Gunsen

A gunsen, also known as an iron fan, war fan, or tessen, was a primarily defensive weapon used in Kara-Tur.

Description
The gunsen was similar to a buckler, but it was held by a handle like that of a hand fan, and so it was not possible to also hold a weapon in that hand. Most were about and weighed about. Most were made of iron. They were typically used as shields but could be used as weapons if the situation called for it. They were frequently used by geisha-ninjas.

Background
In the real world, there were three types of Japanese war fan, the gunsen, the tessen, and the gunbai. The gunsen was essentially a hand fan used by soldiers to cool themselves, like a normal hand fan. It was not used as a weapon. A tessen was a war fan used as a weapon. Both could fold. The gunbai was a non-folding, fan-like item, essentially the item described in this article. Strangely, 1 edition called this latter type of fan a gunsen, while 3 edition called the same item a tessen.