Helm of Helm

The Helm of Helm was a holy text of the church of Helm that took the unusual form of a heavy metallic war-helm instead of an actual book.

Description
This divine relic was appeared as a simple visored metallic helmet without heraldry, mantling or decorations. Its only notable quality was the word Surgar engraved in Common on the inside of the visor.

Powers
The Helm was impervious to rust. All its other magical properties were dormant until a creature in contact with it uttered the word Surgar, at which point the visor would start glowing with a faint silver radiance.

Effects on Chaotic creatures
Any creature of Chaotic alignment which touched or wore the helmet suffered painful burns, as if under the effects of a heat metal spell.

Effects on Lawful creatures
The Helm had different effects on creatures of Lawful alignment which wore it, depending of whether they worshiped Helm or not.

Creatures that didn't worshiped the deity would hear a very faint voice while wearing the item. If those creatures were of Lawful Neutral alignment, they would hear the name of the deity echoing grandly in their mind instead.

Effects on the faithful
Followers of Helm which wore the Helm and spoke the activation word would see the spells it offered displayed one by one inside the visor, in alphabetical order and in ascending level. The user could also bring a specific spell to view instantly by speaking its name aloud. While the Helm was a good way for faithful to learn new spells, wearing it prevented most spellcasting as it reduced the caster's vision and made it harder to concentrate.

If the Helm was worn by a formal priest of Helm, it removed the wearer's need for sleep, and made them immune to exhaustion and weariness. It also protected the wearer against all charm and enchantment spells, and greatly empowered any guardian or protection spells they cast.

Contents
As a spellbook, the Helm contained information on the following spells:


 * anti-vermin barrier, anti-animal shell, blade barrier, chant, continual light, cure serious wounds, dispel evil, dispel magic, efficacious monster ward, exaltation, faith armor, fire purge, fist of faith, flame strike, glyph of warding, heal, holy word, invisibility purge, light, mace of Odo, magical vestment, negative plane protection, protection from evil, protection from fire, protection from lightning, remove curse, remove paralysis, resist fire/resist cold, seeking sword, sentry of Helm, shield of the god, spell immunity, squeaking floors, sunray, symbol, tenfold ironguard, tentacle walls, undead ward, wyvern watch, zone of sweet air, and zone of truth.

History
The Helm was found by the helmite cleric Garshond in the while defending the town of Iriaebor against an army of goblinoids. It was said that the Helm rose out of a battlefield bog and presented itself to the cleric. It was unclear whether Helm created the item at that moment, or took it from the bones of an older champion of his faith laying under the waters of the bog.