The Rod of Wonder

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Dreams
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The Rod of Wonder

Post by Dreams » Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:11 am

The Rod of Wonder
by the wizard Tadgh.

Image
Sketch of the Rod of Wonder.

The Rod of Wonder is a creation of magic that comes to the fore on occasion. They are objects of incredible power that cause a myriad of both beneficial and terrible effects. This book will look briefly at stories and accounts of Rods of Wonder across Faerun, but also document the effects caused by one recovered from a drow thief on the island of Arelith.

Formation of a Rod of Wonder:
A Rod of Wonder can be produced in two ways. The most common formation of a Rod of Wonder comes from mistakes made in magic, whether attempting (failure) in the creation of other magical items, miscasting a spell, or when the amount of raw magic in a particular area becomes too much for the Weave in that specific location. As with many powerful items, these rods are often created of pure magic that assumes the form of something solid.

Elminster the Sage wrote, "The Rod of Wonder is a creation of Mystra herself. It is simply a jumble of magical strands that have lost their place in the greater Weave."

Less likely is the intentional creation of a Rod of Wonder. In order to create such magic, a person must be able to not only craft rods of a magical nature, but also share the scrambled and chaotic nature specific to this magic. To make my point more clear, the spell of confusion that is woven into the various spells involved in creation is likely to be the typical state of mind of the fool that attempts to create one of these rods. Great care should be taken, as any mistake in the creation of these rods, any flaw in the structure of the magic, will result in a backlash that is unlikely to be survived.

Stories and Historical Accounts:
Stories of the Rod of Wonder pop up from time to time across Faerûn. These stories and accounts have been appropriated and revised (to be made concise) from other books of lore.

Angradd Holman of Baldur's Gate found a Rod at the market. It was sold and purchased without knowledge of what it was capable of. He killed his wife by mistake when the Rod separated her spirit from her body.

Henry Bexler from Waterdeep was the cause of the explosion at the Battered Broad Inn. He had knowingly used the Rod in an attempt to weasel out of a game of chance. Everyone at his table does, so it seemed he avoided the game after all!

Unconfirmed tale of a Green Dragon having found a way to control the effects of a Rod of Wonder. It was rumoured to live in the High Forest.

A Rod of Wonder with a deceased D'tarig man for a traditional rock burial in the Anauroch. The man was later seen alive and well by friends and family every night, but he would disappear whenever the sun touched his form. He became known as the 'Sand Ghost' and was noted to always carry the Rod.

Elminster disassembled a Rod of Wonder in an attempt to find a solution to its chaotic nature. His findings were not actually known, only that he had a keen interest in the object at one time. Certainly worthy of note!

Another individual native to the Arelith region has also come into contact with a Rod of Wonder. In conversations with them, I learned much about what to expect and how to best prepare protections to keep myself safe during the study. Name has been withheld at their request, but my sincere thanks go to their help in this project.

Field Notes:
3/6/134AR
Used on: Rock
Effect: Colour User
Note: First use of the Rod. I've turned blue, as far as I can tell there are no further effects. It was my skin, hair, and everything I was wearing at the time. This did last for almost a full day before the original colours returned.

4/6/134AR
Used on: -
Effect: -
Note: Rod seems to require a full day in order to gather energy. It is without doubt drawing energy directly from the Weave. I'd be most interested in experimenting to see in what manner it would function in the presence of wild magic, or from a mage of that sort. As this particular Rod was retrieved from a possible Sharran, I will test its use within a magic dead area. Likely Spellhold, once I have permission to do so.

6/6/134AR
Used on: Wooden Post
Effect: Butterfly Swarm
Note: Rod triggered on post in field. A stream of butterflies swarmed from its tip and clouded the area. I was blinded by the sheer number of them. There must have been at least a thousand of them! This particular type of butterfly had bright yellow wings with a deep violet and rich blue eye design upon each. I'm interested to see, if this ever happens again, whether other colours or types of butterflies would come. Worryingly, I've seen butterflies of this type in the area ever since. I may have introduced a foreign species to the area? Hopefully the ramifications aren't too severe on the local fauna.

15/6/134AR
Used on: Beetle
Effect: Discharge Lightning toward User
Note: A rather good example of effective protection today, the Rod tried to send a blast of lightning back toward me as I triggered it. My protective magic absorbed the energy, but I wonder if I would be alive and writing this had I not taken precautions.

23/6/134AR
Used on: Weatherstone
Effect: Wind Storm
Note: To see what effect the Rod may bring out in other artifacts of note, I brought it up into the Skull Crags in order to trigger it upon the Weatherstone. Doing so kicked up an incredible wind. Many things that had been perched up on the side of the cliff were blown free, I was knocked off my feet but managed to hold on, some of the nearby plants were ripped out of the ground and destroyed, and the wind seemed to persist for some time. When I travelled back down the mountain, I heard accounts of a mighty wind that had blown down every person in town. Later in the day I discovered it had swept upon the entire island! Certainly something to be more careful with in future.

