Tsystalor’s Breastplate

Aura strong necromancy; CL 20th; Slot armor and head; Price —; Weight 16 lbs.

DESCRIPTION

The God of Nightmares is said to have forged this magical breastplate as a gift to his favored minion, Tsystalor. The breastplate seems to shine and seethe with electrical energy, and although it only seems to physically protect the upper torso, abdomen, shoulders and head of the wearer it provides full protection as a normal, full suit of armor.

Tsystalor’s Breastplate is a suit of +5 breastplate armor made of mithral. It is considered to be light armor and has a maximum Dexterity bonus of +5. The wearer moves at twice his base speed while wearing the armor. The armor also grants SR 25. This major artifact is also very heavily fortified and provides 100% protection from critical hits.

The helmet of this suit of armor merits special mention. Similar in appearance to a ram’s skull, there are no eyeholes in the helmet. Nevertheless, the wearer can see perfectly through the helmet as if his head were bare, and even benefits from a true seeing spell for as long as the helmet is worn. The helmet also grants complete immunity to blindness and gaze attacks while it is worn.

But the primary function of Tsystalor’s Breastplate is even more incredible. Each time the wearer slays a mortal while wearing the armor, a fragment of that mortal’s soul becomes absorbed by the armor. This does not prevent those slain by the wearer from being resurrected, but it does grant the wearer additional protection from death. The armor can only store one soul fragment at a time. While the armor stores this soul fragment, the wearer gains a +6 enhancement bonus to his Strength, Constitution, and Charisma. If the wearer is ever slain while wearing the armor while it contains a soul, he may immediately make a Will save (DC 20). Failure indicates that the soul is released and the wearer dies, but success indicates that the wearer is able to absorb the stored soul energy and is immediately granted the benefits of a true resurrection spell.

As a standard action, the wearer can choose to absorb a stored soul. This acts as a combined heal, greater restoration, and regenerate spell cast on the wearer, but depletes the armor of soul energy. When the armor does not contain a stored soul, the wearer loses the enhancement bonuses to his Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity, but the armor retains all of its other magical properties.

Tsystalor’s Breastplate is wretchedly and horribly evil. Any non-evil creature that dons the armor immediately suffers one negative level for the duration the armor is worn. Also, if the armor stores a soul fragment, or on the instant a new soul fragment is stored, a non-evil character must make a Will save (DC 20) every ten minutes or the armor uses the stored soul energy to change the wearer’s alignment to evil.

DESTRUCTION

As a major artifact, Tsystalor’s Breastplate is nigh unbreakable, and it is bound to the soul of Tsystalor himself. It is likely that as long as the bloodtracker lives, it cannot be destroyed. The God of Nightmares has granted similar suits of armor on rare occasions in the past to other favored minions, and all of these suits faded to nothingness upon the permanent death of their owners. It is unknown if this most recent suit would suffer the same fate.