Magic Item: Shariya, the Saint

Shariya, the Saint: Sometimes this ornament is a simple smooth finger ring. At other times it has been recorded to be a teardrop-shaped pendant without a necklace of its own; still others, a slender torc terminating in simple drops. Regardless of its chimerical forms, Shariya the Saint is always composed of snowy white quartz shot through with delicate veins of pale rose.

Shariya grants its bearer a measure of enlightened grace. To any but a warrior, the ability to wield a single type of weapon with which they have no familiarity; to a warrior, the ability to cast a single first-level spell twice a day, whether from the cleric or magic-user list. Access to weapons or spells, however, is something Shariya's bearer must gain for themselves. All bearers receive a +2 to saves vs. spells.

The more subtle of Shariya's powers is the subtle pressure of emotion -- or, on occasion, a faint voice whispered in the mind -- that hints at a wiser or at least more benign course of action. This guiding power may be heeded or not as the bearer wishes; but Shariya is a sentient bauble, and tales hint of its ability to abandon or even take full control of the one who bears it.


Shariya ka'Tjen, the Taloned Dove, was a warrior-saint of the ancient kingdom of Irfanri in the Painted Desert. In certain reaches of the southlands tales of his mercy and miraculous exploits still circulate -- as do tales of the sacrifice of his own heart's-blood to enchant a series of quartz-borne springs for the survivors of the Seven Nights Curse.