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MAGIC ITEM: Head of the Loveless

Although unlikely, under unusual circumstances it is possible for a creature as hate-filled as a hag to find a semblance of what other mortals know as 'love'. The green hag Gorwyn was known for her talent as a seductress, cloaking herself in illusions to prey upon deluded would-be lovers. She and her covey feasted often and well thanks to her deadly wiles. It was a druid of the loathsome gods of the hunt that turned her fortunes. His powers and foul passions seemed just as strong as hers and between them they formed a dark bond. Gorwyn would visit her lover often, neglecting her covey to be with him and enact their own sinister plans. Soon, her covey sisters noticed her straying from her hunts and followed her to the druid's lair. After spying upon their sister and her lover for an evening, they ambushed the pair while they were least aware. Gorwyn's sisters cackled as they berated her for her weakness, forcing her to watch as her lover was butchered under their jagged claws. As the torment of losing perhaps the one thing any hag ever loved wracked her, she began to scream, but with iron grips they silenced her. As she still lived, they sewed her mouth shut with her own hair, then decapitated her. Leaving the blood-soaked grove, Gorwyn's sisters took with them only her head, within which still echoed the never-heard scream of a hag's first love. The first head of the loveless was the preserved head of this green hag, which served as a reminder to all hags of the penalty for love. Since that time, the ability to create such items has spread to all races and so too has its sinister warning.

A creature bearing a head of the loveless receives a +5 luck bonus to saving throws against spells, spell-like abilities, effects of the Enchantment school and mind-influencing effects. This includes fear, mind-influencing, charm or domination abilities of monsters; and compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale effects. In addition, once per day the stitches of the head's mouth can stretch, allowing it to scream. The head's bearer must simply hold the head of the loveless aloft and say the word 'love' in any language. This is a standard action. The head of the loveless then screams with the same effect as a Shout spell cast by a 15th-level caster.

Head Of The Loveless (illustration by Arnie Swekel)Prerequisite: Craft Wondrous Item, Resistance, Shout

Aura: Strong Abjuration

Caster Level: 15th

Market Price: 74,450gp

Cost to Create:

AC: 5

Hit Points: 2

Hardness: 4

Break DC: 20

Weight: 9lbs.

Based on an entry in Dragon Magazine #300 October 2002 by Wesley Schneider