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Staff
of the Beholder
By Nickademus
(or so they say)
The staff of the beholder is supposedly an item created by a wizard known as Nickademus, a wizard known for his belief in law and order. Legends say he disappeared one day and saved the multiverse without anyone even knowing it. Perhaps. But if the portion of the legend that speaks of the Staff of the Beholder is true, it may be something worth seeking out.
Supposedly, the Staff was created at the end of a epic trek through the Great Ring. It was created through the use of several different Ioun stones and, while not artifact class, it is most certainly near-relic class in its power. Only one clue can be given to the location of this staff: "The Staff rests in the Star that guides the Paladin." No sage claims to know what that means.
The STAFF OF THE BEHOLDER is a long, slender staff made of pure ebon-mithril with a dash of meterotic steel for flavor. At the top of the staff is a large fire opal with a tiny white speck in the middle of it that reverbrates with magical energies. Coming out from this 'central eye' are 10 small sticks of pure Dwarven Blackrock, each topped with a colored ioun stone, each in a perfectly rounded shape. They are colored: Pale Blue, Scarlet & Blue Swirl, Incandescent Blue, Deep Red, Pink, Pink & Red Swirl, Clear, Iridescent, Pearly White, and Dusty Rose. Rumors say that a dead ioun stone must be used in the making of the staff, in addition to all of these.
The STAFF OF THE BEHOLDER grants the following constant powers: +1 to each of the six attributes, no need to eat, drink, or breathe, regeneration of One Hit Point every Turn, +1 to every saving throw, and +1 to Armor Class.
On command and using charges, the Staff can grant the following powers at 20th level:
Antimagic
shell, 2 charges (central eye)
Charm Person, 1 charge
Charm Monster, 2 charges
Sleep, 1 charge
Telekinesis, 1 charge
Flesh to Stone, 2 charges
Disintegrate, 1 charge
Fear, 1 charge
Slow, 1 charge
Cause Serious Wounds, 1 charge
Death Ray, 2 charges
Furthermore, the Staff, while having limited charges, is not inert once brought to zero charges. The constant powers still function, and the staff can still be recharged. It is not known what is required to charge the staff, but it most certainly included some sort of hair freely given from lawful creatures - most likely big, nasty ones at that. It has a maximum capacity of 30 charges when fully charged. It may, according to some legends, also have a slight form of intelligence expressed in emapthy, towards law and order.
If you find this staff by some chance (not likely) then surrender it immediately to a member of the vaati, a race of pure law dwelling on the Elemental Plane of Air. If you do not, they will hunt you. They will find you.
And they will cut you into tiny geometric shapes.