Hawkstone's Bulwark (Magic Shield)

The ranger Hawkstone bore this shield in his war against the giants of the Great Glacier and the beast-men (ogres) of Thar. Sometime after his death, his grave was violated and all his treasures stolen, among them the blade Durelva and his shield, known in ballads as Hawkstone's Bulwark. It is generally believed that Hawkstone won this shield from the hoard of the black dragon Yrindoth. Its origin is as unknown as its present fate.
The shield is a single slab of 2-inch-thick, polished steel. It is a beautiful shade of blue, fine metal, unique in its quality in the Realms. The usual two straps on the back are of black bull hide, and it weighs no more than a wooden shield. It has the abilities of a shield +2, and upon command, the shield grows magically into a bridge. (The command word, known through lore but not written anywhere on the shield, is “Bulwark.”) The shield will disappear from the bearer's possession and reappear at the start of the following round as a 5-inch-thick span of fine steel, 2' wide by 60' long. Its length is not variable, and the change is not always automatic: if the command word is spoken when the Bulwark doesn't have enough room to expand, the power simply fails to function. The bridge extends out in the direction the bearer is facing, beginning just in front of the bearer's feet. Once placed, the bridge cannot be moved (although it can be shrunk back into a shield and re-expanded in a different location). It will support up to 5,000 pounds of weight at one time. Exceeding the weight limit causes it to collapse back into a normal shield (see below), leaving the creatures and objects upon it without any visible means of support.
If the weight capacity is not overshot, the bridge remains in that form for 33 days, or until the bearer of the shield holds onto one of the straps and titters the reverse command word “Krawlub” (When in bridge form, the shield's straps are located on the top surface of the bridge, at either end.) The shrinking process works essentially the same as the expansion process-the bridge disappears when the command word is spoken, and at the start of the following round the Bulwark reappears at the bearer's feet in shield form.
No magic short of a limited wish, alter reality, or wish will cause the bridge to shrink, shift, break, or otherwise move (although the ground on which it rests could well be affected by disintegrate, dig, or similar spells). The bridge conducts heat, electricity, and other similar forms of energy, and in such respects acts as normal metal does.
Category:Encyclopedia Magica Magic Items
Category:Magic Items
Category:Magic Shields