The Mortician's Mirror

Originally crafted by the Dark Guardians centuries ago, this mirror was gifted to the Kociak family, who were unaware of the curse it carried. It was a punishment for the family's careless, and often selfish, use of the dark arts. The mirror has been bound to their bloodline ever since they laid eyes upon it and any efforts to be rid of it have failed. The Kociaks, despite saying otherwise for years, have used dark magic even before Jahangir's influence tainted them. Some chased after lichdom, while others sought to stave off the inevitable with vampirism or age-defying blood magic.
While others among the family have put their morbid curiosities to good use, such as the bestiary Undead of the Realms, too many of them have used dark magic for personal gain. The Mortician's Mirror shows a reflection of decay to Kociaks who abuse the dark arts to further their own power. Upon looking into the mirror, they're greeted by the sight of their own gaunt corpse, not an undead being. The corpse is propped up in nearly the same position as the cursed. After witnessing this horrific reflection, the cursed suffers from terrible nightmares of this vision as well as the many ways they could meet their end.
Those among the family who aren't corrupted view their reflection normally, leading them to believe that their cursed relatives are experiencing psychosis. Those who continue to walk the path of evil begin changing into the image that haunts them. The more they abuse the dark arts, the faster they change. Upon reaching the end of their transformation, they fall comatose and all signs of life are weakened significantly. This makes it difficult for clerics to discern whether they're alive or not, which has led to some truly horrific ends for several family members over the years.
The only way they can free themselves from the curse is to burn their spellbooks containing their dark magic. They could also avoid staring into the mirror, but it's a tricky thing that calls to corrupted souls like a light guiding a ship to shore. After the mirror's true nature was discovered, attempts were made to destroy it. Unfortunately, no one has succeeded in this endeavor. After Zakina Kociak-Falenmir became the head of the Kociak family, the Dark Guardians have reclaimed the mirror. The curse remains, the mirror lying in wait should the family abuse dark magic once again.

History

Jamasi Kociak was among the first of the family to fall victim to the mirror. She was a powerful necromancer who took the throne after slaying her own sister and raising her as a mindless undead. Throughout her reign as the queen, she stomped out a revolution by unleashing a horde of zombies at a gathering of rebels. When the mirror's curse set in, Jamasi shrugged it off and continued her brutality. Due to the plague that was affecting The Isles of Basilla at the time, Jamasi's eventual coma led to her being burned alive with the bodies of those who died from the plague.
Torro Kociak was a young man with a tortured soul. Being born into the Kociak family was a curse in itself and like many among his family, he suffered a great deal of abuse. He found that the dead were far better company and what started as an appropriate fascination with mortality became sickening fast. Torro was known for murdering women who reminded him of his mother and then reanimating them for his own sick amusement. After he fell victim to the mirror, he destroyed his spellbook and confessed to his crimes. He was publicly executed months later.
Kiyos Kociak was afflicted with Myelotoxplasia as a result of Jahangir's influence on her bloodline. She used her innate talent for magic to learn necromancy, hoping she could avoid an early death by becoming a lich. She sacrificed many lives in her pursuit of undeath, but the mirror claimed her before she could ever complete the ritual. After falling comatose, Kiyos was interred in the catacombs of Basilla, and died of starvation a week later.
There have been many others who have fallen victim to the Mortician's Mirror, their records sealed away in the Kociak Villa. Records tell of family members who were able to turn their lives around for the better thanks to the mirror's intervention, but these stories are few and far between. The majority of necromancers and blood mages found among the Kociaks either fell victim to the mirror's curse or their own eventual madness.

Item type

Magical