The Grumbling Aegis

This broad dwarven steel shield bears a remarkably ugly face on its outer surface. The face has a crooked nose, broken-looking teeth, sagging cheeks, and tiny gemstone eyes set beneath a heavy iron brow. While dormant, the face appears to be an ordinary grotesque carving and the shield remains silent. Violet arcane sigils circle the rim, though they only become visible when magic strikes the shield. When awakened, the carved mouth moves as it speaks, and any spell energy it absorbs crawls across its surface as glowing cracks before sealing dents, restoring damaged metal, and polishing the shield to a mirrorlike sheen.