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Ideas for an evil force trapped in rock
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<blockquote data-quote="Shadowdweller00" data-source="post: 6478392" data-attributes="member: 6778479"><p>An alternate idea - feel free to use or modify as you see fit:</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Wave Echo Cave: </strong>The spellforge in the cave is actually powered by magical energy syphoned off from a sentient evil artifact buried in the rock nearby. Beyond canon - the facility was formerly seized from a group of duergar who contructed the original artifact. The undead in and around the cave have been crudely directed by the artifact to dig it out from the rock. (Which would have the unintended consequence of destroying the spellforge). The artifact can only exert very crude control over the undead, so their mining efforts have been largely haphazard and ineffective. Nevertheless, a seam is now discernible somewhere in the cave where picks have unearthed a different type of rock. This area should be visible to exploring PCs, and radiate an eerie phosphorescence and warmth to clue in the PCs as to something being there. A faint spot should detect as very strongly magical somewhere beyond the rock.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Artifact:</strong> Ages ago, duergar bound the soul of a fiery, demonic entity into an iron crown...intending to use the soul of this creature to power magical enchantments imbued into this item. The crown, however, retained some of the creature's sentience and was able to manipulate the duergar so as to cause their eventual demise. The crown remains buried in a small bubble of lava encased in rock nearby one of the mine walls. The crown itself appears to made of black iron set with three rubies that pulse with a blood-red light (radiates light within a 10 foot radius). Aside from the rubies the crown is mostly unornamented, but twisted dwarven runes wind in spirals around the circlet. Inscribed behind one of the rubies is the true name of the bound entity - Nokhthwar - but the name cannot be read or perceived unless the crown is dismantled or destroyed.</p><p></p><p><strong>Powers: </strong>Anyone attuned to the crown who wears it gains resistance to fire. The crown can also has a store of 10 charges that can be used to draw forth flame. One charge can be used to cast Burning Hands (as a 1st level spell), and two can be used to cast Scorching Ray (as a second level spell). The crown recharges 1d6 + 1 charges per day. However - the crown also has some side effects which cannot be discerned by normal identification due to interference by the animating entity, Nokhthwar. The crown emits a subtle call that cannot be perceived by the living but is magnetic to undead. Any undead within a 1 mile radius are alerted to the presence of the wearer and mindless undead find themselves inexorably drawn to the area. This will result in the wearer facing large numbers of undead. The entity, Nokhthwar, is presently starved for power but has the ability to feed off the souls of sentient creatures that are slain by the wearer. As Nokhthwar feeds, it becomes increasingly able to exert its will on undead within a 30 foot radius as well as its wearer...manifesting first as a suggestion-like ability that places the victim into a trance-like state as it carries out said suggestion for a short-ish period of time. If the crown gains enough power, it can control one victim like a puppet (as per Dominate Person). Neither of these abilities can be used more than once per 24 hour period. The crown does not wish to reveal itself and so tries to be subtle about its attempts at manipulation</p><p></p><p><strong>The Entity: </strong>The demonic entity powering the crown wishes primarily to escape. The bindings which hold the entity, however, can only be destroyed if the crown is ingested by a legendary white dragon. Although the crown itself can be disassembled if exposed to powerful, supernatural cold - in which case the entity remains bound in the largest of the three rubies (the one inscribed with its true name). So the crown's ultimate goal is to manipulate its wearer into being devoured, whole, by such a dragon. Nokhthwar considers itself to be vastly superior to mortals and never tries to directly communicate with them. It is not, however, above attempts to manipulate people by influencing its wearer or nearby undead into writing or uttering cryptic prophecy-like verses that might direct its bearer where it wishes them to go and to what end. In its present state, Nokhthwar has the ability to effectively see and hear within 30 feet of the crown...but lacks the ability to read minds, making effective manipulation somewhat of a challenge. It can't see through solid rock...which is one of the reasons it has been trapped for centuries as it tries to influence undead to free it. The creature enjoys and feeds off death and destruction but does not wish to risk trapping itself, so generally confines its influences to small-scale mayhem that does not risk destruction of large populated areas. Because its influence is limited, the crown wishes to find a host that is brave and foolhardy enough to challenge a legendary white dragon - but not one that is wise or educated enough to recognize the artifact for what it truly is (let alone one powerful enough to actually KILL a legendary white dragon). The crown does not presently know