Crown of Bone (Enchanted Crown):
The magic in the crown are extremely valuable to those who value the magic of the dead. Necromancers, Dark Priests, and Witches are among those who most value the weapon. There are legends that the crown was originally created by the demon lord Mephisto although others suggest that it was made by a renegade Alchemist dealing in forbidden magic. It appears that no matter who possesses the crown, their life becomes in immediate danger. Many have been killed over the possession of the crown. Often, the wearer of the crown will find their life ending on the point of an assassin's knife. Sons have killed fathers and sisters have murdered their own sister to gain possession of this artifact. Massive battles have been fought over this crown. Temples have turned against each other in an effort to gain possession of the crown. The crown has even been worn by a number of vampires who have attempted to use it to climb in power and stature.
Knights and Paladins serving the forces of good often attempt to hunt down possessors of the crown. Priests of light have also attempted to seize the item from the evil who use the crown. There is even a tale that a hunter of the undead from the south is after the crown. Several attempts have been made to destroy the crown but none have ever succeeded. Often when it has been captured by the forces of light, forces of darkness will unite in order to get the dark artifact. Once they get the artifact back, they will often go back to bickering and fight each other over the possession of the bale crown. There is even a story of a servant of light being corrupted by the crown and turning towards evil.
As might be expected by the description of the artifact, this crown appears to be constructed of bone. The crown appears to have been yellowed from ages. The body of the crown appears to be made from finger bones linked together, most likely Elven or Human. The top edge of the crown appears to be constructed of linked teeth. In front of the crown is what looks like the design of a skull carved from a larger piece of bone. Each of the eyes glow with an eerie red light. It is an extremely grisly appearing item. The crown will get larger or smaller when a person puts it on their head.
The crown has a number of special abilities with the ability to animated dead being the one most remembered. The wearer of the crown can animate at least a couple of dozen bodies of the dead. These dead will follow the command of the wearer of the crown. As well, the wearer can seize control of dead animated by another caster such as a wizard or another necromancer. This is similar to how some evil priests can seize control of animated dead. When used by a Dark Priest, Necromancer, or a Witch, the crown allows them to animate even more dead. Stories tell of them sending hordes of upwards of fifty animated dead. A less well known ability is that the crown makes the wearer immune to the mind control of vampires. This ability even works for vampires themselves and several vampires have used it so that another vampire, including both master vampires and vampire intelligence. A vampire can use all of the abilities of the crown as well.
The crown is believed by most scholars to be cursed so that it causes greed in others. There are simply too many stories about allies turning against one another for possession of the crown. No one knows if this curse was originally part of the crown or if it was placed on it later. Some scholars who have studied the stories of the item speculate that the curse might have been the real reason the magic item was created, to sew hatred. What is amazing is how much even with the curse, those of evil will do to possess the bone crown. Many of the wearers have become paranoid over others being out to get them although often it is the only one they trusted being the one who betrayed them in the end.
- Powers & Abilities:
- Protection Against Vampires: When the crown is worn, the wearer
is immune to all forms of vampire mind control. Of course the vampire can
attempt to knock the crown off their head and they will no longer be protected
from the vampires mind control attacks. This crown can be worn by a vampire
and be protected against other vampire's attacks
Bonuses: +4 against all forms of Mind Control, +4 against horror factors, +1 against other psionics, and +1 against other magic.
Animate & Control Dead: The wearer of the crown can animate up to 6D6 animated dead. Can be used up to four times per day and has a duration of six hours each time activated. All abilities are identical to the animate dead spell. The wearer of the crown can also command animated dead controlled by another. Simple commands such as "Stay back," "Move away," or "Stop," can be made without need to roll against the animator. To seize full command of the animated dead, the wearer of the crown must roll 1D20 and roll a number one above animator's spell strength. For example, if a wizard with a spell strength of 12 animates the dead, the wearer of the crown can usurp control by rolling 13 or higher and announcing his conquest by bellowing something like "You are mine to command. Obey me!" followed by an order. The stolen animated dead will remain under his control for the maxim duration of the original spell and serve in addition to those raised by own magic. Double the number of animated dead when worn by a Necromancer, Witch, or Dark Priest.
Curse:
- Greed: The crown is known to cause greed in those around to
want to possess the item. Exact effects are up to the game master but those
who are likely to want the item need to save against ritual magic (16 or
greater) or will decide that they want to possess the item for themselves.
If they fail their save, they can simply try and immediately kill the possessor
or them may plot for days, week, or even months on how to get the crown.
No matter, theft of the item will not be seen as an option but killing
them is the only option because otherwise they will want the item back.
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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Copyright © 2007, Kitsune. All rights reserved.