaked in oil names a price that glides between practical and poetic, offering five gold coins and a worn amulet that once belonged to a mount keeper. The buyer weighs the offer against the coat’s stories, the sweat of the road, and the promise of more nights spent listening to the hush of pine and rain. In the end, the deal feels less like a purchase and more like a continuation of a quest—one more layer added to a life spent walking between danger and mercy, under the watchful, patient seam of the Hunter’s Splint Coat.