where to find a white dragon, and so will need to manipulate its wearer into seeking out the necessary information for it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shadowdweller00, post: 6478392, member: 6778479"] An alternate idea - feel free to use or modify as you see fit: [B] Wave Echo Cave: [/B]The spellforge in the cave is actually powered by magical energy syphoned off from a sentient evil artifact buried in the rock nearby. Beyond canon - the facility was formerly seized from a group of duergar who contructed the original artifact. The undead in and around the cave have been crudely directed by the artifact to dig it out from the rock. (Which would have the unintended consequence of destroying the spellforge). The artifact can only exert very crude control over the undead, so their mining efforts have been largely haphazard and ineffective. Nevertheless, a seam is now discernible somewhere in the cave where picks have unearthed a different type of rock. This area should be visible to exploring PCs, and radiate an eerie phosphorescence and warmth to clue in the PCs as to something being there. A faint spot should detect as very strongly magical somewhere beyond the rock. [B]The Artifact:[/B] Ages ago, duergar bound the soul of a fiery, demonic entity into an iron crown...intending to use the soul of this creature to power magical enchantments imbued into this item. The crown, however, retained some of the creature's sentience and was able to manipulate the duergar so as to cause their eventual demise. The crown remains buried in a small bubble of lava encased in rock nearby one of the mine walls. The crown itself appears to made of black iron set with three rubies that pulse with a blood-red light (radiates light within a 10 foot radius). Aside from the rubies the crown is mostly unornamented, but twisted dwarven runes wind in spirals around the circlet. Inscribed behind one of the rubies is the true name of the bound entity - Nokhthwar - but the name cannot be read or perceived unless the crown is dismantled or destroyed. [B]Powers: [/B]Anyone attuned to the crown who wears it gains resistance to fire. The crown can also has a store of 10 charges that can be used to draw forth flame. One charge can be used to cast Burning Hands (as a 1st level spell), and two can be used to cast Scorching Ray (as a second level spell). The crown recharges 1d6 + 1 charges per day. However - the crown also has some side effects which cannot be discerned by normal identification due to interference by the animating entity, Nokhthwar. The crown emits a subtle call that cannot be perceived by the living but is magnetic to undead. Any undead within a 1 mile radius are alerted to the presence of the wearer and mindless undead find themselves inexorably drawn to the area. This will result in the wearer facing large numbers of undead. The entity, Nokhthwar, is presently starved for power but has the ability to feed off the souls of sentient creatures that are slain by the wearer. As Nokhthwar feeds, it becomes increasingly able to exert its will on undead within a 30 foot radius as well as its wearer...manifesting first as a suggestion-like ability that places the victim into a trance-like state as it carries out said suggestion for a short-ish period of time. If the crown gains enough power, it can control one victim like a puppet (as per Dominate Person). Neither of these abilities can be used more than once per 24 hour period. The crown does not wish to reveal itself and so tries to be subtle about its attempts at manipulation [B]The Entity: [/B]The demonic entity powering the crown wishes primarily to escape. The bindings which hold the entity, however, can only be destroyed if the crown is ingested by a legendary white dragon. Although the crown itself can be disassembled if exposed to powerful, supernatural cold - in which case the entity remains bound in the largest of the three rubies (the one inscribed with its true name). So the crown's ultimate goal is to manipulate its wearer into being devoured, whole, by such a dragon. Nokhthwar considers itself to be vastly superior to mortals and never tries to directly communicate with them. It is not, however, above attempts to manipulate people by influencing its wearer or nearby undead into writing or uttering cryptic prophecy-like verses that might direct its bearer where it wishes them to go and to what end. In its present state, Nokhthwar has the ability to effectively see and hear within 30 feet of the crown...but lacks the ability to read minds, making effective manipulation somewhat of a challenge. It can't see through solid rock...which is one of the reasons it has been trapped for centuries as it tries to influence undead to free it. The creature enjoys and feeds off death and destruction but does not wish to risk trapping itself, so generally confines its influences to small-scale mayhem that does not risk destruction of large populated areas. Because its influence is limited, the crown wishes to find a host that is brave and foolhardy enough to challenge a legendary white dragon - but not one that is wise or educated enough to recognize the artifact for what it truly is (let alone one powerful enough to actually KILL a legendary white dragon). The crown does not presently know where to find a white dragon, and so will need to manipulate its wearer into seeking out the necessary information for it. [/QUOTE]
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