Moodarvian Ring of Emotion (Magic Ring)

Moodarvian rings were pioneered within the last 100 years, quickly becoming popular and wide spread. Several masters of illusion have claimed credit for the invention, among them Percus of Gorias, Alslor the Magnificent, and the recluse Dor, but the archivist Tlielma reports that one can only be sure of the region in which they first appeared hence the name.
A Moodarvian ring (or mood ring) consists of a band of woven wool, encased in amber, embossed around a golden ring. It can be any diameter, from finger-sized up to several feet across. A mood ring can be worn or mounted, perhaps around the base of a hanging candelabrum or as part of a circular picture frame. It is not always obvious and is easily disguised.
Construction: Ring affecting one sense: 12,000 gp. Nine days. A mood ring must be enchanted with the proper spells. The principal one is a sensory illusion-phantasmal force when it is intended to affect sight, and nearly identical spells to affect smell, taste, sound, and touch. When it is created, a mood ring can be attuned to the nearest person, to a specific person, to one fixed image, or to the combined thoughts of a group of people. The effect is attuned to a Specific person when that individual holds the ring during the casting of its final enchantment. To tune the effects to a specific image or emotion, the ring's creator must concentrate on that image or emotion as the ring is completed. In all other cases, the enchanter must take care to concentrate on the task emotionlessly, lest unintended feelings color the ring's subsequent use.
Mood rings present an illusion of appearance, smell, taste, sound, or touch. When attuned to a person, the illusion is altered by changes in the person's emotions and thoughts. When set for a fixed image, the ring projects the illusion at all times. When attuned to a group of people, the illusion is influenced by the range of emotions of all within its range.
Mood rings have proven useful for a wide variety of applications, from the preparation of gourmet food to warding unwary intruders. When tuned to a specific person, a personal ring of sight can enhance its owner's presence, making plain girls pretty, shy men valiant, and timorous folk courageous. With practice, it can be used to disguise appearance when one wishes to pass unrecognized.
A personal ring of smell acts as a deodorant, radiating the most expensive of sachets or colognes. It can clear the air of clinging odors or foul the nearby atmosphere to the point that no one would want to approach its wearer.
A personal ring of taste most often serves as a shortcut to elegant dining. By imagining the dish desired, the most extravagant banquet can be served, if the chef is sufficiently skilled with the illusions the ring devises. Woe betide, though, if the chef is upset or depressed, for these emotions will work their way into his creations as well. Governor Dmitri is well known for having lost the knight hood he sought, and his head as well, after serving Prince Logan oysters stewed by a chef whose true love had just jilted him for the fishmonger.
A personal ring of sound can be the most entertaining of the set, providing its wearer with his own individual theme music and sound effects. A rousing theme for adventuring, passionate strains for courtship, and martial chords for combat are all within this ring's capacity. Care must be taken that it does not control its wearer in a tense situation, however-a fearful flourish has served to rout more than one panicky wearer, unaware that he or she had provoked the very tremolo that caused the fear in the first place.
A personal ring of touch, although less generally useful than its brothers, can render the coarsest complexion satin-soft and subdue the roughest hemp into velvety smoothness.
A mood ring, when worn, generally attunes to the nearest person, that is, its wearer. Rings that enhance rooms or larger areas are usually timed to a specific individual, so that the ring's illusion is not constantly shifting.
When mounted in a non-descript room, a ring of sight can transform it into a scholarly study, a rosy boudoir, or an elegant salon. Of course, furnishings must roughly conform to the image presented for any lengthy effect, and a ring of touch might be added to harmonize the impressions of any who come into the room. Skillfully combined, these two rings and a single room can serve as several distinct chambers. 
Similarly, a ring of smell can impart a pine fresh fragrance, a stimulating Seabreeze, or other refreshing aromas dependent on the mood and impulse of its owner.
