Stone Skin Ring

© 2015 by Dean Spencer

Employees of Warehouse III have recently recovered a small but dangerous item: The Stone Skin Ring. People trying to use the ring for good have destroyed more than they protected.

Origin

The sorceress Shprintze in Shirki has bound the protective force of a golem into this ring many centuries ago, to empower selected soldiers of the army. The ring has somehow found its way to the western continent.

Effect

When activated, the ring grants resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage (nonmagical) to the wearer. The effect lasts 10 minutes.

Activation

To activate its effect, the wearer pushes the bird's head about a quarter of the ring's size forward. The bird's eyes will emit an almost invisible flash and green light and the wearer will feel a short moment of pain as if something stung their finger, then the protecting effect can be seen crawling up the arm and through the whole body: the skin turns grey and resembles the look of scales.

Backdraw / "Curse"

To prevent an attacker from using this ring as a weapon against her own country, Shprintze has added a protective clause to the enchantment. Anyone using the ring who is not from her country's unique bloodline has to win a willpower test against the ring every 10 minutes. If they succeed, they can continue using the ring for another 10 minutes. If they fail, a secret golem command paper embedded into the ring gets activated and forces its commands onto the wearer of the ring. This included turning against their own people and attacking them.
Only people with a bloodline reaching way back into Shirki's past can wear and use the ring without triggering this side effect.

Manufacturing process

What is visible: Fifteen movable segments have been strung together to form a ring, with the bird's head gripping around the band so it can move forth and back several segments when some pressure is applied.
What is hidden: the ring has a tiny scroll embedded into the bird's head and carries an additional enchantment that triggers the second effect.

SC2021: an ancient and/or powerful artifact

Origin

Shirki

Current Location

Bridgeport

Owning Organization

The Enigma Society: Curators of the Occult

Rarity

very rare

Weight

70g

Raw materials & Components

The ring is completely made out of gold, the eyes of the bird are tiny emeralds.