Gifts of the Roamstone Grove (II)

The Verdant's Guard: Crafted by Celledyn Moon for the Verdant Lord Meylar Bleakwinter, this fine studded leather armour was made, rather than from leather, from fine-spun cheesecloth. The fabric of the cloth was woven from carefully spun Tendriculous fibres, and is as tough and hardy as leather could be. The 'studs' are rather tightly-tied knots of plant matter woven between the layers of the armour's substance, and all told, the armour looks more or less like a fairly ornate suit of cloth. Any seasoned warrior, however, can tell by the way its wearer stands and carries their movement, that the armour is exactly that - its plant substance means little.

The Verdant's Guard is a suit of +5 Glamered Studded Leather that is slightly alive. If a disarm attempt is made against its wearer, vines swiftly coil down the wearer's arm to the weapon and hold it fast, granting a +10 to opposed disarm checks to avoid being disarmed (this does not stack with locked gauntlets).

At any time the wearer of the Verdant Guard is in a heavily forested area, the armour can cast an Entangle effect centred on the wearer of the Guard. Furthermore, the wearer of the Verdant Guard can Pass Without Trace, as the spell. Any animals the Verdant Guard's wearer passes consider the Guard's wearer to be a non-threat and allow him to pass completely unmolested unless provoked, much like the spell Invisibility to Animals.

Given Meylar's position regarding evil outsiders and mind-affecting spells, the guard was further enchanted so that any summoned evil or lawful creatures are unable to engender bodily contact with the wearer of the Guard; this is broken if the wearer attempts to contact the summoned creature in question or attacks. Also, no form of possession (such as by a magic jar attack) or mental control (such as Dominate Person) can work on the wearer of the Guard. Excepting the saving throw and AC bonuses, this works as the spell Protection from Evil and Protection from Law.

Caster Level: 8th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Entangle, Protection from Evil, Protection from Law, Pass Without Trace, Invisibility to Animals, creator must be chaotic good. Market Price: 56,308 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Hand Of Surety: This fingerless leather glove was, rumour has it, designed and crafted by Meylar Bleakwinter, as a request for his best friend's lover, Honey. Honey was an above-average warrior and a skilled rogue besides, and so desired a way to bypass the damage reduction of the sort of creatures that the Roamstone Grove's defenders faced.

The Hand of Surety takes up a glove slot, and its wearer's natural attacks are treated as if they have the sure-striking property.

Caster Level: 4th. Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, True Strike. Market Price: 6,000 gp; Weight: - lb.

Scald, Shatter, Scream, and Shock: Scald and Shatter were the shortswords wielded by Meylar Bleakwinter, the Verdant Lord of the Roamstone Grove. Meylar began life as an aimless wanderer in the woods, before a short, sharp series of incidents found him as a defender of the forests. Despite his thoughts on the subject, he was in fact not a druid, but rather a cleric. However, he never stopped using his favoured weaponry, namely a pair of shortswords. Scald and Shatter were eventually empowered by Celledyn Moon upon meeting Meylar, as a gift to celebrate the extremely young boy's ascension to a state of being a Verdant Lord, channelling into them foxfire's light.

When the blades of the weapons were smashed by a Hook Horror, Celledyn arranged to obtain a quantity of Durspine Wood and used it to repair the shortswords. Later, when Meylar found himself in need of two more weapons, Scream and Shock were rendered identical to their brethren. Precisely why he needed four weapons is unknown.

These weapons are Durspine Wood +1 flaming/+1 frost/+1 screaming/+1 shock shortswords, and any target struck by them is affected as if by Faerie Fire for one minute. Furthermore, any Evil outsiders struck by immediately receive a negative level that remains for 12 hours, and the wielder of the weapon in question recovers 5 temporary hit points that last for an hour.

Caster Level: 14th. Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Faerie Fire, Banishment, Fireball, Ray of Frost. Market Price: 53,410 gp each; Weight: 3 lb.

