Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings

The Scepter of the Sorcerer Kings was a powerful artifact that originated from the ancient empire of Netheril. It was one of the empire's numerous creations that exemplified the hubris and arrogance of the Netherese: its purpose was to strip the power of the gods, by banishing the influence they held over the people of Toril.
==Description==
The scepter was crafted from a strange, unidentified blue metal. It was topped with two prominent horns that curved toward one another, with a hollow circlet on its other end. It had the same approximate weight and size as a heavy mace.
==Powers==
The Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings was exceedingly powerful and made its wielder nigh-invulnerable to any magical spells or psionic attacks specifically targeting the wielder, such as magic missile, by redirecting them towards their source, but multiplied tenfold in power. This immunity could be circumvented by using effects that targeted an area (e.g., fireball and cone of cold).
Nine times each day, the wielder of the scepter could heal or harm any other creature; although it did not fully heal or injure the target like these spells, some of its effect was permanent, permanently bolstering or siphoning that creature's life force by a small portion.
Once per day, the scepter could be used to dispel any magical effect. One out of three times this power was used, it irrevocably drained all magic from the target item (which was not restorable, even by a wish), with no chance of failure, and created a dead-magic zone in radius that only other artifacts (including the scepter) were immune to.
===Divine Power===
The scepter's most dominant power was actually its curse. Whenever its powers were used, the influence of a single random deity was stricken from the world, not including any moons, for a full tenday. That deity became unable to see, communicate with, or otherwise influence any living things, or alter the course of events, in the world on which the scepter was used. Additionally, devotees of that deity were unable to access any divine spells granted through prayer or other means. However, deities that had magic within their area of control (such as Mystra, Azuth, and others) were immune.
==History==
The Scepter of the Sorcerer Kings was crafted by the great arcanist Glaeros Lhaerimm, in a process that involved the sacrifice of dozens of his apprentice mages. It was believed insights into that process were gleaned from reading the Ars Factum chapter of the legendary Nether Scrolls.
The willful abuse of life used to create the scepter―and the threat it posed to divine powers―attracted the ire of Netherese gods. Those gods dispatched their servants to stop Glaeros, before the scepter was completed. In the end, the gods emerged triumphant: Glaeros was slain, and the Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings was left incomplete. It was eventually seized by some other powerful arcanist.
Over the following centuries, the scepter found its way into the possession of several powerful mages and tyrannical despots.
Some time during or before the early 13 century DR, the Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings was wielded by the lich Thavverdasz, the self-proclaimed "Harper King".
==Reputation==
Many deities of the Faerûnian pantheon instructed their followers to readily identify the Scepter of the Sorcerer-Kings, so as to ensure their divine influence over the Realms continued unimpeded.
It was rumored that the scepter could be only be destroyed by using it to outright kill a god, destroying all the Netherese liches on Toril, or forcing the gods to abandon the world and remove themselves from the affairs of mortal beings.
==Appendix==
===References===
Category:Artifacts
Category:Scepters
Category:Magic items
Category:Human items
Category:Netherese items
Category:Items from Netheril
Category:Items from North Faerûn
Category:Items from Faerûn
Category:Items from Toril