Philip Burge
08-16-1998, 12:16 AM
This is an extremely powerful artifact - it should be used with extreme
caution. It's description and the basis of it's powers were from the BoP
and I thank the authors for their great ideas.
The Viper’s Eye.
Legend.
From BoP "This is a large round, yellow topaz streaked with a dark line
in its heart. It resembles the slitted eye of a serpent and radiates an
aura of cold watchfulness. The last time it was seen it was mounted in a
crude iron Vos-style crown, but the band is nothing more than
decoration. It is an evil relic of great power, presumed lost in the
Shadow World. In reality it is in the same place as the Staff of Nature,
the Isle of the Tree.
The gemstone’s history predates mankind’s arrival in Cerilia. In ancient
Aduria, Azrai was not always the incarnation of terror and darkness that
he later became; he was once a deity of knowledge and pride, but a deity
whose hunger for power warped his very nature. In his desire for
worship, Azrai sought to seduce the people of Vorynn - the Vos - from
their own god. He walked amongst them in the form of an ancient wise man
corrupting them under the guise of teaching. Although Azrai was subtle
and did not show his power (in order to elude Vorynn’s notice), he
needed apprentices, followers, and leaders who would continue to spread
his poison even when he was not there himself.
For this reason Azrai directed one of the Vos shamans in the creation of
the Viper’s Eye, a so-called “gift” of wisdom and vision for the high
chieftain. The yellow gemstone rested in the hall of the Vos kings for
centuries, strengthening their dependence on their adopted god as they
turned away from Vorynn. The Viper’s Eye served its purpose well. It
became an heirloom of the Vos kings and an emblem of Azrai’s favour that
conferred great power on those chieftain’s who used it in the dark god’s
name.
Eventually, Azrai caused the gem to fall into the hand’s of a proud
young chieftain named Atar. With its power, Azrai began one of the most
sinister of his works before the War of Shadow; the perversion of humans
to the power of sorcery. Atar was the first of Azrai’s unnatural
creatures, the disciples of the evil god whom were later known as the
Lost. Azrai taught them to wield the powers of night and darkness,
knowing that the elven magics were unsuitable for humans. Atar was the
one of Azrai’s chief champions throughout the War of Shadow, and his
life span encompassed hundreds of years before he seemed to meet his end
at Deismaar. For most of his career he wielded the Viper’s Eye.
In the aftermath of Deismaar, the gemstone vanished for about 350 years
before mysteriously appearing in the hands of a halfling thief fleeing
from the Shadow World. The Viper’s Eye was seized by gnoll raiders who
raided the halfling’s village. The gem was in turn claimed by forces
from the lost city of Irbouda, which was then a rising empire.
The Shahs of Irbouda held the stone for generations, where it was known
as the “Lion’s Eye”, although the item was widely believed to carry a
curse of death and destruction. In fact after the fall of Irbouda
refugees carried it into nearby Sefra. Sefra fell in 1075 HC, pillaged
by a Vos army. The gemstone travelled north to Medeci, but in 1198 HC,
that realm was ruined as well. Again, survivors - in this case a Medecan
noble-women named Eleida - carried the gemstone to a new land, this time
the state of Djira. In 1396 HC, the Sultanate of Djira was cast down by
strife and invasion. By now any sage familiar with the old “Lion’s Eye”
of ancient Irbouda regarded its appearance as an omen of the most dire
and inescapable sort.
The power’s of the Viper’s Eye have only been hinted at in legend, the
last person to use it was Atar the Lost, more than 1500 years ago."
Powers.
* The ability to summon, bind and dismiss outer planar creatures [1/day]
as well as a knowledge of any creature previously summoned (including
their names if any).
* The ability to scry out any person the user is interested in finding
[at will]
* Provides an extra five levels to any Magic User (including Magicians
and Sorcerers) or Priest while they wear the Eye [constant].
* Can capture up to 45 levels of spells that are either cast at the Gem
or at the Caster. These spells can be released at the User’s whim. If
the level of a spell that would be absorbed exceeds the number of
available levels in the Eye, then instead the Eye instead provides the
user with Magic Resistance of 75%, reflecting any attack spell back on
its caster 25% of the time [constant].
* Provides instant knowledge of any Necromancy Spell (both Priest and
Wizard. Where two spells have the same effect but are of different
levels (eg. Animate Dead) use the lower level [constant]. This knowledge
allows the user to cast any Necromantic spell [1/day] without needing to
memorise it.
* Exert control over any reptile (save at -4), including dragons. Snakes
and other serpentine creatures save at -8. Intelligent reptiles (eg.
dragons) get to add their magical defence adjustment to their save [at
will].
* Provide the turning (or controlling) abilities of a priest of five
levels higher. A priest who uses the eye gains ten levels in turning
attempts and can attempt to turn or control creatures that are normally
immune (eg. dracoliches) [constant].
