SECRET

A single length of worked gold, around 2 feet (60 cm) in length, 3 inches (7.5 cm) wide, and one-third of an inch deep (1 cm). Both of its ends are rough, as though the piece was ripped or broken from a larger design. It weighs a little less than 25 pounds (11 kg), making it too heavy for most people to wield in combat situations. The piece is largely a straight band, although four sections jut out at right angles into short spurs or squared off spirals. The surface is imprinted with a series of nonrepeating geometric shapes, mostly squares and rectangles, with no obvious meaning to them. None of these shapes resemble any known form of writing.