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The Jewel of Everlasting Gold

Properties

Magical properties

Description

The jewel of everlasting gold is a fist-sized ruby mounted in a bejeweled, rune-carved scepter and held in place with platinum stems. Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant, crafted the jewel of everlasting gold to be the centerpiece of his treasure city, Xin-Grafar. He used the jewel to summon the city's rivers of molten gold directly from the Elemental Plane of Earth and to create much of the wealth within the city. He also placed a small portion of his intelligence inside the jewel—not enough to make it an intelligent item, but just enough for the jewel to act on Tar-Baphon's instincts. Tar-Baphon enshrined the jewel in the heart of Xin- Grafar, forever the linking it to the city. Should the jewel of everlasting gold ever be taken beyond the boundaries of the city, it simply disappears and returns to its perch at the city's heart. Because he knew thieves would eventually gain access to the city, Tar-Baphon also created a trap using the powers of the jewel. Once the city is sealed, the jewel can sense intruders entering the city. When a trespasser is detected, Tar-Baphon's trap is activated and the city floods with molten gold (see page 14). This is an automatic response that cannot be stopped.

The jewel also has several additional powers, all of which the bearer knows how to use the moment she touches the artifact.

• Clairaudience/Clairvoyance: At will, the bearer of the jewel of everlasting gold can hear and see what transpires in any part of Xin-Grafar simply by concentrating on the jewel. This power functions similar to the clairaudience/clairvoyance spell but can be used to spy on any location within the city's confines.
• Continual Flame: At will, the bearer of the jewel of everlasting gold can cause the artifact to burst into harmless flame, as per the continual flame spell.
• Touch of Gold: Once per day, the bearer of the jewel of everlasting gold can touch the artifact to a single inanimate object weighing no more than 1,000 pounds and transmute that object into pure gold. The object retains its basic shape and appearance, but it is now composed of solid gold.
• Elemental Transformation: Once per week, the bearer of the jewel of everlasting gold can transform himself into a Huge fire elemental, as per the elemental body IV spell. The transformation lasts as long as the bearer likes, but she cannot leave the confines of Xin-Grafar while in elemental form. This ability allows the jewel's bearer to survive the molten-gold floods.
• Summon Wealth: Once per month, the jewel of everlasting gold can summon vast sums of wealth from the Elemental Plane of Earth, in whatever form the bearer wishes. This ability can only create mundane sources of wealth, such as art objects, coins, gems, or even rivers of molten gold—it cannot be used to create items with magical properties.

Because the jewel of everlasting gold contains a portion of Tar-Baphon's malign will, any wealth created with its touch of gold ability or summoned with its summon wealth ability cannot be removed from Xin-Grafar except by Tar-Baphon himself. Like the jewel itself, any such treasure taken outside of Xin-Grafar disappears and reappears scattered throughout the city.

In addition, anyone touching the jewel is contacted by the fragmentary intelligence inside the gem and hears disturbing whispers in her mind, urging the character to claim the jewel and swear fealty to Tar-Baphon. From that point on, the influence of the jewel is never far from that character's mind. How this influences a PC is largely up to the GM. Most good-aligned PCs will feel the influence as a nagging doubt, a subtle desire to return to the treasure city and take the jewel in hand again. Chaotic- or evil-aligned PCs may feel much stronger desires—sometimes overwhelming urges to return to the jewel no matter the consequences. These whispering influences can only be completely dispelled by remove curse or similar magic (requiring a DC 30 caster level check).

Destruction

The jewel of everlasting gold crumbles to dust if thrown into Karzoug's runewell of greed.

Tags

Sources

• City of Golden Death

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