Nöxu Dáŗa (/ˈnɔxu.dæˈra/)

Asprun continued the fight, using the Staff of Shönäl to disjoin dozens of the walking dead as they attacked him. When he thought he could fight no more, Asprun saw a young man, arms outstretched, eyes solid black, a crown of iron and bone upon his head. Sparks of energy shot from the crown and his hands to the burial mounds around him, drawing skeleton after skeleton from their resting places.

— The Journals of Asprun

The Nöxu Dáŗa, or Nöx's Crown, is an ancient crown, made of iron, bone, fonaj, and joto crystals, that was enchanted to allow the wearer to raise undead creatures from their graves. When used by a skilled necromantic wizard, it is able to amplify their powers greatly. Since its creation, it has gained a malevolent intelligence, intent on amassing power through the use of undead, taking on a personality quite similar to that of Nöx.

History

Nöxu Dáŗa was created by the Wizard King Nöx in order to amplify his necromantic magic. He used it to raise thousands of undead at the the start of the God War. The God of Death, Shönäl, considers this an evil creation and has battled against multiple times, the first of which was during the God War.
After defeating Nöx, Shönäl hid the crown in a pocket realm to keep it safe from use until he could determine the best way to destroy it. Over the course of the God War, he forgot about the crown.
Some time in the Second Age it somehow was removed from its pocket realm. It was found and placed in a museum. With magic as weak as it was, no one was able to determine what it was. However, the museum experienced a rash of acts of vandalism on the ancient bodies stored there. While not known at the time, the crown, now possessed by Nöx himself, had influenced a number of employees in an attempt to activate a new army. But the magic of the area, while present, was not strong. It was only thanks to a specific alignment of heavenly bodies that the crown was able to do anything at all. That alignment reoccurred twice more over the years, with similar results.
Due to The Event, the museum was destroyed, its contents, including the crown, buried under the rubble. Nature did what nature does and overtook the site, which remained buried throughout the Third Age.
A seismic event occurred in the region shortly after the start of the Fourth Age, possibly caused by Nöxu Dáŗa itself, as the crown felt new, fresh magic flowing through it. The event did occur during a particularly strong alignment. The earthquake uncovered some of the artifacts that were in the museum, including the crown.
The crown was discovered by a young man and his friends. Boasting as young men do, the boy placed the crown on his head. Immediately the crown and Nöx overpowered the unfortunate youth's weak mind. It called fourth all the dead that were in the museum and the surrounding area, overpowering and killing the youth's friends, who immediately rose as lieutenants among the dead. The grisly group advanced once all the dead had risen, searching for more.
More were soon found among a group of burial mounds from a recent settlement that had a virulent disease kill most of it's population. It was here that Nöxu Dáŗu caught the attention of Shönäl. He sent his Zhazhe to recruit Asprun, who then defeated the army of undead.
As before, the crown was hidden away. Asprun began a search for a means to destroy it. In fact, several experts in magic were eventually put to task of finding a way to destroy the menacing artifact. Unfortunately, by the time a possible solution was found, the crown was lost again.

Item type

Unique Artifact

Creator

Nöx

Weight

1.75kg