Items of such power that they cannot simply be created;
Artifacts are brought into existence through extreme events or
circumstances. Some have an intelligence that is their own, while others
simply possess a will to compel their wielder or owner to a goal.
The holiest item to the Order of the Blessed Armor, the
armor was forged centuries ago for a queen. Whomever it was forged for
died battling the devils and demons of the lower planes. A paladin who
had traveled to a gate to the lower planes to close it recovered the
armor. Although he was not able to close the gate, he returned to his
homeland with the armor. As the years passed, the legend of the armor
grew. It was indestructible. It had obviously been crafted to fit a
woman, but no female could successfully don the armor. The paladin
traveled Habololy in search of answers. He died without finding those
answers. Upon his death, his one time squire brought the armor from the
paladin’s homeland to the place his master had died. A shrine was built
and the armor was placed in it. Since that time, many have come to
examine and pray over the armor. Legends have come to be that whomever
fits into the armor will bring order to Habololy.
Also known as the flower sword, this ancient weapon has nine
forms. Each form of the weapon corresponds to a different flower and a
different alignment. It has existed for as long as any on Habololy have
kept track of such things. The weapon is always discovered in a bed of
flowers of the type that it resembles. Once it is found by a creature
that can wield it, the blade attached itself to the life of that
creature. When its wielder dies, so does the blade until it is reborn
again in the next spring.
In all of its forms, the sword is +4. Depending on its
alignment, the sword is Holy or Unholy, and/or Axiomatic
or Anarchic. It can detect those of opposing alignments, in a
60 foot radius at will. Once per hour, it can Command Plants as
per the spell, cast at 12th level. The wielder receives a +4
bonus to saving throws against natural poisons. The sword also possesses
other special properties dependant in its alignment. These are defined in
the above table.
City Cleaver
Once the mightiest of Orcish blades, the sword known as City
Cleaver has been lost for nearly four hundred years. At the height of the
Orcish Empire, the armies marched from land to land and city to city,
claiming everything in the name of the deity. The “Shir Cannus”,
or general, of the Orcish army always wielded the same mighty sword.
After several centuries of use, the “Shir Cannus” would merely have to
wave the sword at a city and its walls would collapse. When the Orcish
Empire finally began to decline at the hands of Amat, the sword was
ordered back to the Orcish capital. Amat heard of this plan and
intercepted the weapon. Unable to destroy it, and lacking the patience to
determine how to do so, Amat hid the sword. It was next seen in the hands
of the bugbear Borkon the Rusted, who used it to drive the drow from the
humanoid cities and form the nation of Borkondof. No scholar has ever
determined how Borkon came to wield City Cleaver. Once again, the sword
was lost in the early fourth century AC by the progeny of Borkon, who was
making a foolish attempt to siege the Orcish Empire.
City Cleaver is a double-sized +4 Mighty Cleaving Keen
Bastard Sword. It provides the wielder with SR 20. It ignores the
hardness of any object when dealing damage and reduces the damage
reduction of any creature by 5 if it doesn’t already ignore the damage
reduction because of its magical bonus.
The Clock Raven
It is the last remaining relic of the deity Highlander. The
Clock Raven is a metallic raven with a clock embedded in its belly. It
looks to be made of admantium and has clear pearl eyes. Legends say that
it had a hand in the downfall of the deity and that it could one day
destroy Habololy. It has not been seen since the deity’s destruction, and
most scholars are thankful for that. The Clock Raven is credited with the
ability to traverse the river of time, an ability most clerics, wizards,
and bards doubt, but one they can’t refute.
The true abilities of the Clock Raven are unknown.
The Gemblade
The Gemblade first appeared in the hands of the then
mortal Stasis. It helped him accomplish many of the great feats that lead
him to becoming a deity, including banishing Amat and founding the Kingdom
of Icefia. Since his ascension, his descendants, the kings and queens of
the Kingdom of Icefia, have used the Gemblade to further the cause of
their deity and their kingdom. The evil deities and cults have oft tried
to destroy and banish the noble blade, but have never succeeded. Some
legends say that the Gemblade was created by the Counsil to bring a
balance to Habololy, for the Hunter of Paladins had long gone unchecked.
Shortly after the Gemblade first appeared, the Kingdom of Icefia
imprisoned the Hunter of Paladins for the first time.