28/6/134AR
Used on: Bench
Effect: Bright Light
Note: I used the Rod during the night and it produced a source of light about it, the simple light cantrip but far brighter than I had expected.

2/7/134AR
Used on: Bear
Effect: Shrink Target
Note: Triggering the Rod on a large grizzly bear, it shrunk down into a tiny one. Upon death, the bear remained small. I've been wondering since if the meat might grow once more in the next few days, and if so, whether that would create issues for the scavengers that have fed from the bear.

3/7/134AR
Used on: Sign
Effect: Growth of Flora
Note: The most beautiful effect so far. I triggered the Rod nearby Arelith Forest and every plant within approximately 20 feet immediately grew a little more. Larger leaves, taller grass, even the trees themselves stretched just a little further upward. Flowers bloomed on most of the plants, the entire episode was absolutely enchanting!

7/7/134AR
Used on: Spider
Effect: Fireball
Note: Rod triggered on a small spider, standard fireball spell. What was once a tiny spider was a scorch mark, along with the area around it. No loss there, I hate the things. Hope it got the egg sack too!

11/7/134AR
Used on: Pebble
Effect: Transplacement
Note: Using the Rod on a pebble, the pebble turned over a few times and then became a living rat. The rat did act as if it were a natural creature. I suspect the location of the pebble and the rat were swapped. The rat ran off, so unfortunately I was unable to confirm whether they were moved back to their original positions or not later on.

16/7/134AR
Used on: Brass Ingot
Effect: Fey Magic
Note: Using the Rod today, I was surrounded by pixie dust that seemed to ever float upwards past my head and then cascade down over my shoulders. The material itself was interesting in that it seemed to have properties that kept it afloat in the air.

19/7/134AR
Used on: Soup
Effect: Etherealness
Note: Triggered the Rod upon a bowl of soup. The soup became ethereal. The next morning, the bowl of soup returned to normal. I didn't try to eat any of it, wouldn't recommend others to try either.

23/7/134AR
Used on: Table
Effect: Polymorph User
Note: In using the Rod, I turned into a penguin. It was a strange experience. I still remember how sleek my feathers were...

25/7/134AR
Used on: Chair
Effect: Delusion
Note: I believe the Rod deluded me into believing something strange when I used it. No details of this will be shared here. Only later could I think back and sort out what was true from what was false about that memory.

27/7/134AR
Used on: Tree
Effect: Discharge Lightning
Note: Rod triggered on a tree. A lightning bolt struck the trunk and split the tree apart. It looked more or less as if it had happened naturally. The smouldering fire was easily extinguished by the rain. I wonder whether this effect would have taken place had the weather conditions been different.

12/8/134AR
Used on: Shadow Door
Effect: Teleport animal to location
Note: Rod triggered against shadowdoor. A cow appeared. The cow appeared to be healthy, well fed, and natural to the Prime. I originally suspected it to be of local origin, but after investigating the various farms on Arelith and researching into various breeds, I've determined that this cow came from Amn. I made a gift of the dairy cow to my friend Quincy of Guldorand (Yes, you're in my book, hello!).

14/8/134AR
Used on: Spear
Effect: Destruction
Note: Thinking perhaps that this Rod might further enhance my staff-spear, I triggered it upon the weapon. Unfortunately the green light that struck the weapon destroyed it instantly. It crumbled to dust, and now I'll have to find a new one.

16/8/134AR
Used on: Basin
Effect: Scry
Note: I used the Rod on my hand-cleaning basin and enjoyed the next hour watching the foyer of the Arcane Tower through the shimmering image in the water. Interestingly, Yorn seemed to be basked in a red glow that followed him everywhere. Most others that passed were not known to me, just travellers who came to use the portal, and were not bathed in the strange light. Perhaps this is an insight?

17/8/134AR
Used on: Wolf
Effect: Lightning Illusion
Note: In a hurry, I used the Rod on a wolf that had ambushed me in the forest. A lightning bolt seemed to tear right through the wolf, but I quickly realised that it was just an illusion of light and sound. Luckily, this terrified the wolf and it fled anyway.

19/8/134AR
Used on: Female Halfling
Effect: Banishment (includes natives!)
Note: A halfling woman tried to steal from me on the road from the coast toward Myon, so I used the opportunity to test the Rod. The effect was as per the Banishment spell, though I suspect that unless some planar trait was extremely well hidden, then it must also affect those native to the Prime. It may be argued that this had simply sent the halfling somewhere else, but I can attest to the familiar patterns of magic as the effect took place.

22/8/134AR
Used on: Gold Ingot
Effect: Transmutation
Note: Using the Rod on an ingot of gold, I witnessed the ingot become adamantine. Further confirmed by a smith, so I have reinforced my restraints for monsters with the adamantine.

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