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The Seven Lost Rings of Mhzentul was a set of powerful magical rings crafted by the wizard Mhzentul.[1]

Description[]

All the Seven Lost Rings were forged from mithral treated with the dwarven everbright technique[2] to make them shine brightly and immune to rust and corrosion.[4] Although the bands themselves were relatively simple, most of them were engraved with complex runes in an ancient Elven dialect. The precise meaning of the engravings was lost to time, unrecoverable even through legend lore and similar magic.[2]

Powers[]

Each ring had its own discrete set of powers.[2]

Ring of Burning
Rumored to have all the powers of a ring of spell storing, this ring felt warm to the touch and, though its meaning could not be discerned, its engraving seemed to bring leaping flames to mind. The ring was said to contain the spells Aganazzar's scorcher, Beltyn's burning blood, fire gate, Flamsterd's flamestrike, and shroud of flame.[2]
Ring of Coldfire
The runic engraving on this ring was suggestive of icicles and frost. Also considered a type of ring of spell storing, the ring of coldfire was said to contain the spells cone of cold, icelance, moonfire, Snilloc's snowball swarm, and wall of ice.[2]
Ring of Night
In addition to its engraving, which resembled feathered wings, someone had scratched the word or name "Anathas" into this band. Once per week, the ring of night could be transformed into a margoyle at its wearer's command. This transformation lasted a full day, after which the ring would return to its wearer's hand. Interestingly, the ring of night also allowed its wearer to swap places with the margoyle, as if through a teleport without error spell, though doing so would revert the summoned creature to its ring form. Additionally, whoever wore the ring was granted infravision.[2]
Ring of Scribes
The runic engraving on this ring was actually discernible, consisting of various characters borrowed from several different written languages.[note 1] Yet another ring of spell storing, it was said to contain two copies of each of the spells comprehend languages, erase, read magic, secret page, and wizard mark. Furthermore, the wearer of this ring was immune to all magical effects caused by runes, glyphs, or symbols, as well as those activated by reading inscriptions and writings.[2]
Ring of Stone
This ring was engraved with the same rune repeated seven times, thought to mean "stone" or "earth". The ring could be transformed, once per week, to a stone guardian at its wearer's command, causing the ring to temporarily vanish. The guardian automatically detected invisibility and reflected all fire-based magic back at its caster. The transformation lasted a full day, upon which the ring returned to its wearer's hand. Additionally, the wearer could use the ring to cast stone shape.[2]
Ring of the Tshala
Much like the ring of burning, the engraving on this ring resembled flames. Like many of the other Lost Rings, it was considered a ring of spell storing, and was said to contain delayed blast fireball, fireball, flaming sphere, meteor swarm, and wall of fire. Curiously, there was a chance that the wearer would transform into a tshala, a creature of living flame, each time the ring was used to cast meteor swarm.[2] This could be undone at will, but there was a small chance that reversing the transformation could let loose an extremely potent shroud of flame spell on the wearer, which would only cease once he or she was reduced to ash or if subjected to an equally potent casting of dispel magic. If the wearer were to perish in this way, the ring would teleport itself to a random place in Faerûn.[3]
Ring of Wayfaring
The engraving on this ring was a simple, winding line. Yet another ring of spell storing, it was believed to hold the spells find the path, Jhanifer's deliquescence, Quimby's enchanting gourmet, Spendelarde's chaser, Tulrun's tracer, and unseen servant.[3]

History[]

Mhzentul died a fiery death at the Battle of the River Rising[1] in the Year of the Lion, 1340 DR,[5] likely because he reversed the tshala transformation of the ring of the tshala and inadvertently torched himself.[3] Many of the rings seemed to vanish with Mhzentul, their locations mostly unknown or, at best, the subject of colorful rumors.[1] A party of adventurers ransacked Mhzentul's mountain lair but found no trace of them there.[6]

Eventually, the Zhentarim wizard Whisper found some of the Seven Lost Rings and used their power to advance the Zhentish agenda in northern Cormyr. Whisper eventually attracted the ire of Doust Sulwood and the future Knights of Myth Drannor, who tracked the mage to his subterranean lair, Whisper's Crypt, and ended his machinations. Only two of the Seven Lost Rings were recovered,[1] believed to be the ring of burning and the ring of night. Both rings were passed on to the House of the Morning, a Lathanderite temple in Eveningstar.[2]

The other five rings were theorized to remain hidden somewhere in Whisper's Crypt, or possibly the Haunted Halls near Eveningstar, or close to where Mhzentul perished.[2]

Reputation[]

The Seven Lost Rings were considered the most famous of Mhzentul's works, alongside the tome Mhzentul's Runes.[1][7][8][9] Their fame was largely derived from the mystery surrounding their whereabouts following Mhzentul's death.[6]

Notable Owners[]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. Presumably these characters had no specific meaning but rather suggested the ring's "theme" of languages. The source does not say.

References[]