The Gemblade is a +4 Keen Vorpal
Sunblade Bastard Sword. It radiates a strong aura of lawful good and
trails light that resembles a cloud or tongue of smoke whenever its held
and drawn. By placing a diamond in the clasps of the hilt the
blade is empowered with a strong aura of spell resistance. When held and
drawn the wielder gains SR 60 for a number of minutes equal to the worth
of the stone divided by 100. The diamond is consumed when exhausted. The
wielder may call forth the power of the blade three times per day and
invoke a Sunray, as per the spell except that it inflicts damage on
all evil creatures with a connection to another plane (i.e., outsiders in
addition to undead). Targets may make a Willpower save at DC 20 to avoid
the effects. The ray has a range of 180 ft. The blade is capable of
recharging 10 Ioun stones per year at a rate of one every two weeks.
Alternately the blade’s power may be conserved and once per year an Ioun
stone may be enchanted to grant a wish.
A Halfling’s Basket
When the first Halflings came to live in the great forest that
would one day bare their name, they were near defenseless. They are not a
powerful race, and their best defense was using stealth and fighting in
massed numbers. Habastly smiled favorably on the race that took such
great care not to harm the forest and the life it held. He went to the
leader of the largest community and offered him any item that would best
help defend him and his community. Thinking as most Halflings do, he said
that the greatest threat would be a famine. The leader asked for a basket
that would always be filled with food if needed. Habastly granted the
Halfling’s wish, but also gave the basket other abilities that would aid
the Halflings for generations. As time passed, the basket’s owners were
able to determine many of its powers. They also learned that the basket
had a will of its own, and that using certain powers of the basket evoked
a different reaction from whatever intelligence inhabited it.
The basket has powers that are of three different types.
Depending on which type of power is being used by the owner, the basket
tries to influence its owner in a different way. The first and most
commonly used types of powers are that of creation and animal friendship.
An owner of the basket may use the following spell-like abilities:
Create Water (at will), Purify Food and Drink (at will),
Goodberry (1/minute), Animal Friendship (1/minute), Detect
Animals (1/minute), Animal Messenger (1/hour), Charm Animal
(1/hour), Speak with Animals (1/hour), Create Food and Water
(3/day), Dominate Animal (3/day), Animal Growth (2/day),
Minor Creation (2/day), Major Creation (1/day). These powers
are used as by a 12th level cleric. When the owner uses these
abilities, the basket influences its owner to aid animals and nature in
all ways possible.
The second type revolves around transportation. The owner may
use the following abilities: Dimension Door (at will), Teleport
(1/minute), Teleport without Error (1/hour), Teleportation
Circle (3/day). These powers are used as by an 18th level
wizard. When an owner uses these abilities, the basket takes on the
persona of a joking adolescent halfling.
The final powers are those of summoning and conjuration. The
owner may use the following abilities: Summon Monster I, II, III, IV,
V, VI, VII, VII, IX (each 1/day), Summon Nature’s Ally I, II, III,
IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX (each 1/day). These powers are used as if by
a 20th level wizard. When the owner uses these powers, the
basket takes on the persona of a frightened child.
As soon as the owner has activated a power, he may only use
power from that type for the rest of the day. As soon as the sun rises,
the owner may use powers from another type. Only halflings may use the
basket’s powers. To any creature but a halfling, the basket will not
radiate magic, although non-magical means could be used to determine the
basket’s true nature.
The Hunter of Paladins
The first records of The Hunter of Paladins date back
over fifteen hundred years. Before its appearance, paladins were known
throughout the lands of Habololy as a force for good and law. They held
the evils of the world in check and aided the unfortunate and helpless
whenever there was a need. The Hunter of Paladins changed that for a
millennium and more. Unaware that an evil stalked them, the paladins were
caught off guard. Hundreds were slain before the true nature of the
danger was revealed: a sword that possessed evil warriors and drove them
to slay paladins. The sword managed to escape anyone that captured it and
find another warrior who thirsted for power to control. By the fifth
century BC, no paladins roamed the land freely, and Habololy was a more
dangerous place.
It came to a paladin named Hammel (see p. 212) and the
Gemblade family to finally defeat and imprison the Hunter of Paladins in
the early third century AC. The sword remained locked in the tower of
Falan in Castle Gemblade for three hundred years. During that time,
paladins crept back into the lives of the people of Habololy. Although
many were unfamiliar with their ways, they were thankful for the aid.
Times changed again when the Day of Falling Death occurred in 518 AC. The
tower of Falan, where the Hunter of Paladins had been trapped, was
destroyed and the sword disappeared.
In the years since its release, the Hunter of Paladins has
tried to once again rid Habololy of paladins. Luckily, the Order of the
Banished Hero and the Gemblade family are devoted to the re-capture of the
Hunter of Paladins and constantly seek it.
The Hunter of Paladins is a +5 Unholy Vampiric Paladin Bane
Bastard Sword. It provides the wielder with SR 50 against the divine
spells of a good cleric or creature. The wielder is constantly aware of
paladins that are within one mile. The wielder can concentrate for one
minute to discern the exact location of any paladin within that mile.
