> [!infobox|wikipedia] > # Zephyr Cuffs > [![[Zephyr_Cuffs_small.webp|cover hsmall]]](Zephyr_Cuffs.webp) > ###### Basic Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Type | Item | > ###### Item Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Item Type | Wondrous Item | > Rarity | Rare | > Attunement | Required | > Origin | [[Shimmering Peaks]] | > Worn By | Peak gliders, [[Skyguard]] riders | > Materials | Etched brass | > ###### Status > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Status | Active | **Zephyr Cuffs** are a class of enchanted brass bracers from the [[Shimmering Peaks]], worn at the wrists and ankles to let their bearer leap from a mountain height and glide for miles on the wind. Born of a local high-altitude sport and prized by those who must cross the broken country of the peaks quickly, they trade the safety of solid ground for breathtaking speed — and demand nerve, for a glide once begun offers no second chance. ## Description #### Appearance A complete set is four slim bands of brass, two sized for the wrists and two for the ankles, each etched across its surface with fine aerodynamic channels that catch and shape the air. The grooves run in long feather-like sweeps around the metal, more functional than decorative, though the better sets are finished with enough care that they gleam like jewellery. Worn together the four cuffs are slight and unobtrusive, easily hidden beneath a sleeve or boot-top. The full set is bound by a single enchantment and so counts as one attuned item rather than four — all four bands must be worn for the magic to take hold. When charged, the etched channels carry a faint inner light, a quiet sign that the cuffs are ready to answer a leap. ## Properties The cuffs are dormant until primed. A wearer feeds a measure of stored magic into the bands, after which they sleep, ready, until the next full rest spends the charge whether it was used or not. Once primed, the magic waits for the wearer to throw themselves into open air. The moment a charged wearer is airborne, the cuffs can be made to catch the wind. The headlong fall slows to a gentle, controlled descent, all the harm taken out of the drop, and the downward plunge is bent instead into forward flight — a glider can streak across the sky at speeds approaching sixty miles an hour. The higher the launch, the farther the glide: a leap from a modest ledge carries a short distance, while a plunge from the great peaks can bear a flier miles before their feet touch ground. The flight is not without peril, and the danger is the same that makes the sport thrilling. The magic holds only so long as the wearer keeps moving through the air on their own terms. Anyone knocked senseless, bound, or brought to a dead stop mid-glide loses the cuffs' grace at once and simply falls. Foul weather and the threat of collision force a flier to fight for control. There is no safety net; the cuffs reward the bold and punish the unlucky. > [!note] Game Statistics > Wondrous Item, Rare (Requires Attunement). The set consists of four brass bands worn at the wrists and ankles, which together count as a single attuned item; all four must be worn. > > ***Spell-Charged Kineticism.*** As an action, you can expend a 2nd-level or higher spell slot to charge the cuffs. The charge lasts until you finish a long rest. > > ***Glide.*** While airborne, if the cuffs are charged, you can use your reaction to deploy them. Your descent slows to 20 feet per round, you take no falling damage, and you convert your downward drop into high-speed horizontal velocity (roughly 60 mph). > > ***Perilous Flight.*** If you are knocked prone, restrained, or reduced to 0 movement while gliding, the effect immediately ends and you fall normally. Extreme weather or collisions may require Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks to maintain control. > > | Launch Height | Glide Ratio | Travel Distance | > |---|---|---| > | Under 100 ft | 1 ft down : 2 ft forward | Drop 50 ft = Glide 100 ft | > | 100 to 499 ft | 1 ft down : 5 ft forward | Drop 400 ft = Glide 2,000 ft | > | 500 to 999 ft | 1 ft down : 10 ft forward | Drop 900 ft = Glide 9,000 ft (~1.7 miles) | > | 1,000+ ft | 1 ft down : 25 ft forward | Drop 1,000 ft = Glide 25,000 ft (~4.7 miles) | ## Origins and Culture The Zephyr Cuffs are not the work of any single forge or famous artificer but a recognised craft of the [[Shimmering Peaks]], where the terrain rises in sheer faces and great drops and an honest journey on foot can take days. They grew out of a local sport — a daring pastime of leaping from the high crags and racing the air down the valleys — and from there into practical gear for those who live and work among the peaks. Sets can be bought or rented from those who deal in them, and they are common enough that a well-connected resident can lay hands on several at short notice. The cuffs sit naturally alongside the flying culture of the region, where the [[Skyguard]] patrol the heights on their wyverns out of [[Sumara, The Shining City|Sumara]]. To the people of the peaks, taking to the open air is less a marvel than a way of life, and the cuffs are simply one more way to do it for those without a mount of their own. ## [[The Bloody Nails|Campaign: The Bloody Nails]] #### [[Session 50 - A New Morning in Sumara]] When [[The Bloody Nails]] needed a way down from the [[Shimmering Peaks]] toward the [[Vale of Eternal Night|Vale]] and the [[Caer Nystral, The Dawnless City|Dawnless City]] beyond, [[Warden Sylvaris]] suggested they seek out Zephyr Cuffs for the descent and pointed them to [[Ayana Syndrosa|Ayana]]. She agreed to find them sets, and a Sending soon brought word back: a contact had five sets available, to rent or to buy. #### [[Session 51 - The Last Light]] The party collected their five sets in the [[Sumara, The Shining City#The Ironsward Canton — Circle of the Blade|Ironsward]], where [[Skyguard Caeryn]] — the same officer who had clapped them in irons on their arrival — handed the cuffs over grudgingly to settle a debt he owed [[Ayana Syndrosa|Ayana]], on the promise of their swift return. After [[Berberis]] read the weather as calm, the party attuned to the cuffs within a Tiny Hut, climbed to the high peaks, and leapt into open air. The cuffs hauled their arms wide and bore them north at breakneck speed; the [[Shimmering Peaks]] warped away into the distance the instant they crossed the [[Liar's River]] — until a Roc the size of a house stooped out of the sky to hunt them. They angled down, the cuffs flared to set them gently on the ground, and the party broke into a run for the wall of eternal night. ## Trivia - Despite borne aloft by magic, the cuffs are valued as much for sport as survival — the daring leaps of the peaks were a pastime long before they were a means of escape. - Because the entire set counts as a single attuned item, a flier need only spare one of their precious attunement slots to wear all four bands.