Zaoris's Pin
Item · 500 gp · Weight 0.25
The city of Katapesh remembers the villainous Zaoris. As beautiful as she was depraved, this priestess was born into the family of the noble magician Conthyr. After he witnessed his daughter's disturbing inclinations, he sought to root out the little girl's taint through purifying rituals, but all of his efforts were for naught — Zaoris's heart was evil through and through. She hated her father and swore herself to the demon lord Nocticula, who gifted her with a magic pin that could seduce and enslave people's minds after it tasted a single drop of their blood. Zaoris used it to dominate Conthyr's will, then used his magic to bring death and destruction to the townsfolk of Katapesh. Her army grew day after day, as she used the pin to enthrall new servants. Zaoris reveled in her cruelty, and her terror lasted for many years. She smiled as she handed weapons to children and promised them freedom if they spilled the blood of their fathers. She made sacrifices to Nocticula and forced her father Conthyr to incinerate entire settlements. And yet the magician managed to retain a few shreds of free will. Not wishing to serve evil, Conthyr tricked his daughter into exploring an abandoned temple of Calistria, the goddess of lust and vengeance. Tempted by treasure and unaware that the temple was cursed, Zaoris agreed, and so she and her father set out to meet their doom — together. The temple's most precious treasure was the Book of Redemption. Clad in a cover of gold and jewels, it was magnificent. Zaoris thought the book contained destructive spells, but realized her mistake the moment she opened it. All the braziers in the abandoned temple flared up, and crimson words seeped onto an empty page — the Book of Redemption chronicled Zaoris's guilty acts in blood. The priestess cried out in unbearable pain as the curse struck her — any murderer who entered the temple fell prey to their own crimes, endlessly experiencing the agony felt by each of their victims. The temple doors slammed shut and the magic of the pin faded. Zaoris and Conthyr found themselves trapped at the altar. Delirious with pain, the priestess stabbed her father to death with the disempowered pin and then pierced her own heart, but her spirit found no rest in the afterlife. The agonized face of the priestess kept haunting the subsequent owners of the pin for years, and even after the cursed item found its way back to Nocticula, Zaoris the Crimson refused to vanish for good.
Location
Road junction near Ineluctable Prison · 9Worldwound