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Crown of Dust artifact building

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
ennervance
Jul 07, 2011 16:36:48 From the Marauders of the Dune Sea adventure, it more or less culminates with the retreival of the Crown of Dust artifact. As best I can tell, the item is a fragment of an old, much more powerful artifact that used to belong to a chosen/ templar/ exarch of Ul-Athra. Due to its power, even the shattered remnants of it are considered artifact-level on their own.

I want to be working this into my Dark Sun game; I want the party to find the rest of the fragments to reassemble it. The closest that I've found to a similar item is from the Eberron level 2 adventure, where they have to find the parts of an anti-aberration crown and reassemble it. Each of its pieces, though, are only regular magic items that might be closer to a set except they're used by diverse classes.

I want to at least make it four parts, even if only two of them are artifact-level power themselves - probably head, neck, or waist slots to model the basic shape. Perhaps an orb for the centerpiece, but only one of my players is even using the arcane power source, so that'd be who it would go to.

I would love examples, if other people have done something similar, of what the items wound up looking like. Any powers they granted, or passive bonuses to abilities or skills, whatever the case may be. And I'll probably need to make my own, so if people have ideas for what would fit thematically with the Crown of Dust and the Ul-Athra lore in general, those would also be appreciated.
#2
jovis70
Jul 07, 2011 19:32:06 hey FYI dungeon 183 has a sequel Revenge of the Marauders
www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/d...

and it has a second piece of the crown of dust the Blood Jewel

Joe
#3
ennervance
Jul 14, 2011 13:02:15 Yeah, I'll probably be making use of that - but at the appropriate level, or perhaps a level above. What I want to do is have the piece of the Crown know if it's within range - say a couple miles of another piece - but that it knows of a nearby location of great power where it can sense further, although less specifically (say, two weeks travel to the north or what have you). I figure the locale will be a site of an elemental manifestation of some sort - perhaps a permanent sand spring, where an endless river of sand tumbles down the side of a mountain, with the accumulation being dispersed by strong winds in the area.

Now, of course there's the standard temple/shrine to Ul-Athra there, but it's been coopted by a tribe of some local creatures - Hekjins, perhaps, the party has had trouble with them in the past. They need to fight their way into the center of the temple, where a round platform is suspended on arches of stone over a sand lake, which is the source of that tumbling sand river - and in the center is where the Crown can reach out a farther distance to find a second (non-blood jewel) piece of the crown. I'm thinking it's secreted away somewhere near Tyr, so I can try and bring them into the city, or at least the outskirts, as a change of pace.

After they acquire the second piece (which will probably be a neck-slot or maybe another head-slot item, the back half of the Crown) the crown will suggest they head back to the site for another reading. That's when they catch wind of the Blood Jewel, even closer - which leads them to the Slither raid from the adventure.

Once they have all three pieces, they are told by the now mostly-complete Crown that if they bring all three items to the altar at the Face in the Stone on the night of the eclipse, the item will be reforged. What they don't realize is that this was part of the Crown's plan - and the reforging of the artifact will be enough that a divine spark from the chained Ul-Athra will release an avatar of his power (in the form of an illithid). This will be anywhere from 4-6 months away, leaving them time to adventure and work more for House Shom.

The avatar will become one of the party's patrons as they work towards some of his goals (to the profit of the party as well, of course) with his ultimate goal being the unshackling of the chained form beneath the Sea of Silt. Once it is unshackled, limited divine powers will be released, as he begins testing his powers once more.

I have a couple of twists I don't want to post here - I know at least one of the players reads the forums, and as much as I trust him not to metagame, I think he'll also appreciate the surprises when they're unveiled. They're mostly unrelated to this plot arc, which should take them most of the way through the heroic tier.

