Ahahl's Mastering represented the pinnacle of the artificer's craft among all the Qysari Rings. Commissioned with great secrecy by the paranoid Qysar Amahl Shoon IV, this ring's most well-known power was to summon djinn, but it had other devious uses only known to a few. When the Mastering was coupled with his silver scimitar, the blade could be commanded to perform amazing feats.[1]
Description[]
All other known Qysari Rings, being shoonrings, were made from twisted bands of two metals,[2] but this ring used three different metals—steel, silver, and gold—unique among the treasured rings of the Shoon.[1] The bands were woven together in a zigzag pattern that shifted or flattened depending on the nature of the individual wearing the ring. When placed on the finger of a cleric, druid, or other priest, the direction of the weave turned at right angles to the circumference of the ring. If donned by warriors or rogues, the raised pattern became smooth to the touch but still visible. Wizards saw no change in the design when it was placed on their finger.[3]
Powers[]
The commissioner of this ring, Amahl Shoon IV, was paranoid and fearful of the machinations of the court, so he desired protection from those around him and their magic.[4] The publicly acknowledged and observed function of this ring was to call a djinni from the Elemental Plane of Air into service, just as a ring of djinni summoning. In secret, he directed the artificers to add enchantments to the ring that would allow him to attack with impunity other ring wearers.[1]
The magical craftsmen and craftswomen of that era produced many varieties of magical rings that all had their metaphorical craftmark on them and they were known collectively as shoonrings.[2] The Mastering took advantage of these common elements in their construction, giving it the power to anonymously strike everyone within fifty feet (fifteen meters) who was wearing a shoonring. The magic jolts were painful and damaging enough to disrupt spellcasting—exactly what Amahl IV feared—and he could do this twice a day by uttering a command word. In addition to this potentially widespread attack, he could pick one shoonring wearer within that range and, without physically touching his victim, cast from memory a spell that required touching the target (such as shocking grasp[5]). This ability could be used as many times as it was practical to do so.[1]
A silver-plated scimitar was made along with Amahl's Mastering.[4] Ostensibly, it was a sword of dancing, but if carried by the wearer of the Mastering, it could be given verbal commands for three new offensive and defensive modes. After its owner descended into insanity, the sword became known as the Silver Scimitar of Amahl the Mad.[1]
History[]
The last moments of Amahl Shoon IV.
The ring and the scimitar were made in the Year of Thirteen Prides Lost, 132 DR, for Amahl Shoon IV. A decade later he was still clutching the silver scimitar as he was swept off the Royal Mount at Shoonach by a gust of wind cast by his youngest brother Amahl V and fell to his death in the harbor below. A sailor, whose name has never been discovered, witnessed the rich qysar's last moments and dove into the water to retrieve what he could. The sword was quickly found and taken, but the ring would not come off the corpulent finger of the deceased so he took the whole hand. Hiding his windfall treasures aboard his ship, he sailed down the river and out into the pirate-infested waters of the Trackless Sea, and the Mastering and Silver Scimitar were not seen in Faerûn again for over 200 years.[4]
Items fitting their description appeared sometime around the Year of the River Candles, 387 DR, on a cargo manifest in Messemprar, the capitol of Unther, thousands of miles (kilometers) away in east Faerûn. A trading company bought and sold them for a quick profit to Dima el Qufis yi Manshaka for over 100,000 gp. Dima soon unlocked the secrets of the two items and began using them to terrorize and plunder the small towns and villages in the Vilhon Reach by sending the djinni to cause destruction and widespread panic while he used the scimitar to murder the local lords. Calling himself the "Djinni-Lord", he operated from secret bases in Chondalwood and the Gulthmere Forest and repelled all attempts to kill or capture him until his delve into despotism was derailed by then Prince Azoun I of Cormyr, hero of the war against Valashar.[4][6]
In the Year of the Wooded Altar, 389 DR, while on a trade mission to Arrabar, the Crown Prince and the Royal Wizard in training, Amedahast, decided to take an unescorted trip into Chondalwood to seek out some rumored elven ruins.[4] By chance they crossed paths with Dima and hostilities ensued. Together, she with her superior spellwork and he with the celebrated sword Ilbratha, they slew Dima and confiscated his ill-gotten treasure hoard. Much of the other treasure became a bargaining chip in the trade negotiations, but they kept the Mastering and the Silver Scimitar a secret and stowed it in a hidden chest in the captain's cabin of their ship, Valashar's Bane.[1] Later that year, a strong storm forced the ship into the shoals and breached the hull on the rocks. The crew valiantly sailed the crippled ship toward Cormyr until it sank about twenty miles (thirty two kilometers) east of the Darkflow river. No lives were lost, but the prince was forced to abandon the treasures hidden on the ship, including Ilbratha, the Mastering, and the Silver Scimitar.
Ilbratha, the Mistress of Battles was eventually recovered,[6] but the treasures of the Shoon were never found.[1]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 27. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Steven E. Schend, Dale Donovan (September 1998). Empires of the Shining Sea. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 192. ISBN 0-7869-1237-5.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (October 1998). Calimport. (TSR, Inc), p. 90. ISBN 0-7869-1238-3.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 26. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.
- ↑ David "Zeb" Cook (August 1989). Player's Handbook (2nd edition). (TSR, Inc.), p. 137. ISBN 0-88038-716-5.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Steven E. Schend (1999). Sea of Fallen Stars. (TSR, Inc), p. 23. ISBN 0-7869-1393-2.