Crown Of Horns

Source: Forgotten Realms - Adventures in Faerun

Wondrous Item, Artifact (Requires Attunement)

The Crown of Horns contains the essence and intelligence of Myrkul, one of the Dead Three. This ghastly crown is a pale silver circlet with four curved bones set around its rim. On the crown's brow is set a black diamond whose depths swirl with weird, malignant energy.

Myrkul created the Crown of Horns at the height of his power. When Myrkul was slain by Mystra, he imbued the crown with his dying essence. Myrkul has since returned to become one of the Dead Three, and the Crown of Horns continues to further his gruesome will by seeking out mortal agents and gradually transforming them into powerful Undead scions. Should a wearer prove unworthy of this honor, the crown teleports away to find a new mortal to corrupt for its master.

Cursed. The crown is cursed. Attuning to the crown extends the curse to you. Only a Wish spell or the will of Myrkul can remove this curse. As long as you remain cursed, the following properties apply to you:

Bound. You are unwilling to part with the crown, wearing it at all times, and you can’t voluntarily end your Attunement to the crown.

Cruel. Your alignment becomes Neutral Evil.

Doomed. You slowly transform into a monstrous servant of Myrkul over the course of 365 days. During that time, the transformation is purely cosmetic; these cosmetic changes slowly fade if you end Attunement to the crown before completing the transformation. When the transformation is complete, you become a Lich under the DM’s control. Each time you use this Artifact’s Cone of Undeath or Myrkul’s Hand benefit, there is a 10 percent cumulative chance that you instantly complete this transformation.

Cone of Undeath. You can take a Magic action to unleash a wave of unholy light in a 60-foot Cone. Each creature in the Cone makes a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 4d8 Necrotic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. A Humanoid killed by Cone of Undeath rises at the start of your next turn as a Specter that follows your verbal orders.

Damage Immunity. You have Immunity to Necrotic damage.

Fear Aura. While wearing the crown, you emit an aura of terrifying energy in a 60-foot Emanation. A creature that enters this area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or have the Frightened condition. A Frightened target must use its movement on its turns to get as far away as possible from you, moving by the safest route.

If you damage a Frightened target or if a Frightened target ends its turn more than 120 feet away from you, the target can repeat the Wisdom save, ending the condition on itself on a success. A creature that succeeds on the save against this effect is immune to it for 1 minute, after which it can be affected again.

The aura is inactive while you have the Incapacitated condition. You can activate or deactivate the aura as a Bonus Action.

Myrkul’s Hand. While wearing the crown, you can cast the Power Word Kill spell (save DC 18) from it. A Humanoid killed by this spell rises at the start of your next turn as a Wraith that follows your verbal orders. Once you use the crown to cast this spell, you can’t cast it again from the crown until the next dawn.

Teleportation. While wearing the crown, you can cast the Teleport spell. The crown can also cast this spell of its own free will. Once the spell has been cast using the crown, it can’t be cast again until 7 days have passed.

Random Properties. The Artifact has the following random properties (see chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide):

• 1 minor beneficial property
• 1 minor detrimental property
• 1 major detrimental property

Sentience. The Crown of Horns is a sentient Neutral Evil Artifact with an Intelligence of 10, a Wisdom of 16, and a Charisma of 19. It has hearing and Darkvision out to 120 feet.

The crown communicates telepathically with its wearer and knows Common.

Personality. The crown contains the essence of Myrkul and exists to spread that god’s will, which is to slay the living, raise the dead, and sow fear across the Material Plane. The crown urges its wearer to spread dread and destruction wherever possible.

Destroying the Crown. The crown is destroyed if it is worn by Myrkul’s successor, Kelemvor, while he sits on the throne of Myrkul’s former realm, the Bone Castle.