Wolfang: Also known as Nature's Sting, this simple single-handed pick has been handed on through the line of clerics of woodland gods and druids alike. Rumoured to have once been wielded by Meylar Bleakwinter, the Wolfang is mostly known for its incredible ability to land bloody, bloody blows on enemies.

Wolfang is a +3 Light Pick. When wielded by a good worshipper of a god with the plant, animal, or renewal domains, and wielded in the area of a Hallow spell or Consecrate spell, the Wolfang deals 1d20 damage instead of 1d4.

Caster Level: 3rd. Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Blight Enemy, Pass Without Trace. Market Price: 67,600 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Bleakwinter Hand: This glove, identical in appearance to Meylar's Worth, was Meylar Bleakwinter's other glove, and, like it, duplicated the effect of a glove of storing. But the Bleakwinter Hand carried with it a gift from Cayden Willowby's sister, Grae. When the Bleakwinter Hand is wielded, any weapons the wearer wields are affected as by a bless weapon spell, cast by a 1st-level Holy Liberator.

Caster Level: 9th. Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Bless Weapon, Shrink Item. Market Price: 7,900 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Celledyn's Mews: These four falconer's gloves were engineered by the Loremaster Celledyn Moon. While the fundamental design has been duplicated, to some similar effect, Celledyn's four original gloves, designed for his four friends (Cayden Willowby, Melkor Malhavoc, Kheleb Cravat, and Meylar Bleakwinter), were made with Celledyn's typically self-effacing style, and built on the understanding of magic he had acquired creating Azulia's Gift.

Celledyn's Mews are all single, falconer's gloves composed of doughty, well-worn leather, with pale, white lettering embroidered around the wrist. Each of the gloves was engineered to provide a magical companion to his friends. Since the Roamstone Grove, where they live, flies frequently, this companion would have to be able to traverse a great distance with ease.

Activating any of Celledyn's Mews involves the command word, which is known only to the people for whom the items were keyed. Of course, this doesn't prevent magical means from discovering the command word.

Meylar's Worth: This was the first of the Mews that Celledyn crafted, for his friend and guide Meylar. Celledyn enlisted Kheleb's aid to communicate with Elnarith, an extraplanar hawk that was blessed by, of all creatures, Tumblemoon. Elnarith was quite willing to be summoned to engage in combat for the Verdant Lord, and so, the Mew was crafted.

Elnarith may be called upon, and he remains for nine rounds before he departs. Occasionally, his quasi-real form is seen flying around the Grove and he can communicate with Meylar in a language the two of them concocted, even like this. However, it takes a deal of magical force to give Elnarith presence on this plane, and the Mews can only provide this once a day.

Elnarith's extraplanar nature means he cannot perceive the plane on which the Mew is beyond Synethex (who shares his extraplaner space), and the wearer of the Mew.

Finally, the glove duplicates a glove of storing.

Caster Level: 9th. Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Lesser Planar Ally, Summon Monster V, Shrink Item. Market Price: 15,740 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Cayden's Courage: Cayden already had a falcon Skye. Awakened through Meylar's machinations and an incident they'd all rather forget involving frogs, Skye was in fact a druid of no small skill. Cayden's glove summons no ally, rather it grants Skye greater strength and versatility.

Whenever a falcon alights on the arm of one who wears Cayden's Courage and the command word is spoken, the weapon proceeds to cast bless weapon on the falcon's natural weapons. Furthermore, if the falcon is capable of casting divine spells, it may cast one extra spell of first level.

Caster Level: 1st. Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Bless Weapon. Market Price: 3,260 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Kheleb's Truth: Kheleb Cravat, did not have the same deep connection with nature that Meylar did. Rather, Kheleb preferred law and order, discipline, stricture. And so, it was an amusing turnaround when Meylar sought out an ally for him worthy of Elnarith.

He found Synethex, a falcon from the planes of law and order - and while Synethex rankled at Meylar's presence, after some observation, she quite appreciated Kheleb's attitude, and agreed to ally herself to him.

