Berserker's Sneakthief Shoulderguards of Balthazar

Berserker's Sneakthief Shoulderguards of Balthazar catch the lamplight with a brutal, almost predatory gleam, plates hammered from darkened steel that glow faintly red where the burnished edges catch the firelight. The leather beneath is a deep, stubborn burgundy, stitched with coarse thread and carved with sigils that look as if they were etched by a blade’s own shadow. Brass filigree traces the seams, and the shoulders court the eye with a cruel flare, as if ready to sweep aside more delicate armor in a single, furious arc. A hidden latch, unassuming to the untrained hand, rests along the inner curve—a discreet pocket designed for a dagger or a whispered tool—so the gear could be trusted to carry secrets as easily as steel. The texture bears the memory of many campaigns: a warm copper warmth on touch, a whisper of oil from long nights in the forge, and the tiny scuffs that speak of brutal rushes through crowded streets and siege-torn alleys. I found the set in a dim corner of a harbor forge, where the air carries soot and the stories of mercenary tongues. A veteran blacksmith spoke of the moment the armor earned its name: Berserker's for the berserker’s heart, Sneakthief for the man who could surge forward in a storm of steel and slip away while the smoke still curled from the battleground. The shoulders seemed to breathe with both ferocity and cunning, as if they housed two souls who never agreed on the pace of a fight—one pushing for a thunderous charge, the other urging patience until the right moment to strike with precision. The lore stitched into the metal ties the wearer to Balthazar, god of war and blaze, whose fires burn both bright and blinding. It is said that the gauntlets were tested during a breach that turned a fortress from a monthly omen into a whisper of defeat for the defenders, and the wearer’s fury kept the line intact long enough for a cunning flank to finish the job. In gameplay terms, the Shoulderguards are a badge of dual purpose: they grant the raw power and crit-driven brutality of Berserker’s gear while retaining the Sneakthief’s edge—the ability to threaten enemies from the front while slipping behind their lines to puncture from the flank. They feel like a hinge between two strategies rather than a fixed creed: charge with roar and then retreat into the crowd, snake a hand behind a shield, open a secret pocket, and redraw attention with a feint that leaves a trail only the sharp-eyed will follow. It’s the kind of armor that invites a player to write a larger story around a single climb, a single duel, a single signal flare that changes the course of a skirmish. Prices drift through the market like smoke, and the Saddlebag Exchange is where those stories are priced in coins and reputation. A seasoned trader will test your breath and your bargaining edge, sliding a gaze over the bronze-clad sigils and weighing the promise of a bargain against the wear of war. The going rate, spoken low enough to disappear into a tide of crates, sits in a handful of gold pieces for a piece of such history, yet a careful buyer might drift away with a trifle less by trading a tale of recent victories or a known deed in the field. Either way, the Berserker's Sneakthief Shoulderguards of Balthazar remains—a heavy reminder that power worn with cunning can bend a battle into a legend, one breath, one step, one pocket at a time.