AV&ES- Roll those dice!

Voice Stealing Statue

Jaundo seemed to collapse against the wall in relief. The fighter pointed at a trio of dark green jade statues on the old stone altar.
‘Which one is it?’ Uzeb asked.
Jaundo squinted at each statue and shrugged, he could not be sure.
Uzeb nodded and motioned for the fighter to stand back. Then the wizard pointed his gnarled staff at the trio of leering and mocking statues and said a string of arcane words. Lightning raced from the tip of the staff in the blink of an eye and shattered the statues, one by one, one bolt of lightning after another.
Jaundo cried out as he reclaimed his voice.
‘Can we get back to out adventure now?’ inquired Uzeb.
‘It wasn’t my fault,’ Jaundo replied.

These small jade statues are very rare, probably because once they activate and are figured out they are hunted down and destroyed. A lot of problems caused by a small ten pound squat, grimacing statue.

Benefit: The first character that speaks within 10′ of one of these statues causes them to make a d6 roll. On a result of 1-3 the character becomes silent, there voice suddenly stolen, which, due to its arcane nature, does not interfere with spellcasting. The character can only communicate via telepathy or sign language until the statue is destroyed (20 points of magical damage).

Usable by: Anyone.

Girdle of the Serpent

‘I’ll be right back,’ Thoz told the others as he patted his midsection and squirmed through the small opening in the stone wall.
Screams and a shout or two could be heard on the other side, the clashing of metal rang out. A few minutes later an exasperated Thoz reappeared.
‘Or, we can find another route as there seems to be no end of troglodytes on the other side of this wall,’ he told the others.

This belt of large, interlocking scales feels a bit warm when worn and the wearer can feel muscles moving slightly just under the serpentine skin. No guarantee that things are better on the other side.

Benefit: If worn this enchanted belt allows the wearer to squeeze through any opening through which an average housecat could comfortably fit. In addition, there is a +2 to AC against crushing or bludgeoning damage as the body yields to the blow.

Usable by: Anyone.

Urn of Funereal Sighs

‘That’s it, that’s it, be curious,’ whispered Skorbi as he spied on the bugbears as they approached the altar and one of them picked up the clay jar. They monstrous humanoids looked at each other, one shrugged and the one holding it opened the jar, releasing a sooty cloud that engulfed the creatures, who suddenly looked glum and disheartened. Wrilk the dwarf looked at Skorbi.
‘Now!’ the wizard hissed as the dwarf revealed himself with a wicked looking crossbow and Bakra-do dropped a net down on the bugbears.
‘Flawless!’ Skorbi exclaimed.
‘So far,’ Wrilk growled as he approached the humanoids.

An ancient clay jar with curious writing on the outside of it. If shaken a moaning sound of despair can barely be heard.

Benefit: When opened a wave of supernatural despair is released, causing all within 20′ to make a Save vs. Spells or suffer a -3 to ALL rolls for 1d4 rounds as they are overcome with waves of futility and deep despair. This only affects creatures of Intelligence above Animal. Each round after the effects are over the penalty is removed a -1 each around until the affected are back to normal.

Usable by: Anyone.

Wand of Summoning

Arakam’s eyes bulged as he heard Thoz say an obscure word. The wizard whipped around to see the thief using the magic wand that he had found in the hoard of the old dragon. Moments later a horrific being was straining to go beyond the circle that holding it at bay.
‘What have you done?’ Arakam asked. ‘Have you gone mad?’
‘This doesn’t look good,’ Nuli and Krogi said in unison as they looked on.
‘I am looking for the thief king’s crown, this seemed like a shortcut,’ Thoz confessed.
‘If I get out of here I will shred you all, tearing you to ribbons!’ the fiend shrieked in a grating metallic voice as it raked wicked claws against the magical barrier of the circle.
‘Now about that crown…’ Thoz said, trying to remain cool as the thing snarled.

A very intricately detailed willow wand, very powerful. Often leads to further complications for the owner.

Benefit: This very rare wand can be used to summon one outsider (non-deity or equivalent creature from the outer planes or the realm of fairy). A circle will emanate from the wand onto the ground in the required pattern and substance (i.e. salt for infernal creatures, cold iron shavings for fey, etc) and the summoned entity will appear within three rounds and stay for up to one hour unless the circle is broken, freeing the being to run amok or return to where it came from. The wand holds three charges and can be recharged with three maximum level spell of any type. More powerful beings may require a true name being uttered at the time of summoning. The summoned entity may be asked a question, cast a spell or perform a task for its summoner if they bargain well.

Usable by: Anyone level 4+.

Necromantic Incense

Uzeb the Wise stepped out of the barrow into the sunlight.
‘Any wiser?’ Jaundo asked.
The wizard, who smelled of funeral flowers, shook his head vigorously, as if to remove tenacious bees or strange thoughts.
‘I believe I know where we should go next, if I figured out those ridiculous riddles correctly,’ he replied.

Thick, black and dark blue cones that smell like a combination of lilies and dried roses. Very rare, not often found in magic shops.

Benefit: When this incense is burned within five feet of a corpse the smoke curls and cajoles the spirit to return and answer three questions, similar to a Speak with Dead spell. The corpse(s) will only speak in flowery prose and riddles which require an Int check to decipher.

Usable by: Anyone.

Flute of Stealing a Town’s Luck

”I’d throw that flute out,’ said Skorbi as he cast a dubious eye upon the thing.
‘It sounds beautiful. Well, except for that one song,’ countered Wrilk the dwarf.
‘That one song that we cannot hear, yet every time you play it when we go to the next town prices always seem to go up just for us, that song, you mean?’ the wizard retorted.
Wrilk looked at the flute, then looked at Bakra-do.
‘Leave me out of this one, everything else seems to turn out fine for us, that thing has some magic about it,’ the mercenary said.

This strange silver flute has odd, eerie carving on it that seems a little unsettling. And those that hear the beautiful music are never the ones that want to.

Benefit: This enchanted flute can play any tune, yet will ‘guide’ its owner to play a particular song, Lamenting City’ at least once a week, yet no more than three times in a week. When this tune is played the entire party receives a +1 bonus to all saves for a 24 hour period, although they cannot hear that one song as it is played. However, while this happens the nearest settlement has something go wrong- an important building develops a crack, a particular vintage of popular wine turns to vinegar, a local crop mutates and looks bizarre, bees leave their hives, etc, and they do hear the song, in a haunting tone that drifts about the town or city. And if the party sets foot on that town they will be treated with suspicion by the inhabitants.

Usable by: Anyone.