The Inquisition
Soon after Hemator left the Counsil, a swell of hatred
for cultists grew among the devote followers Everentual, Han~Sui, and
Gruweas. This feeling was nearly tangible in the lands of the Counsil
where the judges held sway. The clerics of those deities joined together
and looked to harness the hatred of millions. Their inspiration came in
the form of a weapon. It took five years of forging and praying to create
the Inquisition. It is a four-foot heavy mace. It has been given to the
greatest warrior who champions the causes of the Counsil for the last five
hundred years. Unlike many Artifacts that are difficult to locate and
rare wielded, the Inquisition is a highly visible reminder of the hatred
that exists between the Counsil and the cults.
The sword is a +5 cultist bane heavy flail that grants
the wielder SR25. In order to wield The Inquisition, one must have a 20
Strength. The wielder may also attempt to dispel any divine spell cast by
a cult cleric. To succeed in dispelling a spell, the wielder must be in
the area of effect of the spell and succeed in a Willpower save at DC
equal to the spellcaster’s level plus the level of the spell. Any cultist
that touches The Inquisition with their bare skin takes 10d6 points of
holy damage.
The Slaying Daggers
The weapon of the deity Dedestroyt was once a great-serrated
sword capable of slaying any creature that it wounded. When Dedestroyt
tried to kill Habastly, the deity of life, he swung the sword at the deity. It failed to slay Habastly and was shattered into ten shards.
Various races around the world found the shards. Every smithy that found
a shard quickly realized the quality of the metal and was compelled to
forge a dagger with the shard. Ten daggers were forged, each with the
ability to slay a different race and the daggers compel their wielder to
do exactly that. Legends say that if the daggers were all brought back
together, they could be reunited, and Dedestroyt’s sword could be
reformed.
The daggers that have been formed since the destruction of the
sword are each devoted to the death of one of the following races: human,
elf, dwarf, gnome, Gree, Nipit, giant, dragon, orc, lizardfolk. Each
dagger is a +4 bane weapon and slays any member of the particular
race unless they succeed in a Willpower save at DC 50. The wielder of a
dagger possesses all of the racial traits of the race the dagger is
designed to slay, but is not considered to be a member of that race. For
example, the wielder of the elven slaying dagger would gain low-light
vision and immunity to sleep-like effects, but would not be
considered an elf for purposes of using elf-only magical items.
If all of the daggers were brought together, legend has it
that they could be reformed into the original slaying sword. That sword
had the ability to slay any creature that it wounded. Some bards say that
this has been tried many times in the past, but no one has ever been able
to collect more than seven of the daggers. While some of the daggers have
been seen and are possessed by an individual or nation, others haven’t
been heard of or mentioned in centuries.
Spectacles of the Diviner
Originally worn by the diviner Rucel, high wizard of Yellowia
and grand diviner of Thynkizland, the spectacles have been coveted by
scholars and kings, by wizards and treasure hunters. They are a simple
iron wrought pair of spectacles fit to be worn by any near human sized
creature. The glass in them is a quarter inch thick and the bar curls
back so as to completely hook behind the ear. At different times, the
glass appears to have a blue, red, green, or yellow hue.
After Rucel died, the spectacles were passed to the next grand
diviner of Thynizland, who died while on an expedition. Since that time,
five hundred years ago, the spectacles have been seen on occasion in the
possession of a variety of people. They were last known to be in the
possession of the quasi-deity Melodi, who insists she awarded them to a
courageous bardic student at her college some years ago.
The spectacles provide the owner the following bonuses only
when worn in the proper way: a +10 bonus to all saving throws and checks
against illusions, a + 10 bonus to all Spot and Search skill checks, the
ability to read any language and any magical text, and a +4 bonus to all
saving throws and checks vs. visual attacks, such as Color Spray or
a Basilisk’s petrifying gaze. If the wearer is the target of a
visual attack that does not normally allow a saving throw, he is given a
Willpower save at DC 20 to avoid the effect.
While worn, the spectacles can provide the wearer with the
following spell-like abilities at will: Arcane Sight, Detect Chaos,
Detect Evil, Detect Good, Detect Law, Detect Magic, Detect Secret Doors,
Detect Snares and Pits, Detect Undead, and See Invisible.
These abilities are used as if cast by an 18th level caster.
They are active for as long as the wearer is conscious. Only one ability
may be active at a time. The wearer must be able to touch the frame of
the spectacles with a finger to activate or change the current ability.
The following abilities may be active for at most ten minutes per day:
True Seeing and Arcane Sight, Greater.
