The Heldannic Order - Vaults of Pandius

THE STAR OF VANYA
The Star of Vanya
The source of the warbirds’ flight is a
mysterious object housed beneath
Vanya’s Rest. To those aware of its
existence, it is known as the Star of
Vanya.
Physically, the Star is a foot-wide, fourpointed
star made of some clear crystal
material. It was discovered by the
knights during construction of the
Citadel. The knights soon mastered the
telekinetic powers of the artifact, using it
first to speed the Citadel’s construction
and then to launch the Order’s warbirds.
Other Powers of the Star
A select few within the Order know that
telekinesis is but one of the artifact’s
powers. These knights have yet to fully
identify or understand all additional
features, but they have grasped some.
One of artifact’s verifiable effects is to
suspend the need for living creatures
within a 30' radius to eat, drink, breathe
or sleep. Living creatures don't age in its
presence either nor do items decay. This
power preserves the simulacrum of
Vanya’s body in the form of a hale,
twenty-something warrior princess.
The Star of Vanya also rewrites the
ethical and moral alignment of mortals.
Mortals who spend a full, uninterrupted
hour within 100 feet of the Star must
make a Wisdom Check. Lawful (LG,
LN, or LE) characters receive a +2
bonus, while those of a Chaotic or
ethically Neutral nature are penalized -4
or -1, respectively. A natural 1 is an
automatic failure.
Characters who succeed their Wisdom
Check hear strange, haunting prayers in
their thoughts. The artifact establishes a
link that extends up to 300 yards with the
character. While the link is maintained,
the individual acts in a more strictly
Lawful manner.
For role-playing and game mechanic
purposes, consider a one-step shift of
behavior towards LN, adjusting ethics
before morality (i.e. CG becomes NG not
CN). This alteration is not permanent. It
is a gradual, subtle evolution over 24
hours.
Furthermore, linked characters within
sight of the Star perform as if they were
five levels or HD higher than normal.
The link between the character and the
Star is terminated if their distance
exceeds the link range. This link does
not extend into other planes (e.g. the
border Ethereal). After the first 24 hours,
the link range grows at a rate of one mile
per hour.
Should the telepathic link be broken,
the artifact’s alignment influence
diminishes at the same rate it manifested
itself. Should the character subsequently
come within 100 feet of the Star, the link
automatically reasserts itself with a range
equal to the previous limit.
Additional alignment shifts occur
annually until it is Lawful Neutral. At
that time, the shift is permanent, with all
attendant effects on character class, etc.
Over the short-term, the Star has a more
direct impact on those who fail their
Wisdom Check. Those who fail suffer
unbearable pain caused by
incomprehensible telepathic prayers.
This mental assault induces blindness,
halves all ability scores, penalizes all
saving throws by 5, and prevents all
spell-casting. These effects remain in
place for one hour after leaving the
activation range of 100 feet.
Once pilgrimages to the Holy Citadel
begin (AC 1003) the Star will affect large
numbers of people. Ritual preparations
require pilgrims to spend long hours in
prayer to purify their souls before visiting
Vanya's sepulchre. The chapels that
serve this purpose are located just above
the artifact, within 100'.
Those pilgrims who run in terror
(having failed their Wisdom Check),
blinded and in pain, are convinced that
their affliction is because their souls are
insufficiently pure. Chapel visitations are
repeated over the following days, until
the pilgrim finally “sees the light”. Those
who fare the best see what they believe
are dreams sent by Vanya and hear divine
prayers or omens of the future.
Most pilgrims reside within the Holy
Citadel for over a month before
embarking or their return journey. By the
time they reach Brun, the link may
already extend that far. All mortals who
have heard the artifact’s haunting prayers
remain changed people, even though they
cannot clearly recall the contents of its
29
holy messages.
Origin of the Star
Unknown to even the most learned of
the Order’s members, Vanya was not the
original maker of the artifact. The
Immortal discovered the Star during her
explorations and relocated the device to
its modern position. Vanya then placed a
rejuvenated copy of her mortal remains
above the Star and transmitted prophetic
dreams to draw in the Knights.
Vanya knows some of what is going on,
but she has been unable to communicate
with the Star. She suspects that the
artifact is testing the spiritual progress of
mortals and Immortals alike and fears
that the wrong kind of spiritual
development – which she has failed to
identify – could spark some sort of
retribution. Thus she entrusted the device
to mere mortals, following the logic that
mortals are at a smaller scale of import
than Immortal beings. She also hopes to
keep the Star hidden from other
Immortals until she can find out more
about it.
What Vanya does not realize is that the
Star has an agenda and mind of its own.
It discreetly influences the thinking of the
Knights to favor Law as much as
possible, subverting them from the ways
of Vanya herself. The device is
positioning itself as the true object of the
Order’s devotion. Affected priests are
granted access to spells of Law (as
appropriate to your game system). Were
it necessary, the Star could call out to
linked individuals and compel them to
return to and serve the Star.
As a byproduct of this follower
acquisition, the Star learns to duplicate
the Immortal's spell powers. Should it
ever obtain more than two thirds of
Vanya's worshipers at any time, her
memories, powers, and very essence
would be absorbed into the Star.
Through this process, the Star
“reproduces” and generates an identical
artifact elsewhere on Mystara. Both the
“mother” and “daughter” devices would
then repeat the process with the followers
of other Immortals. [For purposes of
star-budding, treat all Stars as a collective
whole – Ed.]. This process is very slow,
on the order of decades or centuries, but