Queen's Bane

Full Item Description
The Queen's Bane is a beautiful bracelet of black and white jade. Those who can sense evil items will be able to *feel* the demonic power coming off this thing, but most will just think of it as a pretty thing.

History
David Kravchenko was on the surface, a mage and an expert craftsman in the making of magical items. He had a formal license to make them from the government of Queen Amber of Vallermoore and the vast majority of them were useful little items. However, unknown to anybody else he developed a great hatred of women. Some say that he did or said something to get on the wrong side of The Eyes of Yocasta (renamed the Eyes of Amber) and spent a humiliating half hour in The Songpit and he blamed Queen Amber for it. . Others thing that he was mistaken for a slaver or a pervert and beaten up by a local chapter of the Raphiki Mhaza . Whatever the reason, he nursed a deep hatred of women and particular women in positions of power.

When Queen Amber came to power and there was the crime surge that was only brought to an end with the semi-vigilantes of The White Knights his small shop was looted and trashed and he was lucky that his suppliers did not force him into bankruptcy. He blamed the catastrophe on Queen Ambers *womanly weakness* and decided to get his revenge by creating an item that would turn Amber into a cruel tyrant. He hoped that she would be overthrown and replaced by a male and that none of the nearby countries would ever want a female ruler.

He brought a relatively small amount of black and white Demon Jade and spent many days forging it into a beautiful bracelet on which he cast three spells. One spell made the jade go cool in the presence of nearby danger-he did not want his new female tyrant to be assassinated too quickly. A second reacted when a weapon was brought close to the bracelet and created a heavy but short-lived force-field that would deflect an arrow, a hand held weapon, and most spells. The third would make the bracelets owner become very possessive of it.

The black jade would, after a few hours of wearing it, create greed that would get stronger and stronger the longer the bracelet was worn until the owner would do anything for money and good things. The white jade would cause the owner, over time, to become a lying and self serving hypocrite. He secretly named it in his mind, the Queen's Bane as it was designed to ruin Queendoms.

He managed to give it to the Queen on her birthday and within a few weeks she had changed from the popular Queen who genuinely cared for her people into a greedy, spiteful ruler who would lie, cheat, and steal from the Royal Treasury that was meant to keep the country on an even keel. With The Treasure House empty and decaying and the people on the verge of starvation one of the royal bodyguards tried to assassinate Queen Amber, only for her to spin around as he eased his sword from its sheath. He rushed at her and thrust forward only for his sword to glance off the bracelets invisible shield. Her screams brought the other guards and the traitor was tortured and publicly beheaded for his attempt at regicide.

Queen Amber then remembered the wizard that had given her the bracelet and had him brought to her and promoted to a high post in her administration for, as she saw it, saving her life. There are rumours that she has fallen in love with him, which would be ironic if they were true.

Magic/Cursed Properties

This bracelet will grow cool/cold if dire danger threatens, and if a spell is aimed at the wearer or a weapon is used against the wearer an invisible sheild forms to deflect it for as long as the threat lasts. The sheild when activated is heavy and if it could be seen would be the size and shape of the sheild of a Greek hoplite.

It's uses are sadly greatly outweighed by it's drawbacks due to the Demon Jade that it was made of. The black jade, over time, will make the wearer become more and more greedy until he/she will to anything for money or luxury goods, and the white varity will turn the wearer into a cheating lying hypocrite. A priest or priestess of
Mathom, the God of Delays can wear it without harm as the bad effects never seem to kick in, but anybody else, even the purest of people will over enough time be made evil by this bracelet.

Also it has a spell on it that only effects women of any race that wear it, and the spell makes the wearer very reluctant to part with it. (think of Tolkien's One Ring and how it affects it's wearers and you have a good idea of how the spell works.)With a male this spell won't kick in and it's possible that they could be reasoned with and persuaded to discard it if an attempt is made early enough.