* Provides the User with the resistances of an undead creature (eg.
sleep, charm and hold etc.) [constant] .
* Can be used to open a permanent portal to the Shadow World once every
thousand years when the moon completely eclipses the sun and the Comet
of Azrai (an omen of evil) passes across the silhouetted moon. This is
always heralded by 10 days and nights of the sky raining blood. The
portal can be opened by placing the Eye in the socket of a gateway in
the Castle of Gorgoroth in the Battlefens of Vosgaard. The portal can be
opened temporarily without the Eye by conducting the ritual of opening,
however only the Eyes presence can make it permanent If the ritual is
interrupted then the portal cannot be opened even with the gemstone.
* Can summon an Undead Legion which will exist without his continued
presence (as the Priest Realm Spell rather than the Wizard Realm Spell)
[1/month]
* The User becomes Immortal and can only be killed through violence
[constant].
Curses.
The Eye also carries some curses.
* When the user of the eye does not do all in his power to spread
corruptions and cause strife in the world then the Eye will bring about
his downfall so as to move onto a better User, ie. a King must make war
on his neighbours or his own kingdom will fall.
* The user is inflicted with a strange form of Lycanthropy that
transforms him into a reptilian, wolf-like beast on the night of the new
moon. This power can be controlled and released at other times. In this
form the User is still capable of using spells and other powers but must
make an INT check at -6 to do so due to the overwhelming blood lust. In
this form the Users attacks increase to 3 every round and his STR
increases to 19 as does his CON. His CHA drops to 3. His 2 claw attacks
do 1d6+STR damage and inject a lethal poison (save vs. poison. or be
immobilised with pain and die in 1d20 rounds). The bite attack inflicts
2d6+STR and injects the same poison. Each time this power/curse
activates the user must make a INT check to remember to return to his
own form.
* The User gains an Azrai bloodline if he doesn’t have one risking
transformation into an Awnshegh (the reptilian wolf creature described
above). If the user already has a bloodline it is corrupted. If it is an
Azrai bloodline it gains 25 points.
* The User has a 50% chance of draining the power from any other magical
items that he uses - except those made by him that are attuned
specifically for the User. Any other’s risk draining. Other artifacts
are immune to this.
* The User becomes sensitive to sunlight and is at -2 to all actions in
sunlight. This is reduced to -1 in cloudy conditions. The User also
takes damage from sunlight (1d6 damage every hour of sunlight that the
User is exposed to). In total darkness the User regenerates 2 hp per
round.
- -- Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel,
Phil.
caution. It's description and the basis of it's powers were from the BoP
and I thank the authors for their great ideas.
The Viper’s Eye.
Legend.
From BoP "This is a large round, yellow topaz streaked with a dark line
in its heart. It resembles the slitted eye of a serpent and radiates an
aura of cold watchfulness. The last time it was seen it was mounted in a
crude iron Vos-style crown, but the band is nothing more than
decoration. It is an evil relic of great power, presumed lost in the
Shadow World. In reality it is in the same place as the Staff of Nature,
the Isle of the Tree.
The gemstone’s history predates mankind’s arrival in Cerilia. In ancient
Aduria, Azrai was not always the incarnation of terror and darkness that
he later became; he was once a deity of knowledge and pride, but a deity
whose hunger for power warped his very nature. In his desire for
worship, Azrai sought to seduce the people of Vorynn - the Vos - from
their own god. He walked amongst them in the form of an ancient wise man
corrupting them under the guise of teaching. Although Azrai was subtle
and did not show his power (in order to elude Vorynn’s notice), he
needed apprentices, followers, and leaders who would continue to spread
his poison even when he was not there himself.
For this reason Azrai directed one of the Vos shamans in the creation of
the Viper’s Eye, a so-called “gift” of wisdom and vision for the high
chieftain. The yellow gemstone rested in the hall of the Vos kings for
centuries, strengthening their dependence on their adopted god as they
turned away from Vorynn. The Viper’s Eye served its purpose well. It
became an heirloom of the Vos kings and an emblem of Azrai’s favour that
conferred great power on those chieftain’s who used it in the dark god’s
name.
Eventually, Azrai caused the gem to fall into the hand’s of a proud
young chieftain named Atar. With its power, Azrai began one of the most
sinister of his works before the War of Shadow; the perversion of humans
to the power of sorcery. Atar was the first of Azrai’s unnatural
creatures, the disciples of the evil god whom were later known as the
Lost. Azrai taught them to wield the powers of night and darkness,
knowing that the elven magics were unsuitable for humans. Atar was the
one of Azrai’s chief champions throughout the War of Shadow, and his
life span encompassed hundreds of years before he seemed to meet his end
at Deismaar. For most of his career he wielded the Viper’s Eye.
