Ring of Equilibrium (Minor Artifact)

Slot ring; CL 20th; Weight —; Aura strong conjuration

DESCRIPTION

A ring of equilibrium is a wooden ring carefully carved from core of an oak tree, decorated with delicate runes, and sanded and finished to be perfectly round, smooth, and symmetrical. When slipped on a finger, it sizes itself appropriately.

It’s said the ring has a will of its own, but if it does, it evinces no obvious agenda. It favors wearers who possess 160 strong personality traits—either those with strong morals, who exemplify goodness and honor, or those utterly devoid of morals, with the vilest and blackest souls imaginable. The ring especially favors mythic creatures, and often refuses to slip onto the finger of a creature that lacks strong personality traits or isn’t mythic.

The ring has no special power over the living, but when its wearer dies or it’s placed on the finger of a dead creature it deems worthy, the corpse and equipment of the wearer remain where they are but the ring vanishes entirely. Within 24 hours, a tree grows in a location that’s as close as possible to where the wearer died. The next day, the tree splits along the middle, revealing a cavity where the wearer has been resurrected whole and uninjured, with the ring still adorning her finger. If the wearer died in an unsafe place, the tree appears as close to that location as possible while still being relatively safe for the wearer.

This rebirth comes at a price. The wearer receives certain knowledge that somewhere in the world, another being has been resurrected along with her—an individual of an opposite alignment who is every bit as wretched as the wearer is good, or vice versa. The opposite has roughly the same level and power as the wearer. The wearer has no knowledge of this other party whatsoever, other than that it exists and is free to do whatever it wishes—perpetrate any crime or perform any good deed— thanks to the wearer. This opposite is always brought back a considerable distance from the wearer. If the wearer dies again but the opposite doesn’t, the wearer is resurrected again, along with another creature of an opposed nature. This cycle continues indefinitely until the ring is discarded or it moves on.

DESTRUCTION

A ring of equilibrium is destroyed if the wearer commits suicide while wearing it and while her opposite is still alive and healthy.