Reingold 's Cloak
King Coloman had a problem.King Charles (known as the Fat King behind his back) was coming to take over his kingdom.It was not that Coloman had started any trouble, it was just that the Fat King was as greedy for new lands to add to his over growing empire as he was at the dinner table.Whilst the Fat King was not a good general himself,he had several talented subordinates who were, as well as an army three times the size of Coloman's.
King Coloman called his Royal Council together to decide what to do.Simply using assassins would not work.There were six decent generals, and at most an assassin might be able to kill two,and that would mean he or she would die in the attempt. Reingold was put to work to create a magical weapon that could kill all six generals,without being so dangerous that it endangered all those who were making it.
He considered golems (too many guards) and various other ideas, and came up with a cloak that had hidden powers.A supposed traitor was the man who gave the Fat King the cloak. The cloak made the Fat King feel wonderful and healed a small wound and some boils that he had, but within an hour, all six generals dropped dead, their strength sucked into the Fat King. Without his generals, the Fat King lost the Battle of Silverock Pass and was killed in the rout that followed. The slightly damaged cloak was recovered and locked for safety in the King's Treasury, only to be stolen a decade later...
Reingold's cloak is no longer quite as dangerous as it once was, time and minor battle damage have made sure of that.It is made of scarlet felt lined with ermine fur, a cloak that still looks fit for a King or Queen.It heals any wounds on someone who wears it except for the very biggest or those taken in the heat of battle-if the person survives, within an hour his/her wounds will be healed, as long as he/she continues wearing the cloak.
Diseases and blindness are healed but ONLY whilst the cloak is worn.The wearer will be very reluctant to take the cloak off-the benifits of it coupled with a spell of Reingold's make wearing it for any length of time addictive.
The big problem with the cloak is,whilst it helps it's owner,it does so by feeding off the life force of his/her fellow adventures and all those who come too close.In a big city it will feed on NPC carecters rather then fellow adventurers but this could lead to the adventurers being arrested by the city guards on murder charges or charges of casting harmful spells.On a prarie when they are alone it feeds on the adventurers.If there is nobody to feed on, the cloak will provide no benifits and feed on it's owner instead, using magic to mask the ill-effects until the owner dies.
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Plot hooks...
The PC's are asked to take the cloak to a lord by another one,and paid for it, but they are not told just what cloak they are carrying.They have to travel through very cold icy conditions and need all the warm clothes they have...
The PC's find a dead body/skeliton wrapped in the wonderful-looking cloak
The PC's find an NPC wearing the cloak-all the NPC's companions have died and he/she has no idea why.The NPC wants to travel with them for safety.
In the main market of a huge city, teeming with people, the PC's find the cloak for sale.
Magical Properties:
Reingold's cloak is no longer quite as dangerous as it once was, time and minor battle damage have made sure of that.Only the very old, babies and the very weak are killed within an hour.But long-term exposure for long enough can still lead to severe sickness or even death for those close to the wearer of the cloak.
It heals the wearer by stealing the life force of all those around the wearer.A sort of magical pyramid scheme as far as life force is concearned.Only if the owner is alone with the cloak,will it feed on the person who wears it.
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? Responses (3)
A leeching cloak, eh? Well I have several comments:
In itself the cloak is a good item but you have to run a spellchecker. You have included plot hooks and that makes me very happy. The history behind it seems sketchy and like a summary, that detracts from the overall score. Had you taken your time and not posted this at once, but rather taken another look at it at a later stage, I am sure you could have gotten a higher score. Still: 4.0 is not bad Cheka. Congratulations.
This is an intriguing idea.
There is a great idea here, somewhat reduced by the execution as AG mentioned.
It also suffers from requiring the targets be oblivious and for a number of coincidences to occur to work - he has to be injured while closest to the generals, not his servants, queen, cooks or others. Seems like quite the stretch.