Scepter of Inganno
You should feel proud today, knowing that you will be the reason why another person will live. Why they will escape the brink of death and be able to heal all injuries. This is a great thing and you should feel elation knowing because of you, they will live. Unfortunately you must die for them to live; such is the way of the world.
-Inganno - Follower of Caedmon, Alchemist of Shadow
Description:
The scepter is two and a half feet long with a solid silver head and a strong tapered point. The body of the scepter seems to be made of the finest specimen of goldenwood, its grain a brilliant yellow unmatched by other known pieces. The tapered point is made of a silvered metal and is fairly sharp. It has been known to puncture the solid metal of a breastplate on occasion. The silvered head is smooth and rounded, extending beyond the width of the scepters body only slightly. An oddity of the scepter is the rounded head always seems to have a feeling of warmth emanate from it when touched, while the tapered point always seems cold to touch.
History:
Inganno the Deceiver was am ill fated alchemist, his commissions were seldom happy with the outcome of their requested products and his name was slandered in the dark of his ineptness at creating even the most common of magic items that were asked of him. As hard as he tried, none of his attempts were close to what he wanted. They were basic and mostly unusable beyond a first year apprentices abilities. He closed his doors one clouded evening and left the alleys of civilization.
He wandered for weeks in the harshness of the world, with no goal in mind he trekked past city after city fearing to enter and be laughed at when he walked past for his failures. He wandered in the cold of night and the heat of day, draining him physically and mentally. With no food or source of companionship his mind wandered as well. Then one fateful day, as his strength and sensibilities were leaving him, he stumbled on a ruined building. Its real purpose lost in the dust of time. A single object stood unmolested by age and banditry, a statue of a calm faced man. Handsome, even by male standards. His eyes shown with a brilliant clarity and intelligence that the sculpture must have known the subject personally.
A small tome was clutched in his right hand, gesturing to the heavens. Its pages and cover seemed silky smooth resting in the marbled hands of the unknown man. Inganno was intrigued; he had been around magic enough to know it was enchanted which was possibly the reason why it was still intact when everything else was not.
“My God such beauty and perfection. If only I could do as such no one would laugh again.” Inganno said as he reached and touched the marvelous item. When his hand closed over its binding and he immediately felt a presence in his head, demanding attention and obedience.
“Mine is to give and yours is to follow. Accept the pages and the duties and none shall speak in laughter behind you, but follow in respect.” The booming voice ended and Inganno fell to the floor whimpering. He cried “yes, Yes! I DO!”, and opened the tome to the first page. In it he saw pages on pages of how to create the items of power used by the High Priests of Caedmon’s followers.
He chose the first one and began plotting how he could return the scorn and laughter to those now beneath him.
Magic Properties
The Scepter of Inganno has the ability to heal even the most grievous of injuries near instantly. As long as the recipient is not dead or near death, then the healing process is fairly quick. There is a painful sensation and images strange to the person being healed, as if they are seeing small captions of someone elses life in a vague haze.
Broken bones will mend, torn muscles will heal, damaged organs will repair. All with the miraculous power of the scepter. However, there is a draw back that those who use the scepter know about. In order for the heal properties of the staff to work, a source of that healing must be found and put into the scepter and stored. By taking the soul of another, the scepter can store it’s life essence for future use to heal those injured. This is why they can sometimes see glimpses of another persons life, as their soul is trapped in the scepter.
There is also a very small percent chance that the person being healed will be taken over by the soul being used to heal them. This is a very small chance and rarely happens, but the more the same person is healed with the scepter the easier it is for a new soul to take over their body. This has been known to be a difficult transition as the one who took the soul is usually immediately attacked by the person now healed. Confusion is readily there.
Side Note
The Tome of Creation is the book that was found will be detailed in another submission and is a Hewdamia related item.
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? Responses (9)
Coincidentally Inganno is a rough translation of the italian word deceit or deceiver.
There is no take, without give, and there really shouldn't be 'I spend magic points to regain health'. I think a morally gray item like this is great. Use it to kill the evil minions, sacrifice the wounded enemy to it to ensure the survival of the heroes.
Glad you like it. I think what most Dm's fail to remember is that the bad guys (evil guys) are not nice. They fail to think like someone who has no morals. Kill the weak to keep the strong alive. That is why they are weak, to be culled and used.
This would be a good weapon for a Necromancer to have.
I sort of agree with Scras - while I have no problems with magical healing per se, I do think it is sometimes just a little too easy
This sort of thing nicely resolves the dilemma - of course you can have instant healing, but at a price - there is always a price
You then have to ask yourself - is the price worth it?
Or sometimes, as in this case - is the price morally acceptable?
Never mind the item, this is simply a great idea - and for that 4.5 / 5
Good ol' old-school item!
I certainly approve of items that are not _free_ to use. Perhaps one could even find those who would volunteer for such duty.