Once a day, this glove can be used to summon Synethex to physicality, just like Elnarith, for nine rounds. Synethex is prone to arguing with Elnarith on philosophical points to no end. Synethex's extraplanar nature means she cannot perceive the plane on which the Mew is beyond Elnarith (who shares her extraplanar space), and the wearer of the Mew.

Caster Level: 9th. Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Lesser Planar Ally, Summon Monster V. Market Price: 11,340 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Melkor's Brother: After Meylar and Kheleb exchanged gifts in the form of their own mews, they then considered the value of bestowing such a gift on Melkor, their other ally. Melkor had taken to research on the subject of Dragons and other subjects of power. It took a great deal of research to find, but eventually, the pair's divinations came across Vargus, a half-draconic Dire Wolf. Vargus was bleeding to death when he was found, half-killed by hunters, and ravaged by poisons. He implored his would-be rescuers to not heal him; after all, it would just happen again somewhere else.

Meylar proposed to the wolf the possibility of an ally and friend in Melkor, only to find Vargus himself was seeking a half-brother, by his silver dragon mother. After some consideration, Vargus agreed, and his body passed on. However, his spirit remained, now found and bonded to his half-brother, Melkor.

Melkor's Brother is a glove that allows him to give Vargus a physical form for up to 9 rounds a day. Vargus, the rest of the time, has the form of a small wolf puppy that lives in the grove, unable to leave. When Vargus is summoned, however, his puppy form vanishes, and he appears next to Melkor, no matter the distance, and fights alongside his brother with an intense loyalty.

Caster Level: 9th. Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Lesser Planar Ally, Speak With Dead. Market Price: 11,340 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Celledyn's Study Buddy: This Ioun Stone could almost be dubbed a personal organiser. Celledyn designed it to help him keep track of important events (such as anniversaries and birthdays), and to also keep him from suffering too much when he became absorbed in his studies.

The stone stores a fragment of spell knowledge in it, granting its user a +5 circumstance bonus to Spellcraft checks, and it also sustains its wearer without sleep, food, or water. A character must still rest for eight hours a day to prepare spells, but they need not rest at all to perform research. A character wearing this Ioun stone can perform research at twice the normal speed.

Caster Level: 11th. Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Create Food and Water, Continual Flame. Market Price: 15,000 gp. Weight: 1/2 lb.

Meylar's Ring of Friends ('Older' and 'Younger' Rings): These simple, platinum rings always come in pairs, and, when heated in a fire, show golden elven script reading 'Friends as Brothers'. When the rings are cooled below freezing temperature, they show a blue dwarven script reading 'Brothers as Friends'. When these rings are worn, one ring is designated as the 'Older', and one the 'Younger'. The wearer of the Younger ring is considered to be constantly under the effect of a Shield Other spell as if cast by the wearer of the Older ring.

Furthermore, if the wearer of the Younger ring is a Ranger or Paladin, the wearer can elect to be unable to cast or prepare spells as long as the rings are worn. Instead, the wearer of the Older ring is able to cast and prepare the spells the Younger ring wearer would normally be able to, and the wearer of the Younger ring is considered to still be the caster for all intents and purposes (Spell saving throw DCs, and so on, bonus spells based on wisdom). However, any personal-range spells the wearer of either ring casts can affect either wearer as if they were the caster, and all spell effects that are not personal originate from the wearer of the Older ring.

These rings were first crafted by Celledyn Moon, as a boon to his friend, Meylar Bleakwinter, and Meylar's best friend, Cayden Willowby. The pair later used them to great effect when defending the Roamstone Grove, as Cayden's relative frailty was compensated for by his decidedly hearty friend's strength.

Caster Level: 3rd. Prerequisites: Forge Ring, Shield Other. Market Price: 25,300 gp (for a pair); Weight: - .

Meylar's Staff of Nature's Rage: Few men, spellcasters or not, could be as amicable as Meylar Bleakwinter. Completely free of the ails of many common adventurers, he had a happy family life, a sister that quite liked him, both parents still alive, and was not the victim of any overly enormous tragedy. However, it came as quite a surprise to many who saw his designs, of weaponry or magic, that so very many things he proposed were named of things of fury and rage. Meylar answered this by claiming he had no such issue - it was nature itself that was angered.

