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Heward’s Hall

Heward’s Hall

Illus. by C. Frank

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olIdaMMara’s shell

One legend associated with the bard of the gods, Olidammara, tells how the divine trickster was once cornered by an army of ogres . Rather than fight the savages, the keen-witted deity surrounded himself with a spherical carapace that resembled the shell of an armadillo . Once he was thus covered, the god teleported away from inside the shell, leaving the brutes to beat on the empty container for a year and a day .

After the ogres finally dispersed, a greedy wizard discovered the shell and sought to use the divine creation for his own purposes . Much to the mage’s chagrin, however, the shell disappeared from his possession . Now Olidammara’s shell appears and disappears at the fickle god’s whim, and might show up in unlikely places .

Lore: Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) can research Olidammara’s shell to learn more about it . When a character succeeds on a skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs .

DC 15: A successful check reveals the story of Olidammara using his shell to escape the army of ogres .

DC 20: Olidammara’s shell teleports from place to place, seemingly with the same whimsical nature as Olidammara himself . Those who find the shell and touch it gain good luck .

DC 25: Olidammara’s shell does not allow itself to be tracked or exploited . Those who find it should thank their own luck and benefit from the shell while they can, for it vanishes as quickly as it appears .

Description: Approximately 4 feet in diameter, Olidammara’s shell is an unbreakable sphere with a dull metallic luster . In its jumps from place to place, the shell takes on slightly smaller or larger sizes to better suit its surroundings, and even takes on different colors, at the deity’s whim . Wherever it appears, the shell floats of its own accord as it spins slowly, even in places where such magical levitation would normally be impossible . Furthermore, an antimagic field apparently surrounds

the shell, since most magic seems unable to work in its vicinity . Currently Olidammara’s shell hovers about 40 feet off the ground, just above a massive pedestal perched atop the gigantic gate of Castle Granite Throne, the fortress home of a clan of stone giants . Although the giants largely ignore the shell, rumors have started circulating in nearby towns of the divine object’s appearance . Adventure-seekers and daredevils have sought to magically fly or levitate up to the shell, only to fall upon entering its antimagic field . Since none have dared enter the castle and the giants thwart all attempts to reach it, the shell remains a goal as obvious and tempting as it is frustratingly elusive . Prerequisite: A character must have at least one luck feat (page 72) to gain the benefit conferred by Olidammara’s shell . Location Activation: A character who touches and remains in contact with Olidammara’s shell for 1 full round gains this location’s special ability . Recharge: Any number of characters can potentially make use of Olidammara’s shell . However, every time a character tries to touch the shell, roll 1d6 . On a result of 1, the shell teleports away before being touched, preventing the character from gaining any benefit . Otherwise, the location confers its special ability . Special Ability (Su): Upon touching Olidammara’s shell, a character gains a bit of the luck of the trickster deity . She gains five extra luck rerolls, each of which can be used only once . Duration: The benefits of Olidammara’s shell are both temporary and whimOlidammara’s shell sical . Whenever a character gains the benefit of the location, the DM should roll 1d6 twice, multiplying the result of one die roll by the other . After that number of days have passed, the special ability ends and the character loses any remaining bonus luck rerolls conferred by the location .

Variation: Olidammara’s shell might appear anywhere that is exotic, that is considered to be lucky, or that requires extraordinary skill or luck to reach . Such a location might be a patch of four-leafed clovers, a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, the top of an earthen spire jutting from a

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