The Sash of Sune

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This “book” takes the form of a scarlet sash about a hand’s length in width and as long as the body of a short man (about 5 feet). Its ends are fringed with small, crimson silk tassels, and its long edges are bound over with tiny whip stitches in what appears to be thread-of-gold (the spun gold wire made by dwarves in olden times, whose making is now lost to their smiths). Powerful (and forgotten) enchantments on the silky weave of the Sash protect it against all heat and fiery damage, and make it flash and flare with the color of dancing flames whenever it is touched. It resists wear, “healing” itself of tears, cuts, and even soiling within a day of such an occurrence. Molds and fungi cannot grow on or consume the Sash of Sune, though it can readily be harmed by acid. The Sash bears no design or inscriptions, and appears as a normal item of clothing. A detect magic spell, though, reveals a web of strong, many-layered, ancient enchantments and impressions of dancing, chaos of magic, and inner warmth or arousal of the human spirit is imparted. A legend lore spell or similarly strong divination magic will reveal that this item is sacred to the goddess Sune, that her hand has touched it more than once, and that its use involves dancing and the release of magic. A priest of the faith of Sune is the only one who can successfully call upon the powers of the Sash, and then only if he lays it out flat on a solid horizontal surface and dances barefoot on it until some sweat or tears from the dancer fall upon the cloth. When this happens, a spell appears on the cloth, in letters of amber “fire” (writing formed by restlessly moving radiance within the cloth, not any sort of combustion or manifestation). The spell is chosen randomly from the “contents” of the “book,” unless the dancer chants the proper name of a specific magic spell aloud. The writing fades 6 hours after being evoked, or immediately if dispel magic is applied to the Sash or the priest begins to dance anew on the item. If the blood of a priest of Sune touches the Sash, fire magic spontaneously erupts, by the will of the goddess. This usually takes the form of a flame strike directed at the one who caused the priest to be harmed, but sometimes it is a wall of fire to protect endangered clergy, or even a meteor swarm directed at multiple foes of the faith, if such are present. The merest touch of the Sash deals 6d4+4 points of damage to all undead creatures. There is some debate as to the full and complete roster of spells “contained” on the Sash, but it is known to hold the spells aid, airy walk, call lightning, charm person or mammal, cloak of bravery, combine, create food & water, detect lie, dispel evil, dispel magic, divination, flame strike, handfire (a spell detailed below), love bite (a spell detailed in the Faiths & Avatars sourcebook), lure (detailed below), permanent lure (detailed below), rapture (Faiths & Avatars), and word of recall. The eminent sage and priest Lorthoran, High Hedonist of the Lady Firehair, insists that clergy of the goddess who have attained the highest levels of experience in their holy service (17th level or greater) can at will, when dancing upon it, call forth a depiction of Sune’s head to appear on the Sash. The goddess is seen from the back so that only her flaming tresses are beheld. Each of the dozen or so separate tresses displayed is labeled with an additional spell. Lorthoran gives the roster of these “higher spells” as animate object, fire storm, gate, the great circle (a spell detailed in the Tome of Magic sourcebook), heal, heroes' feast, imbue with spell ability, plane shift, regenerate, restoration, resurrection, Sol's searing orb (Tome of Magic), spell immunity, spiritual wrath (Tome of Magic), stone tell, and sunray. Other learned clergy speak of the spells breath of life and spirit of power (both spells are detailed in the Tome of Magic) being present among the higher spells, while certain of the prayers listed by the High Hedonist are lacking. Arguments over this point continue, although only one authority, Krymmon of Athkatla, has advanced the suggestion that there is more than one Sash of Sune. All other learned priests insist that only one such item exists. Sharra of the Spectacles in Selgaunt and Jaran Thabbar in Nimpeth have both suggested that the Sash may offer different selections of spells to different dancers, operating under some as-yet-unknown divine instructions, but many elder clergy of the goddess have ridiculed this idea, pointing out that it offers a treatment of mortals at variance with the usual practice of the Lady of Love. References to what may be the Sash of Sune appear as long as 3,000 years ago, but the item is first wholly and reliably identified in the chatty, personal Travels of Aruugh, a chapbook popular as entertainment in the Vilhon Reach some 1,020 summers ago. Araugh (as much of a rogue as the present-day Volo) wrote of seeing a senior priest of Sune dancing naked and alone in a meadow. When he drew nearer to see why, guardian priests arose from hiding and barred his approach, but explained that the patriarch was calling forth spells from “the Lady Firehair herself, in a most holy ritual.” Later, at the price of much coin spent on wine for the clergy, Araugh managed to learn that it was a sash under the old man’s feet that was the source of the magic. He heard later that the Sash had been stolen, but failed to exhibit any magical powers when brought to a wizard of note. Araugh notes that some clergy of Sune must have a way of tracing the whereabouts of the Sash, for news of the wizard who examined it became known only when his palatial abode in Arrabar was attacked by over 40 clergy of the Lady Firehair. They were successful in regaining the item, and it appears to have remained a temple treasure down the centuries since then, used by various clergy of Sune, until about three decades ago, when it disappeared (no doubt stolen) from the Towers of Passion monastery in rural Chondath. Senior clergy set their most ambitious and energetic agents forth in what has become known as “the Quest for the Sash," which continues to this day. Whatever reveals the location of the Sash to Sunites seems to manifest only in dream visions, and only when the Sash is physically harmed or endangered. That has occurred twice in recent years, the last time causing Sunites to converge on Ordulin in Sembia in search of “a man with white skin, white hair, and white eyes,” but the Sash of Sune thus far remains “lost” (to the clergy of the goddess, at least). Maeron Shulduth of the House of Firehair in Daerlun has offered 400,000 pieces of gold and lifelong exclusive use of the palatial Summersuns estate in upland Sembia, to any individual who delivers the intact Sash into his hands.