The Rings of Power

From LSWiki

• Look:

A mid-sized volume of parchment bound in black leather. A title is etched upon the front cover. It is open to page one of three. You estimate its value at about thirty-five gold.

It looks about a quarter of a dimin long, one and seventeen twentieths dimins wide, and two and nine twentieths dimins tall. It weighs about seven tenths of a dekan.

• Info:

The commands 'open <item>', 'close <item>', and 'turn page [in <item>] [to <number>]' may be used with it. The Rings of Power was created by Chaos; the source code was last updated Tue Jul 23 17:03:39 2013. The material leather was created by Lost Souls; the source code was last updated Sun Jul 12 19:30:01 2009. The material parchment was created by Lost Souls; the source code was last updated Sun Jul 12 19:30:00 2009.

The writing is in Latin, and reads:

                         The Rings of Power
                          V. Lyrl of Altri
                             A.A. 1178

    In our turbulent times, the fomor lord Ahrikol is noted for his efforts
in the creation of potent Rings of Power, devices capable of granting many
and varied abilities to their bearers depending upon what mystic runes are
engraved upon them -- abilities which can be employed to good effect in
holding back the darkness which threatens Altri on every side.  Now, while
many doubt Ahrikol's motives in this, it cannot be said that his realm has
ever threatened the Empire, and lurid tales of his putative crimes in
impossibly long-past ages are difficult to credit; while, on the other hand,
we have great need of any aid we can find in our increasingly desperate
struggles, and so I say we should give the Ringmaker due acknowledgement of
his contributions.  While Ahrikol does request the occasional service in
return for the boon of the Ring, something no honorable being would cavil
at, these requests have never been arduous or interfered with Ringwielders'
proper performance of their duties.  By contrast, the benefit of these
individuals' expanded abilities in countering crises, such as the Athran
conflict some years ago and the disgraceful seditious activities recently
perpetrated by disloyal Empire citizens, is inarguable.
    Considering the social dimension addressed, then, let us proceed to an
appreciation of the practical.  The uniqueness of the Rings of Power lies
in the potency of the runes employed upon them; a single one of Ahrikol's
runes can easily channel power analogous to that more typically requiring
an entire enchanted device.  Some of the best-known runes are the iconic
'evrak', whose bolts of fire became such a famed bane of Athran shock
troopers, and the awesome 'ravarak', producer of a force blast that can
devastate a battlefield.  Just as important as these attack runes, however,
yet more subtle and more pleasing to the fundamentally peace-loving Altrian
temperament, are the many runes that work to protect Ringwielders from harm,
with examples such as 'ciiv' and 'zadash' that protect from normal weapons,
'jaderaleq' and 'uanedryl' that block magickal influences, and the dramatic
'mragsh' that sheathes the Ringwielder in a bubble of force.  Moreover,
despite this wide array of capabilities, it sometimes seems that hardly a
month passes without Ahrikol designing a new and fascinating rune for
Ringwielders to take advantage of.

    Interestingly, some of our more prominent Ringwielders, those who have
made use of their Rings of Power over the longest periods of time or with
the most zeal, have begun to show an apparent side-effect to the use of the
Rings.  This manifests as a certain insubstantiality to the physical form,
suggesting that the employment of the Rings may actually work to elevate
one to a higher spiritual level!  In fact, there is even a visible light
emanating from these individuals' eyes, implying a great transformation
of the soul indeed.  Along with this refinement of substance develops a
resistance to disease, poison, and even age, as Teren Ilianus discovered in
his heroic driving out of the malefic spirits plaguing the town of Madus.
May it be that the power of the Rings suffices to keep even death at bay?
Whether this is the case or not, clearly the Rings are an unparalleled
benison.  Praise be to Ahrikol for their provenance!