Item: First Rood

This page describes the First Rood, a Nature artifact.

In this context, rood is a Kiltian word, meaning "ankh."

Physical Description

The rood is heavily worn, with numerous small nicks and dings, and is roughly a foot and a half long, measuring two-thirds a foot in width, and roughly one inch thick. It is crafted from a very unusual wood, which can be identified as ironwood by those aware of such material or with a sufficient Appraise check, and is sturdy and rather resilient to punishment.

On the crossbeam of the rood is an inscription in Kiltian, which reads: Duality is myth. There are only the elements.

Those that hold the rood for an extended period of time get the sense that it the plant matter it is made from is still living, though it does not obviously draw nutrients from water or soil.

History

The Trinity of Philosophy was among the first fully explored by the Kiltian people. In the first days of their long and storied existence, they turned first to Nature, and adopted the rood as the symbol of their beliefs. The First Rood was the religious symbol wielded by their most powerful geomancers, handed down from generation to generation; over time, its existence in Nature-saturated areas and around strongly Nature-aligned individuals granted the item an incredibly powerful connection to Nature.

Properties

The rood identifies as an Epic Nature item, and as a shamanic totem of unknown element. It registers as a geomancer level of 32nd. If attempts to ascertain its elemental attunement are made, it returns that it is attuned to all elements.

Individuals that are Divine- or Void-aligned become uneasy around the rood, and touching it causes them physical discomfort. If such an individual holds the rood, their effective petitioner or nihilist level is reduced by eight while holding it, and for 24 hours thereafter. While wielding the rood, if such an individual uses a Divine- or Void-aligned ability, an elder geomental will appear within 1d4+1 rounds that is hostile to the wielder. Such a wielder gains none of the benefits of the rood while it is held.

An individual wielding the rood gains access to the basic gift of the suites that correspond to his current terrain and that terrain's element (as though both a druid and a shaman).

A geomancer who wields the rood can plant it in the ground, as though it were a shamanic totem; if the geomancer is a shaman, the First Rood does not count as one of his own totems. Doing so has multiple effects.

• The element of the terrain within 30 feet of the totem becomes all elements, regardless of terrain.
• The terrain within 30 feet of the totem is treated as all terrains, regardless of what terrain it actually is.
• The geomancer gains a +6 artifact bonus to his geomancer level while within 30 feet of the totem.
• The geomancer can use any gift from any suite his Nature-aligned classes can access while within 30 feet of the totem. Thus, a shaman can use all gifts from all elemental suites, and a druid can use all gifts from all terrain suites.
• On each of the geomancer's turn, if he is within the totem's field, his gift suite with the highest stress has its stress reduced by 6.
• If the geomancer is a shaman, he gains the following abilities while within the totem's field: calm of the sea, flawless perfection, from the ashes, infinite cosmic power, leaf on the wind, light of creation, lightning overload, like a rock, pressure unyielding, and unholy blight.
• If the geomancer is a druid, he gains... (some things).
• All allied creatures within 30 feet of the totem gain energy resistance 40 to magnetic, shadow, earth, water, cold, wind, electricity, fire, holy, and cosmic damage.
• The area within 30 feet of the totem gains DI and VI 42. Any Divine- or Void-aligned effect that attempts to affect anything within the field must overcome this resistance.
• Divine- and Void-aligned creatures are hedged out of the totem's field of 30 feet. On the geomancer's turn, all Divine- and Void-aligned creatures are automatically shunted to just outside the extreme edge of the field. There is no save against this effect; status effects, such as entangled, cannot prevent this movement, and if such a creature is grappling or grappled, it is no longer and is instead pushed by this effect. However, the First Rood must make a geomancer level check (with a +32 bonus) against such creatures' NI, with failure indicating that the creature is not shunted out of the field. If the creature cannot be pushed outside the field, whether because there is no space outside the field or because the totem failed to overcome the creature's NI, the totem summons a geomental that is hostile to that creature; this effect occurs for each such creature. These geomentals are not under the geomancer's control, and will dissipate once their target is dead or outside the field.