Meylar's Staff of Nature's Rage appears at first to be a classical druidic walking-stick. Engineered of twisted and gnarled wood, the heart of the staff is constructed of Durspine wood, which holds a brilliant balance when used as a weapon. The Staff also has a great power, unlike many other staves; when its wielder is the subject of a targeted spell, the staff absorbs it into itself, turning the spell energy into charges for the spells contained within itself. It absorbs a single charge for every spell level it absorbs. For this reason, it is a truly valuable staff - if incredibly expensive.

The Staff of Nature's Rage is, as a weapon, a +2 Frost/+2 Flaming double weapon that grants its wielder free use of the Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Greater Two-Weapon fighting feats, provided its wielder meets the requirements. It also contains the following spells:

• Creeping Doom (2 charges)
• Thrice-Empowered Shillelagh (2 charges)
• Rusting Grasp (1 charge)

Caster Level: 15th; Prerequisites: Craft Staff, Creeping Doom, Shillelagh, Rusting Grasp, creator must have the Empower Spell metamagic feat; Market Price: 218,400 gp.

Firth's Animate Discord: This +2 Animated Large Wooden Shield was created by the shaper Firth U Hrair, for his ally and leader Meylar Bleakwinter. This shield is useless as an actual shield, as it lacks the substance a shield requires to adequately deflect blows. However, if loosed, as a standard action, the shield dances around its owner, protecting them from both ranged attacks and melee attacks. Ranged attacks are deflected particularly effectively, granting a further +4 to the wearer's AC. Furthermore, the shield itself appears a shadowy and insubstantial mass.

Caster Level: 12th. Prerequisites: Craft Psionic Arms and Armour, Shield of Prudence. Market Price: 15,400 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

Skin Of Precision: This Psychoactive skin was actually designed by one of Meylar Bleakwinter's allies, a Shaper whose name is blurred by history. Most sources attribute the skin to a person named 'Fliff Uhir' or possibly 'Firth Yourei'. Regardless, the skin was crafted for Honey, Cayden Willowby's lover. When the wearer of the Skin of Precision makes a sneak attack against an evil outsider, the number of bonus damage dice they receive is doubled.

Manifester Level: 18th; Prerequisites: Craft Universal Item, Hypercognition, Recall Agony, True Seeing. Market Price: 24,500 gp; Weight: - .

The Garb of Nature's Avatar: This array of finery, rendered of entirely natural materials, was, surprisingly, designed by the wizard Celledyn Moon, for his friend Meylar Bleakwinter. Meylar's weaponry and armour had already been created - but Celledyn wanted to make a masterwork. And so, he crafted the Garb of Nature's Avatar.

Foxfeet: These fine boots grant the wearer the Pounce extraordinary ability. While the boots are magical, the ability is not (though this is no more than a semantic difference).

Caster Level: 3rd; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Expeditious Retrea. Market Price: 20,500 gp; Weight: 2 lb.

Owlbrand: This headband is woven from stout green cloth, and usually left tied loose around the back of its wearer's head. It grants its wearer the ability to store a single spell of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level in the headband, which can later be cast out of it as a spell-trigger. Only the person who cast the spells into the headband can trigger the spells in question.

Caster Level: 10th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Imbue With Spell Ability. Market Price: 21,000 gp; Weight: 2 lb.

Oakweave: This long white robe is made of fine-woven canvas, and decorated with green patterns akin to vines along the hems and sleeves. When donned, the Robe grants its wearer some of the strength of the oak, rendering its wearer immune to critical hits.

Caster Level: 15th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Control Plants, Barkskin. Market Price: 33,500 gp; Weight: 2 lb.

Bearworn: These plain leather thongs, adorned with beads and the claws and fangs of a dire bear, are designed to be worn as a set of prayer beads. When worn by a divine caster, the prayer beads constantly affect the wearer as if by a Speak with Animals spell.