A ring of taste, when one hasn't the skill to evoke savory detail in each dish sufficient to fool a gourmet, can be mounted in the dining room to add an overall flavor to each meal. It can serve to make bland food tasty, but one has heard of infamous dinners in which each course was even more garlic filled than the last, or so bitter that guests had to pry open their puckered lips with forks to voice their thanks for the meal and regrets for an early departure. Such disasters are usually due to an indiscriminating palate or taste buds temporarily warped by a head cold or other slight illness.
Perhaps the most ill-used of this class of rings, however, is the ring of sound. Background music is a useful addition to any social occasion, and such mood rings are more versatile and prompt than most orchestras. They certainly require less upkeep. This has not escaped the notice of professional musicians, and musical groups from all over have been among the most vociferous in their opposition to mood rings. In scattered cases, musicians have struck back, lurking nearby and producing discordant music calculated to jar the tinniest of ears when combined with a ring's music.
One of the most memorable of such clashes occurred between Squire Frye, a devoted music lover and confirmed ring of sound user, and the renowned Damacron Ensemble. Pride forbade the ensemble from actually producing discordant noise, so when it attempted to disrupt one of the Squire's progressive mood ring musicales, Master Damacron chose a rousing patriotic march to clash with the rhapsody walling out of the Squire's windows. Frye was quick to respond, however, mining swiftly into a sprightly jig in perfect counterpoint to the ensemble's march. Damacron switched to a dirge, and the struggle was on. For hours, all within earshot sat enthralled as point and counterpoint sang through the evening. Four symphonies were born that night, among the most innovative in several centuries, though witnesses say that none do justice to the exhilarating chase that Damacron led Frye on through the enchanted night.
Closely related to the rings just discussed are those tuned to one fixed image or emotion. These rings are particularly useful in cases where their users lack the expertise and emotional control to maintain the positive image they wish to project, or where only one image is necessary. Fixed personal mood rings enhancing sight, smell, and touch are not uncommon, bill similar rings of sound have proven maddening for all in range, particularly the wearer. After hearing the same tune repeatedly, without pause, for days in a row, most early users developed severe mental aberrations. The experiments are seldom repeated.
Fixed rings mounted in rooms are similarly useful. The most common place to find such a ring is in a privy, where a ring of smell can overcome the strongest of disagreeable odors with rose water freshness. Fixed rings of sound or taste are seldom constructed, but rings of sight or touch can perk up even the drabbest of chambers.
Mood rings tuned to the combined thoughts of a group of people comprise the final class to be described. Such rings are governed by the emotions of everyone within their range, and in nor mal circumstances produce pleasant but bland accompaniment for those gathered. Rings of sight and touch bathe the selling in agreeably soft beige, rings of sound provide harmonious and inoffensive background music, rings of smell induce slightly sweet but unidentifiable odors, and rings of taste, when used in public restaurants and taverns, mask the food with blind flavors.
However, such use always includes the risk of a strong negative emotion overriding the generally positive flow. When this happens, blackened walls, prickly scats, discordant caterwauling, and the stench of rotting eggs predominate. Wise owners make sure that such rings are easily removable when circumstances demand it.
These rings are also popular in children's play rooms, although only the wealthy can afford them. Children's imaginations, when reinforced by rings, can take them anywhere, soaring above the clouds, battling to save a kingdom, or adventuring in the depths of the earth. Strong-willed guardians should always be present, lest children literally scare themselves to death.
Perils occur when mood rings come under the control of inexperienced or unaware users. Just as the rings provide positive feedback in positive emotions, anger, distrust, nervousness, and especially fear, are reinforced by the rings in a vicious circle of escalating images. In particular, it was soon found that rings mounted to enhance of social gatherings also provide thieves and other intruders with those images they fear most, beginning with flickering shadows in the corners, the hint of a dragon's sulphurous breath, the sling of hidden traps, and the tread of approaching footsteps. The most imaginative fall prey to other worldy guardians and worse, terrors that previously existed only in their darkest nightmares.
Category:Encyclopedia Magica Magic Items
Category:Magic Items
Category:Magic Rings