Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Two Ladies' Favors

Detailed here are two more magical items, each of these gifts that a woman has bestowed on a mariner.

-Nate


Leucothea's Veil
In the famous story of Odysseus, the hero suffered many difficulties in his efforts to return home to Ithaca following the Trojan War. Not the least of these was ongoing punishment by Poseidon, god of the sea, whom Odysseus had angered. It was only through the gift of Leucothea, a minor goddess of the sea, that the warrior was finally able to return home. She gave him a veil—in the Greek, kredemnon—to wrap around himself. With that he was able to complete his voyage, as it protected him from drowning.

In game terms, the veil—actually more like a wrap that is commonly worn around the head—prevents a character from drowning. That character always succeeds at Swim check made to avoid drowning. Note, however, that it does not prevent someone from being drowned through more nefarious means, such as some who has been chained to a cannon and thrown overboard.

The O'Malley Lock(et)
Of the many women who have braved life at sea, few are better known than Grace O'Malley. As the stories have it, she birthed one of her sons during a storm at sea, and was so influential that she received a private audience with Queen Elizabeth herself. Before she rose to fame, however, it is said that the young O'Malley asked to accompany her father on a voyage; he dismissed her request, saying that her beautiful long hair would become entangled in the rigging. To show him her conviction to sail, she cut it off, and he relented. Thus was begun a career of romance and rebellion.

This item is a small golden locket on a gold chain. Inside it is a coiled lock of fiery red hair. The wearer of the locket receives the benefits of the Iron Will feat. Moreover, the wearer is protected from entanglement as if by a freedom of movement spell.

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