C&C welcomed, if anyone has any thoughts or ideas I'd love them too.
#4
Alphastream
Jul 14, 2011 19:40:17 I have been running a home campaign revolving around a different set of artifacts (which make up the Crown of Sorrow, a different thing entirely in my campaign). My Epic Words page is probably the best way to see the plot. You can also pick up a few pieces from my blog (link in my sig below). You can easily reskin the artifact to be the Crown.
#5
Raddu76
Aug 02, 2011 0:19:00 Here's a piece of the crown...I just cobbled together some other magic items. I made it level 13, which is powerful for my current group.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ennervance Jul 07, 2011 16:36:48	From the Marauders of the Dune Sea adventure, it more or less culminates with the retreival of the Crown of Dust artifact. As best I can tell, the item is a fragment of an old, much more powerful artifact that used to belong to a chosen/ templar/ exarch of Ul-Athra. Due to its power, even the shattered remnants of it are considered artifact-level on their own. I want to be working this into my Dark Sun game; I want the party to find the rest of the fragments to reassemble it. The closest that I've found to a similar item is from the Eberron level 2 adventure, where they have to find the parts of an anti-aberration crown and reassemble it. Each of its pieces, though, are only regular magic items that might be closer to a set except they're used by diverse classes. I want to at least make it four parts, even if only two of them are artifact-level power themselves - probably head, neck, or waist slots to model the basic shape. Perhaps an orb for the centerpiece, but only one of my players is even using the arcane power source, so that'd be who it would go to. I would love examples, if other people have done something similar, of what the items wound up looking like. Any powers they granted, or passive bonuses to abilities or skills, whatever the case may be. And I'll probably need to make my own, so if people have ideas for what would fit thematically with the Crown of Dust and the Ul-Athra lore in general, those would also be appreciated.
#2 jovis70 Jul 07, 2011 19:32:06	hey FYI dungeon 183 has a sequel Revenge of the Marauders www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/d... and it has a second piece of the crown of dust the Blood Jewel Joe
#3 ennervance Jul 14, 2011 13:02:15	Yeah, I'll probably be making use of that - but at the appropriate level, or perhaps a level above. What I want to do is have the piece of the Crown know if it's within range - say a couple miles of another piece - but that it knows of a nearby location of great power where it can sense further, although less specifically (say, two weeks travel to the north or what have you). I figure the locale will be a site of an elemental manifestation of some sort - perhaps a permanent sand spring, where an endless river of sand tumbles down the side of a mountain, with the accumulation being dispersed by strong winds in the area. Now, of course there's the standard temple/shrine to Ul-Athra there, but it's been coopted by a tribe of some local creatures - Hekjins, perhaps, the party has had trouble with them in the past. They need to fight their way into the center of the temple, where a round platform is suspended on arches of stone over a sand lake, which is the source of that tumbling sand river - and in the center is where the Crown can reach out a farther distance to find a second (non-blood jewel) piece of the crown. I'm thinking it's secreted away somewhere near Tyr, so I can try and bring them into the city, or at least the outskirts, as a change of pace. After they acquire the second piece (which will probably be a neck-slot or maybe another head-slot item, the back half of the Crown) the crown will suggest they head back to the site for another reading. That's when they catch wind of the Blood Jewel, even closer - which leads them to the Slither raid from the adventure. Once they have all three pieces, they are told by the now mostly-complete Crown that if they bring all three items to the altar at the Face in the Stone on the night of the eclipse, the item will be reforged. What they don't realize is that this was part of the Crown's plan - and the reforging of the artifact will be enough that a divine spark from the chained Ul-Athra will release an avatar of his power (in the form of an illithid). This will be anywhere from 4-6 months away, leaving them time to adventure and work more for House Shom. The avatar will become one of the party's patrons as they work towards some of his goals (to the profit of the party as well, of course) with his ultimate goal being the unshackling of the chained form beneath the Sea of Silt. Once it is unshackled, limited divine powers will be released, as he begins testing his powers once more. I have a couple of twists I don't want to post here - I know at least one of the players reads the forums, and as much as I trust him not to metagame, I think he'll also appreciate the surprises when they're unveiled. They're mostly unrelated to this plot arc, which should take them most of the way through the heroic tier. C&C welcomed, if anyone has any thoughts or ideas I'd love them too.
#4 Alphastream Jul 14, 2011 19:40:17	I have been running a home campaign revolving around a different set of artifacts (which make up the Crown of Sorrow, a different thing entirely in my campaign). My Epic Words page is probably the best way to see the plot. You can also pick up a few pieces from my blog (link in my sig below). You can easily reskin the artifact to be the Crown.
#5 Raddu76 Aug 02, 2011 0:19:00	Here's a piece of the crown...I just cobbled together some other magic items. I made it level 13, which is powerful for my current group.