The Tyrant Philosophers/sigil-copper-plaques
Sigil-copper-plaques are a set of five copper plaques, each bearing precisely engraved glyphs, that together constitute a ward-work apparatus deployed in urban combat. Their purpose is to "spread a net" of ward-work across enemy-held streets: the five plaques are carried to separate positions by hand and emplaced so that the wards they generate interlock into a single protective or restrictive covering over the ground between them. They represent a class of military ward-work whose engraving tolerances are so exacting that the plaques cannot be delivered by artillery or any mechanical projectile, making their emplacement a necessarily manual, exposed act in contested territory - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 33.
Within Pretenders to the Throne Of God, the plaques appear in a single scene of urban fighting, where their deployment illustrates the broader tactical reality of ward-work in this conflict: that the most consequential protective magic must be walked into position by a living hand, and that the precision of the work simultaneously creates its vulnerability. The plaques matter less as unique artefacts than as a representative instance of how ward-work interfaces with physical combat - the glyph-engraving is so fine that a shell's shock would destroy it, forcing the practitioner into the open ground the wards are meant to deny the enemy.
The Object
Description
Five flat copper plaques, each engraved with precise glyphs whose exactness is central to their function. The engravings are described as too delicate to survive the physical stresses of being fired from artillery, which implies a depth and fineness of cut that ordinary fieldwork would not tolerate - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 33. The plaques are small enough to be carried by hand and distributed to separate emplacement points, though the source does not specify exact dimensions or weight. They are not worn or attached to a person; they are placed on the ground at chosen positions - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 33.
What It Does
The five plaques, once emplaced at separate positions, generate wards that interlock into a single continuous covering over the ground between them. This covering is described as either protective or restrictive, functioning to deny or control movement across enemy-held streets - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 33. The net only forms when all five are in position; partial emplacement presumably yields partial or no coverage, though the source does not elaborate on failure modes. The plaques cannot be delivered at range: their engravings would be destroyed by the shock of artillery launch, so each must be physically carried and set by hand into contested ground - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 33.
Provenance
The source records only the operational context of the plaques in Pretenders to the Throne Of God: they are ward-work implements prepared in advance of a street-fighting engagement and carried into position by hand under fire. No maker, workshop, or prior chain of custody is identified, and no final disposition after the engagement is given - Pretenders to the Throne Of God, ch 33.
History
Pretenders to the Throne Of God
Sigil-copper-plaques are a set of five copper plaques, each engraved with precise glyphs, deployed as a ward-work apparatus in an urban combat setting. Their function is to "spread a net" of ward-work across enemy-held streets, with the five plaques distributed at separate positions so that the resulting wards interlock into a single protective or restrictive covering over the ground between them - ch 33. The engravings are described as too exacting to survive the physical stresses of being fired from artillery, which necessitates that the plaques be carried and placed by hand rather than delivered at range; this constraint makes their emplacement a manual, potentially exposed act in contested territory - ch 33.
Tags
- warding · #sigils · #military-application