The Flame of the Spirit was an object sacred to the Tymoran faith.[1]
Description[]
The Flame of Spirit appeared as a lump of sculpted amber in the shape of an undulating flame. The round base of the object had been worn smooth by centuries of handling, and the interior emitted a subtle, shifting radiance.[1]
Function[]
When the Flame was physically touched by a devotee of Tymora, the object transformed into the form of a tablet. The tablet was capable of levitating in place when not resting on a surface suitable for reading. In tablet form, the Flame displayed the text of a spell, selected at random from those stored within the object. When touched again, the object would display another randomly selected spell.
The object would revert to its flame-shaped form once it had cycled through its entire repertoire. The object would also revert to its flame shape if left untouched by a worshiper of Tymora for 24 hours, if touched while the user uttered a secret word, or if touched by a creature that did not worship Tymora. If a creature that did not worship Tymora touched the Flame, that being would also be struck by a powerful eruption of searing, corrosive fire.[1]
Spells[]
The Flame was capable of displaying the following spells: accelerate healing, blessed abundance, boon of fortune, chaotic combat, create food and water, cure critical wounds, dispel magic, favor of Tymora, feat, flame strike, fortunate fate, free action, luckbolt, memory read, morale, raise dead, remove curse, resurrection, sacred guardian, spell immunity, and threefold boon. It was said that on rare occasions, Tymora could act directly through the Flame to display the exact spell a supplicant required in their time of need.[1]
History[]
The Flame of the Spirit was thought by some to originate from, or even from before, the time of ancient Netheril. However, the earliest extant mention of the object appears in the book To Serve Fair Fortune, an autobiographical chronicle of the exploits of the priest Ithlom Dhaunart that was popular in the Vilhon Reach region from 442 DR. In that work, the Flame was described being present at Smiling Lady Well, a Tymoran temple-farm long since sunk beneath the waters of the Moonsea along with the drowned city of Northkeep.[1]
The Flame next appeared in 982 DR in the horde of the red dragon Thungarbarath Flamegout in the Thunder Peaks, from whence it was stolen by the Tymoran adventurer Jorthan Twocastle, who alone among his company, the Brave Broadsword Band, survived the encounter with the wyrm. Twocastle attempted to sell the object in Archenbridge, but the object's fire slew the first merchant who touched it. Consequently unable to sell the Flame, Twocastle hid the object in a secret cache within the Mulsiner family crypt in Ordulin. Twocastle later returned to find the Flame stolen.[1]
The Flame resurfaced a second time in Calimport in 1150 DR, where it was used to murder a number of satraps and shaleiras, including the Ongalar of Calimport, all of whom were found dead in their beds of a single burn wound. The killer was believed to be a drow or other Underdark dweller who fled underground after their last murderous act.[1]
Eight years later, in 1158 DR, the Flame surfaced again in Elturel, when the thief Fargoth Labbard attempted to steal the object from a Tymoran adventurer. Both Labbard and a subsequent thief (who had in turn tried to take the object from Labbard after the latter's arms were immolated) suffered catastrophic burn wounds. The object was eventually recovered from the street where it had fallen by a servant of the local mage Helgarth, who wisely picked up the object wrapped in his own cloak rather than touch it with his bare skin. Helgarth kept the object for years in an open chest as a decoy for thieves, ten of which were slain by the object over the next three decades.[1]
Eventually, Helgarth himself was slain by the Flame when his apprentice, Nagathra of Baldur's Gate, thrust the object in the mage's mouth in revenge for her having received a whipping (consequently earning the Flame the alternate appellation of "Helgarth's Death"). The subsequent battle between Nagathra and Helgarth's remaining servants and apprentices resulted in the partial destruction of Helgarth's tower and the Flame itself being hurled into the nearby street.[1]
After the battle, the Flame was carefully recovered from the street and kept in a glass display at the tavern Amscoth’s Ales, where the displayed gem stirred up increasingly fanciful tales of its history and powers for several years, until it was stolen in 1192 DR by the Tymoran dancer Falaera Drachan, who felt the sacred gem should be returned to the goddess. A tenday later, Falaera was found decapitated and the Flame missing from her pack.[1]
In 1212 DR, an adventuring party located the Flame at a tomb in the Fields of the Dead north of Elturel, beneath the Hill of the Headless Dancer. The adventuring party recovered the Flame, which had been embedded in a door as a handle, presumably to burn all non-Tymorans who attempted to open it. The party sold the object to a merchant in Iriaebor, who subsequently disappeared within a tenday.[1]
The Flame was next located in 1269 DR, found upon the body of a brigand in the Rat Hills south of Waterdeep by the Tyrran priest Ungold. Ungold informed the Tymorans in Waterdeep of his find, but the Tymorans dispatched to recover the Flame were slain before they could return to the city with the object in hand.[1]
In 1297 DR, the object appeared once again at a magefair in the Fallen Lands, where Udo of Felthaeran attempted to sell it to Prasker of Torbold, who, recognizing the object's provenance, refused to buy it and promptly informed the Tymoran priestess Nanthoe of Esmeltaran. Nanthose dispatched Tymorans to search for Udo and the lost relic but failed to uncover either's whereabouts.[1]
Finally, in 1244 DR, the Flame was last seen in Skullport by Mirt the Moneylender, in the possession of a mage who had figured out how to unlock the object's tablet form and was attempting to hawk the item as a tome of Netherese magic. Mirt failed to recover the object from the well-protected mage, but he passed along his knowledge of the mage's likeness to the local Tymorans, who sponsored bands of adventurers to scour Skullport and nearby Undermountain, ultimately to no avail.[1]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Ed Greenwood and Doug Stewart (1997). Prayers from the Faithful. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 25–28. ISBN 0-7869-0682-0.