The Mantle of Rektesh is an ancient cloak associated with Brynjolf Erobreren, the founding traditions of Asnorland, and the legitimacy of the Stadtholder. The artifact enhances the strength and protection of a wearer capable of attuning to it. Asnor tradition holds that Brynjolf wore the Mantle during the earliest settlement of the Skyre Islands and carried it on his final expedition to Inis Cailean.
The Mantle disappeared after Brynjolf’s death. For centuries, competing traditions claimed that it had been lost during the fighting on Inis Cailean, hidden by the Skyre Folk, taken by one of Brynjolf’s sons, or reclaimed by Rektesh until another worthy bearer appeared. During that long absence, Asnor priests and political tradition continued to speak of a ruler bearing the Stormlord’s mantle in a figurative sense. The artifact itself was therefore never a constitutional requirement for holding the Stadtholdership.
Recovery by Cap Tan Ro’geers
In 8723 SE, the Mistborn traveled to Inis Cailean while searching for the lost artifact. Information preserved among a hidden Skyre community led them into caverns containing traces of the early Asnor presence on the island. There, Cap Tan Ro’geers entered an ancient proving ground associated with Rektesh and faced its guardian in single combat. The Mantle appeared after Cap prevailed and accepted him as a bearer capable of attuning to it.
Its return during the Asnor Succession War of 8723 SE had enormous political significance. Many Asnor interpreted Cap’s ability to bear an artifact so closely associated with Brynjolf and the Stormlord as extraordinary evidence in favor of his claim. The Mantle was briefly seized by Séamus Lorcáin during the struggle for Vrungend but recovered when Cap’s supporters retook the palace.
The Mantle does not remove the ordinary importance of political support, ancestry, and recognition within Asnor custom. Its importance comes from being a surviving physical object around which those ideas converge. A claimant can rule without it, as generations of Stadtholders did while it was lost, but a recognized bearer possesses a symbol of legitimacy few rivals can easily dismiss.
Theft at Cinderfold
Cap continued to carry the Mantle after his installation as Stadtholder. Later in 8723 SE, the Mistborn confronted the Nharvek arcanist Zurath’ek during the Apotheosis Attempt at Cinderfold. Zurath’ek seized the Mantle from Cap during the battle and escaped with it by planar magic to the Realm of Winds after the ritual was disrupted.
Zurath’ek carried the Mantle with him when he relocated to the Realm of Winds. Its later fate is unknown.