In the aftermath of Deismaar, the gemstone vanished for about 350 years
before mysteriously appearing in the hands of a halfling thief fleeing
from the Shadow World. The Viper’s Eye was seized by gnoll raiders who
raided the halfling’s village. The gem was in turn claimed by forces
from the lost city of Irbouda, which was then a rising empire.
The Shahs of Irbouda held the stone for generations, where it was known
as the “Lion’s Eye”, although the item was widely believed to carry a
curse of death and destruction. In fact after the fall of Irbouda
refugees carried it into nearby Sefra. Sefra fell in 1075 HC, pillaged
by a Vos army. The gemstone travelled north to Medeci, but in 1198 HC,
that realm was ruined as well. Again, survivors - in this case a Medecan
noble-women named Eleida - carried the gemstone to a new land, this time
the state of Djira. In 1396 HC, the Sultanate of Djira was cast down by
strife and invasion. By now any sage familiar with the old “Lion’s Eye”
of ancient Irbouda regarded its appearance as an omen of the most dire
and inescapable sort.
The power’s of the Viper’s Eye have only been hinted at in legend, the
last person to use it was Atar the Lost, more than 1500 years ago."
Powers.
* The ability to summon, bind and dismiss outer planar creatures [1/day]
as well as a knowledge of any creature previously summoned (including
their names if any).
* The ability to scry out any person the user is interested in finding
[at will]
* Provides an extra five levels to any Magic User (including Magicians
and Sorcerers) or Priest while they wear the Eye [constant].
* Can capture up to 45 levels of spells that are either cast at the Gem
or at the Caster. These spells can be released at the User’s whim. If
the level of a spell that would be absorbed exceeds the number of
available levels in the Eye, then instead the Eye instead provides the
user with Magic Resistance of 75%, reflecting any attack spell back on
its caster 25% of the time [constant].
* Provides instant knowledge of any Necromancy Spell (both Priest and
Wizard. Where two spells have the same effect but are of different
levels (eg. Animate Dead) use the lower level [constant]. This knowledge
allows the user to cast any Necromantic spell [1/day] without needing to
memorise it.
* Exert control over any reptile (save at -4), including dragons. Snakes
and other serpentine creatures save at -8. Intelligent reptiles (eg.
dragons) get to add their magical defence adjustment to their save [at
will].
* Provide the turning (or controlling) abilities of a priest of five
levels higher. A priest who uses the eye gains ten levels in turning
attempts and can attempt to turn or control creatures that are normally
immune (eg. dracoliches) [constant].
* Provides the User with the resistances of an undead creature (eg.
sleep, charm and hold etc.) [constant] .
* Can be used to open a permanent portal to the Shadow World once every
thousand years when the moon completely eclipses the sun and the Comet
of Azrai (an omen of evil) passes across the silhouetted moon. This is
always heralded by 10 days and nights of the sky raining blood. The
portal can be opened by placing the Eye in the socket of a gateway in
the Castle of Gorgoroth in the Battlefens of Vosgaard. The portal can be
opened temporarily without the Eye by conducting the ritual of opening,
however only the Eyes presence can make it permanent If the ritual is
interrupted then the portal cannot be opened even with the gemstone.
* Can summon an Undead Legion which will exist without his continued
presence (as the Priest Realm Spell rather than the Wizard Realm Spell)
[1/month]
* The User becomes Immortal and can only be killed through violence
[constant].
Curses.
The Eye also carries some curses.
* When the user of the eye does not do all in his power to spread
corruptions and cause strife in the world then the Eye will bring about
his downfall so as to move onto a better User, ie. a King must make war
on his neighbours or his own kingdom will fall.
* The user is inflicted with a strange form of Lycanthropy that
transforms him into a reptilian, wolf-like beast on the night of the new
moon. This power can be controlled and released at other times. In this
form the User is still capable of using spells and other powers but must
make an INT check at -6 to do so due to the overwhelming blood lust. In
this form the Users attacks increase to 3 every round and his STR
increases to 19 as does his CON. His CHA drops to 3. His 2 claw attacks
do 1d6+STR damage and inject a lethal poison (save vs. poison. or be
immobilised with pain and die in 1d20 rounds). The bite attack inflicts
2d6+STR and injects the same poison. Each time this power/curse
activates the user must make a INT check to remember to return to his
own form.
* The User gains an Azrai bloodline if he doesn’t have one risking
transformation into an Awnshegh (the reptilian wolf creature described
above). If the user already has a bloodline it is corrupted. If it is an
Azrai bloodline it gains 25 points.
* The User has a 50% chance of draining the power from any other magical
items that he uses - except those made by him that are attuned
specifically for the User. Any other’s risk draining. Other artifacts
are immune to this.
* The User becomes sensitive to sunlight and is at -2 to all actions in
sunlight. This is reduced to -1 in cloudy conditions. The User also
takes damage from sunlight (1d6 damage every hour of sunlight that the
User is exposed to). In total darkness the User regenerates 2 hp per
round.
- -- Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel,
Phil.