Crown of Souls (2.5e Equipment)

Crown Of Souls

The Crown of Souls is a very powerful magical item. In fact, it is so potent that many Sages consider it to be an Artifact or Relic. Which it is. Among themselves, such scholars whisper stories of its great evil and the many awful powers associated with it.

The Crown of Souls is made of the purest gold, laced with platinum highlights, and set with three Bloodstones which ride high on its crest. In addition, many other gems (of far lesser value) adorn its surface.

The crown was originally forged in a far away land for a powerful warlord by the evil Necromancer Daglan. In order to safeguard the secrets of the crown and make certain that none but he would ever wield it, the evil warlord used his new prize to kill the magician (or so he thought). With the death of Daglan, there was no one left who knew how to destroy the crown. The warlord then used the evil power of the crown to extend his evil empire far into the neighboring lands.

On the eve of his greatest battle, in which he was certain to crush the last bastion of goodness left in those dark and distant lands, his plans went astray. The evil warrior was ridding along a dark back country trail with his entourage. As the night wore on, a heavy mist seemed to seep up from the very ground itself. About an hour later, his band was attacked by a small party of elves. The warlord himself was thrown from his horse, and the crown upon his head rolled aside and was lost in the mists.

The short battle which followed ended with only minor wounds for the warlord and his troops. As his men cleared the corpses of the elves from the road and began to loot their fallen bodies, he set about finding his prized crown. After searching all night in the mists, he fell to his knees and cried out in frustration, "It seems to have vanished into the mists themselves." He did not realize the truthfulness of his words, for the Mists of Acheron had seized the evil item and sucked it into the demiplane where it remained encased in fog for many years.

Only recently has it once again reentered the domain of human kind. Given to the evil priestess named Radaga, the crown served to complete her corruption and lured her into the dark shadows of Acheron.

Calling upon the powers of evil in his dark Tower of Magic, Daglan was able to foresee the warlord's treachery. Thus it was that he infused the crown with a variant of the magic jar spell. Because of the limitations of this new spell, however, he could only transfer his life force into the one wearing the crown. When he tried this upon the Warlord, he failed due to that individual's near indomiable will. Since the warlord never let anyone else wear the crown, Daglan was imprisoned upon the head of the mortal he hated most. Whe the crown was lost in battle with the elves, one of them actually found it during the skirmish and placed it upon his head.

Just as he did so, Daglan saw his chance and sent his own essence surging forth to seize control of the elf. However, the dark powers of Acheron were not going to allow their prize to escape so easily. They caused the elf's spirit to be sucked into the crown, trapping both individuals within the artifact before Daglan could escape.

The wills of the two constantly battle with the crown, each trying to overcome the other and dominate their little prison. Although Daglan always has the upper hand, the battle weakens him so much that he has not, as yet, been able to escape.

However, as each of Daglan's descendants dies, their spirit is summoned to the crown and adds to his force of will. The shorter the distance between the scene of death and the Crown of Souls, the greater the power he gains. In time, his power will reach the point where he must triumph over the valiant elf whose name is no longer remembered.

Now, However, there is only one descendant of Daglan's left, and she can have no children. Still, all is not lost for the dark necromancer, for the addition of her strength to his will give him just enough energy to reactivate the magic jar spell. Thus, he eagerly awaits her death.

Daglan was even able to strike a bargain with the dark powers of Acheron to bring her here when she was a babe. The land complied, but balanced the act by giving her immortality. When she dies, her mortal form will be transformed into an immortal one (that of a wight), preventing her life force from escaping to the crown. When this happens, the crown will become powerless for 2d10 days. At the end of this time, Radaga will rise again as a wight. If her new form is slain, Daglan will assume her will and be able to escape from the Crown of Souls.

The only way to destroy Radaga without releasing Daglan is for her immortal form (that of the wight) to be destroyed by someone who is wearing the Crown of Souls at the time. If Radaga is destroyed as an undead by one wearing the crown, the blow to Daglan will be so great that he will cease to exist and the spirit of the valiant elf within will be released.

If Radaga is otherwise destroyed as an undead, then the trapped soul of the warlock will reach out from within the crown and attempt to take over her fallen body. It is important to note that this is the only case where Daglan can use the Crown's Magic Jar ability as a ranged attack. If he is unable to take control of her body, or if it has been destroyed, he must wait until someone puts on the crown before he can attack them.

The Current Wielder of this Artifact is Chloah. She lives in the Acheron plane and Daglan has failed to control her. She is safe.

Magical Powers

The Crown of Souls is a dark and evil object which will bestow upon its owner the following powers:

• The Crown of Souls can be used to transform normal men (though not other humanoids or demi-humans) into Goblyns. To do this the owner of the crown merely holds it on the head of the victim with both hands, and speaks an ancient incantation. As the transformation occurs, the victim will scream out in anguish and terror as he losses his mind and will and is filled with evilness.
• Upon the brow of an evil being, the crown bestows the following Special powers: -2 AC adjustment, +2 on all attack and damage rolls, +2 on saving throws, +20 hit points, and all class abilities (not hit points), will functions as if the wearer were two levels higher.
• Anyone wearing the Crown must make a save vs. Death magic each day. Failure means that a Wisdom chech must succeed or the character suffers a slight alignment alteration. Dungeon Masters are encouraged to adjust the check based on the characters past adherence to his alignment, with a maximum bonus or penalty of 4. Their alignment will slowly become Neutral evil. The lawful/chaotic aspect will first change to neutral. Next the good/evil aspect will become one place closer to evil (good becoming neutral, and neutral becoming evil). Once this transformation is complete (for those already neutral evil, they still must fail the wisdom check once), the crown will be in complete control of them. The spirit of the warlock Daglan will drive them to kill Radaga without the crown on.
• The crown can also protect itself from harm. This can only be done if it is physically attacked or threatened (i.e. attempts to smash it, throw it off a cliff, melt it in a fire, etc. are made). In such a case, it can perform the following spell like abilities once per round as often as needed: Affect normal fires, blink, levitate, gust of wind, spectral hand, and chill touch. These will be performed at the 13th level of proficiency.
• Only one who is pure of heart (that is, lawful good) may take the Crown of Souls out of the domain which it lies in.

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