ROD OF TRIMEG
CHAPTER 3
ITEMS OF LEGACY Illus. by W. England
and ears sharp as he bore missives to various nobles who owed A 6-foot staff of white wood, the fealty to the king. One fateful night, Trimeg uncovered the bitRod of Trimeg is capped with a winged crown worked in silver. ter truth when he overheard an Two silver snakes twine their way Althecan duke plotting with adviup the shaft, their coils forming a sors. The duplicitous duke planned natural handgrip and their heads to hold his greatest forces in reserve, and when Althec and Karkos were facing inward. The butt of the weakened by the war, he designed staff is likewise shod in silver, to snatch the crowns of both soverwith a stout spike perfectly deeigns. According to legend, Trimeg signed to pierce hard-packed earth fled the castle with the duke’s forces hard on his and aid in walking over rough terrain. trail, running all the way back to the capital of Nonlegacy Game Statistics: Masterwork quarterstaff; Cost 2,000 gp. When holding the Althec to tell the king. The brave messenger then Rod of Trimeg you are constantly protected by dashed all the way to Karkos to reveal the truth to its queen. In that single night, the war ended. an endure elements spell (CL 2nd). The wielder of the Rod of Trimeg also gains a +2 circum(DC 18; Long Run) stance bonus on Balance checks on rough or A less-known story of Trimeg is the tale of how he outwitted Nariel, a succubus trickster. Nariel uneven ground. was a cunning scoundrel, and she bore a longOmen: The Rod of Trimeg dislikes idleness. If standing grudge against the sorcerer Malkuth. it is left unattended, it moves when no one is As it happened, Trimeg was delivering a missive watching it. The rod never goes far, nor does it from Malkuth to the count of Blandish—along leave your vicinity, but it is frequently found in with a gift of a beautiful magic necklace for the odd places. countess—respectfully requesting permission HISTORY to gather specimens of exotic beasts from the In a kingdom long since crumbled to dust, the count’s forest reserve. Nariel learned of this caduceus—a rod capped with a winged crown, through her infernal sources. Taking the guise twined with two serpents—was a potent magical of a simple but beautiful peasant girl, she met symbol. It represented knowledge, healing, and Trimeg on the road and convinced him to stay his travelers, along with countless other emblematic mission merely for the evening. While Trimeg slept later that night, Nariel switched the mesmeanings. Messengers and envoys commonly carried the caduceus as a mark of their office sage and gift with her own and departed for the Abyss. The demon could not so easily fool and inviolability, much like a white flag of truce. The herald Trimeg, a legendary messenger the wily Trimeg. He recognized her wormwood credited with many supernatural feats, carried perfume as an odor especially pleasing to beings this particular rod. (DC 15) from the Abyss. Before he even entered Nariel’s home, Trimeg had already swapped the real mesTrimeg’s name first rose to prominence sage for a false one and the real gift for an empty eight hundred years ago, during a fierce war box. With the true epistle and amulet tucked between the monarchies of Althec and Karsafely into his cloak, he enjoyed the company kos. The rulers of the two nations had once of the succubus and traveled on in the morning. been fast friends, but when they both discov(DC 25; Canny Trickster) ered evidence of the other sovereign making Many more stories are told of Trimeg and his clandestine plans of invasion and conquest, they immediately declared war upon one anothadventures, but the greatest—and, ironically, the er. Many costly battles followed. Trimeg, who least well known—is his final tale. When Trimeg was then in the service of Althec’s monarch, had grown old and could no longer run as swiftly was wary of the circumstancas he had in his youth, he passed A messenger bearing the Rod of Trimeg es that led the two realms to his rod to Kadmon, his nephew. can never become lost or diverted war. He kept his eyes open Kadmon carried on his uncle’s
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