Caster Level: 1st; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Speak With Animals. Market Price: 10,500 gp; Weight: 2 lb.

When all the components of the Garb of Nature's Avatar are brought together and worn by a character capable of casting control plants, animal friendship, and plant growth, the power of the Garb is awakened, and the wearer gains access to an alternative form.

The alternative form is akin to a strange amalagum of wolf, bat, spider, and cat; the wearer's body is primarily akin to an antropomorphic wolf, with 20-foot spread bat-like wings, a long, wolflike tail, and backwards-folding legs akin to a large puma's. Most distinctly, the alternate form has four arms, each of which ends in large, sickle-like claws, dealing 1d6 damage each for a medium-sized character, 1d4 for a small-sized character. The form also has a bite attack that deals 1d4 damage (1d3 if small). The wearer can fly at a speed of 30 feet, with poor manoeuvrability, gains a +4 to balance checks because of its tail, and has gills concealed underneath its fur, granting it the ability to breathe underwater. A character can change between the two forms as a full-round action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. All of these natural attacks are considered blessed, as the spell bless weapon.

Furthermore, whenever the wearer of the garb attacks a favoured enemy, all the wearer's attacks deal a point of constitution damage (no saving throw). Favoured enemies immune to this affect (constructs and undead, for example), instead take charisma damage.

When in the alternate form, the character's type is considered both Animal and Humanoid for the purpose of determining spells that affect them. Therefore, a Dominate Animal or Invisibility to Animals spell will affect the wearer of the garb.

The Willowby Defense: Celledyn Moon was not content to let his achievements rest with the Garb of Nature's Avatar. The young man turned his efforts to the Paladin, Cayden Willowby, and with the aid of his friends Kheleb Cravat and Meylar Bleakwinter, the young artisan focused on making Meylar's best friend's equipment an absolute masterwork of magical and mundane craftsmanship. The Willowby Defense was in fact originally, several separate items crafted by various others that Cayden invariably owned as an itinerant adventurer.

The Brilliant Star: Cayden Willowby's shield is famous - his armour less so. This Mithral Breastplate was originally no more and no less than that - a simple layer of metal between the world and the Paladin. However, Celledyn Moon took it upon himself to make the armour more appropriate for his beloved friend.

The Brilliant Star is a +3 Mithral Breastplate inlaid with fine gold and magically empowered platinum. The overall affect is quite dazzling. Cayden typically wore plain, simple clothes over the armour, however, making its glorious design somewhat irrelevant. However, on command, the armour prompts a pair of shimmering, phoenix-like wings to extend from the back of the wearer, allowing them to fly at their base speed, with a movement of average. The character further sheds light in a 60-foot radius, and when in this form, the character is so inspiring as to confer a +1 morale bonus to hit and to saves against fear to all allies within 50 feet.

Furthermore, the armour may be called upon, once a day, to surround the wearer with a blazing shroud of flame that deals 1d4+1 fire damage (Reflex half, DC 13) to all within 5 feet of the armour barring the armour's wearer that lasts for three rounds.

Caster Level: 18th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Body of the Sun, Alter Self, Fly, Flame Shield, Light, Bless. Market Price: 46,525 gp; Weight: 25 lb.

The Protector's Wrath: First owned by the Paladin of Yondalla, Cayden Wlilowby, this shield was a gift from his mentor, the dwarven paladin known only to history as the Badger. Broad-armed and strong, the Badger felt that Cayden would need quite a bit more protection than he himself had had when he had adventured. The shield is shaped like a large cornucopia, and decorated with the symbol of Yondalla. It also crackles with barely-suppressed magical power, as, despite its low enhancement bonus, this shield is a powerful weapon for good.

