The Nahmeh
by Aleksei AndrievskiBelow is a description I've made of the powers of the Nahmeh, holy book of al-Kalim. It's made with the artifact rules from WotI. Enjoy!
The Nahmeh
Lesser Artifact
200 PP
The Nahmeh was first written by al-Kalim and inscribed by his companion Farid. When al-Kalim became Immortal, he imbued his holy book with artifact powers, with the help of his patron Protius. Although many copies of the Nahmeh have been made, the original artifact version is currently kept in the Great Mosque in Ylaruam. It is used by the Sultan only in the case of dire emergency (such as a major threat to the whole country).
Powers:
Attack - Turn Undead (20), Bless (10)
Information - Lore (70)
Transformation - Create Water (20), Victory (75) Defence - Protection from Evil 10' (25)
Power Explanations (see effect descriptions in WotI):
Turn Undead - a faithful of al-Kalim may display the Nahmeh as a holy symbol, turning undead as a 6th-level cleric. Bless - if a prayer is read from the book, it confers a Bless spell on the reader. Lore - by reading the Nahmeh, any question may be answered as by the Lore spell.
Create Water - by reading a special page, life-giving water will pour from it. The book is not harmed by this.
Victory - if in battle, the leader of an army faithful to al-Kalim displays the Nahmeh prominently, his troops gain inspiration. Protection from Evil, 10' radius - By reading another prayer, this protection can be invoked.
Handicaps:
Magic Error - if the possessor tries to cast any wizard spell, he has a 30% chance of failure.
Sentience - if the Nahmeh is used by anyone not following the Eternal Truth philosophy, tries to possess the user (save vs. spell at -10 to avoid). When possessed, the user converts to the Eternal Truth and goes to spread the philosophy around the world.
Penalties
Obsession - the user will become obsessed with destroying any efreeti or fire- using mage he encounters.
Weak Magic - the user will inflict less damage with spells (-1 to each die roll).
Alignment Change - the user will shift one degree towards Lawful (or LN) alignment.
Destroying the Nahmeh
To destroy the holy book, it must be
taken to the Elemental Plane of Fire, to the City of Brass, where
it must be placed into the hottest oven in the palace of the Sultan
of Efreet. If the book is kept there for 10 years, it will burn up
completely. An adventure opportunity for Ylari PCs could be to
rescue the Nahmeh from the efreet.