Gorget

Gorgets were a common form of armor designed to protect the neck and throat from attacks, such as strangulation, though were also worn by some ornamentally.

Description
A gorget consisted of two semicircular metal plates that overlapped, encircling the wearer's neck, and were held in place with either a metal pin or leather straps. Some gorgets had spikes added to them for offense or intimidation, while others meant for ornamentation might be inset with gemstones.

Gorgets were commonly worn as part of a set of full plate, either alone or as part of a helmet. They were often paired with great helms in particular, in order to offset the weight that style of helmet put upon its wearer.

Availability

 * Haerldoun's Helms and Shields, an armor shop in Wheloon, sold gorgets.
 * Hasklar's Arms & Armor, an armor shop in Yartar, sold gorgets with small interior pouches for 4 gold pieces.
 * The Iron Hand, a smithy in Eveningstar.

History
The existence of gorgets on Toril dated as far back as the Netherese Empire. Ornamental gorgets began being popular among Netheril's upperclass during the nation's Golden Age.

By the 1370's DR, gorgets were commonly issued in nations across the Heartlands to various nobles, knights, cavalrymen and officers for wear alongside great helms and plate mail. Around this time, new trade routes in the Upperdark allowed for dwarves to sell their wares, such as gorgets, in human cities across the Heartlands.

Varieties of Gorgets

 * Double-thickness gorget: a variety of gorget developed by Imroad Gaskulyn that concealed a thin storage compartment between its two layers.

Notable Gorgets

 * Battle gorget, a variety of enchanted gorgets that were developed by Manshoon.
 * Gorget of the Songdragon, a gorget that carried an enchantment to shield against Ahghairon's dragonward.

Individuals

 * Aosinin Truesilver.
 * Ismur Tamrathdreir, a Turmishan wizard, owned an enchanted gorget that allowed the wearer to cast blink and dimension door.
 * Manshoon, founder of the Zhentarim, always wore his creation the battle gorget.
 * Rhamlaen Mamarrath, a noble in Thentia, sometimes wore ornamental gorgets at parties.
 * Sharantyr.
 * Tordon Sureblade, the Lord Magistrate of Ravens Bluff, commonly wore a gorget that had protected him from strangulation attempts on three separate occasions.
 * Yamun Khahan wore a gorget of hammered steel.

Nations, Regions, & Settlements

 * Gorgets could be found in use by armed forces in the Blade Kingdoms.
 * In the Netherese Empire, gorgets were common among both the commoners of Low Netheril and the guards of the floating Netherese enclaves. Ornamental gorgets beset with gems, often enchanted with protective effects, were popular among the upperclass, typically being worn by arcanists and the archwizards of enclaves. Some arcanists even enchanted their gorgets with a variety of different offensive effects.
 * Around the mid-14 century DR, men in the city of Waterdeep commonly wore silver gorgets inset with a spiral of rubies.

Organizations

 * The City Guard of Waterdeep would dress down to gorgets during the summer season.
 * The City Watch of Silverymoon typically wore gorgets.
 * All members of the Vigilant, the law enforcement of Tarmalune, wore black gorgets regardless of their rank.

Races & Sentient Creatures

 * Some gold dwarves were known to wear gorgets, typically made of gold.

Religions

 * The general clergy of the Church of Bane all wore black gorgets with one of more instances of Bane's symbol painted on in red to denote rank.
 * The general clergy of Vergadain wore gorgets bearing their god's symbol alongside chainmail.