The Protector's Wrath is a +1 Sure-Striking Large Steel Shield of Bashing, which has been ensorcelled to deal 2d8 damage, rather than 1d6. Celledyn Moon, the Abilen craftsman, also took the advice of his master, Meylar, and enchanted the weapon to deal double damage against inherently evil outsiders or creatures incredibly and irredeemably steeped in evil (and triple on a critical). However, when wielded against a non-evil creature, it loses its Sure Striking property. Furthermore, The Protector's Wrath is good-aligned, and only functions as anything more than a +1 shield for a halfling who worships Yondalla.

Caster Level: 9th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Protection from Evil, True Strike. Market Price: 45,640 gp; Weight: 15 lb.

Entropy Guard: When Cayden Willowby found his Willowby Shortsword to be less useful to him than it could be to another, he set it aside, and sought another weapon. It was through his young ally, Celledyn Moon, that he received this.

Entropy Guard is a +1 Shortsword that constantly affects its wielder as the spell Entropic Shield, as cast by a first-level cleric, but only when it is wielded in the wielder's off hand and not used to attack.

Caster Level: 1st; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Entropic Shield. Market Price: 18,237 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

The Leader's Brand: When this bandanna is donned by a character with the leadership feat, it confers upon them a clarity of action and a strength of purpose, granting them a +2 sacred bonus to Charisma.

Caster Level: 3rd; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Eagle's Splendour. Market Price: 19,125 gp; Weight: 1 lb.

When all the elements of the Willowby Defense are brought together, the powers of the set are awakened. First, the Protector's Wrath is granted the Holy attribute, and the Brilliant Star gains the Charging enhancement. Secondly, the actual character wearing all of this equipment is the center of a 30-foot area of hallowed ground, as the spell Hallow cast by a 10th-level Cleric. All good-aligned creatures within this area are affected as if by a Freedom of Movement spell, cast by a 7th-level Cleric.

Havocbringer: This +4 Chilling Keen Frost Fullblade was most recently wielded by the Grey-Elven Spellsword Melkor Malhavoc, on his quest to find from whence his magic energy stemmed. He claimed it from the den of a great ogre-magi, who he slew in personal combat, before the awakening of his magic prowess. The Havocbringer's origin is still unknown, but it can be traced back towards Melkor's sorcerous heritage.

When in the hands of a character in whom the subtle traces of dragon's blood flows (sorcerors and bards), the weapon draws out their racial heritage, bestowing a +1 natural armour bonus, a +2 enhancement bonus to strength and charisma, and a +4 bonus to saving throws against sleep and paralysis. This power was not fully unleashed, however, by Melkor first wielding the weapon. The Ogre-Magi from whom he had stolen it was attempting to break its limiting factor, turning the Ogre-magi himself into a half-dragon.

Caster Level: 18th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Craft Wondrous Item, bull's strength, eagle's splendour, keen edge, ray of frost, ice storm, barkskin. Market Price: 118,380 gp; Weight: 23 lbs.

Waterfall: The back-up weapon of Cayden Willowby, Waterfall is a fairly unique design of weapon as far as they go. Waterfall is a halberd, but the end of the long handle has a long, spiked pick on it. Waterfall is an exotic weapon, and the halberd end of which deals 1d10 damage. The pick end deals 1d6. Both ends threaten critical hits on a natural 20, and deal triple damage on a confirmed critical hit.

Waterfall, however, was further enhanced to in fact be a perfect back-up weapon for Cayden. When loosed as a standard action, the wielder's shadow takes hold of Waterfall's shadow, and fights with it independently of its wielder. Even if the wielder's shadow is not visible (due to extremes of lighting circumstance), Waterfall can still be wielded in this fashion. Waterfall threatens in a 5-foot radius around it, and cannot move more than 5 feet away from its wielder'. It attacks at its owner's total attack bonus with the weapon 5, dealing one half the wielder's strength bonus to damage, and all the wielder's relevant feats apply to it. As well as these, if the wielder has the Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon fighting feats, Waterfall is considered to have the Cleave and Great Cleave feats.

All this aside, each head of Waterfall is a +1 Frost/+1 Flaming weapon.

Caster Level: 5th. Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Fireball, Cone of Cold, Shades. Market Price: 50,424 gp; Weight: 1 lb.