Crown of the Eternal King

No no nononono. Not enough. Not enough. Not enough! NEVER ENOUGH!!

— whispers of a fallen King

Mana is a dangerous energy. In the right hands, it can unleash many an evil thing into the world. Spells that bring death and destruction. Creatures from the most horrible of nightmares. And artefacts that give honour to the phrase "fate worse than death". The Crown of the Eternal King is one of them and perhaps the most insidious out of all.

Treacherous Wreath

To most observes it will look like an ordinary crown at first glance. A ring of solid gold about two fingers high. On top a series of spikes, half a finger between them and each a finger long. Where it begins to get stranger is when the crown's age is revealed. Despite being over four thousand years old, the metal has lost nothing of its shine, still as polished as when it was worn. Additionally, it does seem impervious to damage, surviving even the greatest of blows and hottest of flames.

Remnant of Ancient Madness

Where it not for the rumours, myths and legends surrounding it one would perceive the crown as nothing more than jewellery. Nice to look at but nothing extraordinary. In the cities of Aramea the people still whisper, however. Of a King that dreamed of beating death. Dreamed of a realm that would never fall. A madman that forged his crown in the chaos that descended from the stars.
They called him the Eternal King and his reign was long and horrible, only coming to an end when the First Archmage slew him and ended the first great Dark Age. But the King did not fully die. Parts of his spirit still live on. Hiding in the dark corners of the earth. At least that is what the stories tell. And one such splinter of his soul resides inside the crown.
Anyone wearing it will be imbued with the King's power, making them great rulers and powerful warriors. The effect is especially strong should the wearer be able to manipulate Mana. There is a price for this, however. Whenever its power is no longer needed and recedes, the Crown will take a small part of the wearer's Soul and Mana with it. Over time, this effectively drains the unfortunate victim of both, leaving an empty husk that withers away into nothingness. To outsiders, this may appear as if the victim died a natural death. After a few generations, the Crown will be "lost" and disappear for a few decades. Only to reappear again in a faraway land and continue its malicious scheme. At least that is what the stories say.

The Eternal King had only ever one goal: to become the sole manifestation of Mana on the Mortal Plane. In a sense the Crown is simply his will continuing on toward that goal.

— Darius Kaseidis

Item type

Jewelry / Valuable

Related ethnicities

• Eternals
• Primordial Humanity

Rarity

Legendary

Weight

Unkown

Primordial Age
There are two eras commonly distinguished within world history. The period dominated by the Arcane Hierarchy, called Hierarchical Era and the time before that, the Primordial Age.
How long this period has lasted is unknown. But many scholars believe that it may have extended over hundreds of millennia. It was the time of savage, bestial civilizations. When mankind was but one of many people living under the sun and had to fight day and night for its survival. Eventually, Humans triumphed and most other races vanished from the world. All that is left of them are ruins and ancient ornaments and whispers of great cities under the sea.

by Dave Felix