Nothing like a sense of guilt to muddy relationships.
I do wonder how common, if at all, hidden armor like metal plates inside leather gloves and such was. Old medieval gear, like plate armor was heavy as hell. Even the 2h swords are quite grunt worthy when raised. I'd like to think that having smaller plates in easy to use, or important to protect areas would be standard for combat gear, but being useful doesn't equal what people do / did.