Descent into Avernus

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

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SHIELD OF THE HIDDEN LORD

5,,IELO OF T,_,E
HIOOEN LOJ'lO

Armor (shield), legendary (requires attunement)


The Shield of the Hidden Lord is of celestial origin and


serves as a prison for the pit fiend Gargauth, whose mor-


tal followers revere it as a god. Over time, Gargauth's


evil has warped the shield's appearance, so that its


celestial motif and designs have become twisted into a


fiendish face that subtly moves in disturbing ways.
While holding this shield, you gain a +2 bonus to AC

and resistance to fire damage.


Sentience. The Shield of the Hidden Lord is sentient


as long as it imprisons Gargauth. While sentient, the


shield has the following properties:


The shield has an Intelligence of 22, a Wisdom of 18,


and a Charisma of 24, as well as hearing and true-


sight out to a range of 120 feet.

The shield can speak, read, and understand Common


and Infernal, and it can communicate telepathically


with any creature it can sense within 120 feet of it. Its


voice is a deep, hollow whisper.


The shield has 3 charges. You can use an action to


expend 1 charge to cast fireball or 2 charges to cast


wall of fire from the shield (save DC 21 for each). The
wall of fire spell lasts for 1 minute (no concentration

required). The shield regains all expended charges


daily at dawn.


Anytime during your turn, the shield can choose to


radiate an aura of dread for 1 minute. (This is not a


power of the shield that you control.) Any creature


hostile to you that starts its turn within 20 feet of the


shield must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw. On a


failed save, the creature is frightened until the start of


its next turn. On a successful save, the creature is im-

mune to this power of the shield for the next 24 hours.


Once the shield uses this power, it can't use it again


until the next dawn.
Gargauth's Personality. Gargauth desperately seeks

freedom but can't escape on its own. The pit fiend won't


reveal its true nature, referring to itself only as the Hid-


den Lord. It drops hints and subtle suggestions that it is


an angel trapped in an unholy prison. If released from
the shield, the pit fiend honors the terms of whatever

bargain it struck to facilitate its escape.


While trapped in the shield, Gargauth carefully steers


the shield's current owner toward committing acts of


cruelty and domination, hoping to condemn the individu-

al's soul to the Nine Hells. Conflict occurs if the shield's


owner does anything that would make it more difficult


for Gargauth to escape its prison, such as leaving the


shield in a place where others are unlikely to find it.


Gargauth doesn't know how to escape from the shield.

The pit fiend believes (incorrectly) that it can break free


of the shield if it's brought to the Nine Hells, for it's con-

vinced that the shield's powers are weaker there.


Freeing Gargauth. Casting dispel evil and good on


the shield has a 1 percent chance of freeing the pit fiend,

or automatically succeeds if the spell is cast by a solar, a


planetar, or an archdevil. A god can release the pit fiend


by touching the shield and speaking Gargauth's name.


When released, Gargauth appears in a random, unoccu-

pied space as close to the shield as possible.


SouL Corn


Wondrous item, uncommon


Soul coins are about 5 inches across and about an inch


thick, minted from infernal iron. Each coin weighs one-
third of a pound, and is inscribed with Infernal writing

and a spell that magically binds a single soul to the


coin. Because each soul coin has a unique soul trapped


within it, each has a story. A creature might have been

imprisoned as a result of defaulting on a deal, while an-


other might be the victim of a night hag's curse.


Carrying Soul Coins. To hold a soul coin is to feel


the soul bound within it- overcome with rage or fraught
with despair.

An evil creature can carry as many soul coins as it


wishes (up to its maximum weight allowance). A non-

evil creature can carry a number of soul coins equal to


or less than its Constitution modifier without penalty.


A non-evil creature carrying a number of soul coins


greater than its Constitution modifier has disadvantage


on its attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.
Using a Soul Coin. A soul coin has 3 charges. A

creature carrying the coin can use its action to expend


1 charge from a soul coin and use it to do one of the


following:

APPENDIX CI MAGIC ITEMS
225
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