Crown of the Undying Flame

The Crown of the Undying Flame was an artifact that had once been Hortil Droone. After facing Mystra's Choice in , he became that artifact.
==Description==
It was a simple silver circlet with a central spire, on which a black cabochon-cut glass piece treated with a glassteel spell bore a small flickering flame at its center. The flame was impressive enough and visible for quite a distance, but its flickering made it useless for reading.
==Personality==
The Crown of the Undying Flame lived vicariously through its wearers down the centuries.
==Powers==
Every spell cast at the wearer of the Crown of the Undying Flame was absorbed utterly by the piece, and held in abeyance; the wearer had no control over this process, and couldn't prevent the crown from absorbing any spells. The wearer could later release those spells from the crown by a silent act of will; however, if more than one spell was used without allowing for a minute of cooldown, the exertion dealt actual, albeit minimal, damage to the wearer. However, the spells were unleashed at the pinnacle of conventional magic, regardless of the original caster's skill. Furthermore, the crown could also grant true seeing, albeit this caused dangerous, if minimal, damage to the wearer; the spell was only available every 90 minutes. The crown could also be willed to blaze with faerie fire, though the light was always the same hue and brightness as a flickering flame.
A wearer that was already capable of casting spells akin to a stored spell could go even further, and touch a piece of paper to write down the spell there, either as a scroll or as an entry in a spellbook. This process required three minutes, and the spell was lost if it was interrupted.
However, with every spell absorbed the crown had a small, but not too small, chance to disappear, permanently reducing the wearer's intelligence and their ability to effectively endure damage, teleporting itself to a new location, and leaving its owner behind. The more spells absorbed within the space of a minute, the greater this likelihood, doubling with every spell, until it reached a likelihood of just about two out of three at seven spells a round, which differed from the chance at six spells a round only by the same odds that it performed this action after absorbing one spell a round.
==History==
During Mystra's Choice, Hortil convinced her he could best spread magic by influencing rulers to experiment with the Art, so as to encourage local mages to create greater spells. Mystra transformed him into the crown, which showed up unheralded in the Royal Palace of Westgate. The Court Wizard of the day proclaimed it a gift from the Gods, but it was banished to a treasury vault. In , it was sought by Maeraedryn for his coronation, but it was not found.
There were rumors since that a "spell-drinking crown" was in use up and down the Vilhon Reach. As of approximately , it had recently been stolen from Glammader, a caravan merchant, and it was sought by two competing mages: Othdil Mauneiyn, and Roekandal of Reth. They were both using spells and hired agents, notably Havnaether's Fist.
==Destruction==
It was thought the crown could be destroyed by striking it with seven dispel magic spells while some spell was being discharged for it, though the outcome was expected to be messy, with an explosion that would certainly take their heads. It had also been proposed that the crown could be destroyed by casting spells matching its present spells while it was in an altar consecrated to Mystra. A more involved method suggested that if the Crown of the Undying Flame was struck by a shatter spell while it was worn by one already wearing another magical crown, it would crumble harmlessly, the stored spells being teleported elsewhere and unleashed in random places across Faerûn.
==Appendix==
===References===
Category:Artifacts
Category:Items
Category:Magic items
Category:Crowns
Category:Headwear
Category:Items from Faerûn
Category:Items from Toril
Category:Mystran items
Category:Year of Miracles