Wondrous Item, legendary (requires attunement)
Description. The Severance of Flesh and Mind is an intricate puzzle box engineered with nauseating precision. The surface is an amalgamation of alien geometry, where polished eldritch silver smoothly shifts with the handling individual’s thoughts, while distant screams seem to faintly emerge from its sinew-like veins. Agony-imbued crystals pulse erratically in various corners of the puzzle, their light flickering between moments of incandescent beauty and sharp, searing pain. Strange runes of unknown origin coil around its six sides, forever rearranging themselves in a language that whispers forgotten knowledge. Upon each shift of its facets, the scent of burnt skin and aromatic spices fills the air, stirring primal curiosity. Despite its appearance, a grotesque pleasure is felt even in merely touching the box, often causing the victim to hesitate before realizing they are trapped in its allure. The underbelly of the cube burns with a mark resembling an ancient eye, eternally watching.
Usage. When activated by an attuned creature within 30 feet, the puzzle box unleashes a pulse of overwhelming reality distortion. Roll a d12: (1-4) All creatures in a 30-foot sphere must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or take 4d12 psychic damage and be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds, experiencing intense and indecipherable agony. (5-8) Targets in a 30-foot radius must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or take 5d10 radiant damage, glimpsing unfathomable pleasure beyond mortal comprehension; failure results in 2 randomly distributed exhaustion levels. Success results in advantage on all charisma checks for 1d4 hours. (9-12) The user is transported to a pocket dimension for 1 minute, where they must survive a test (DM discretion), potentially losing 1 charge on failure. Regains 1 charge under infinite psychological duress at the cost of 60 HP for each regained charge. While attuned you are immune to being charmed and have a +3 to your spell save DC and spell attacks as this puzzle can be used as an arcane focus.
Lore. The Severance of Flesh and Mind is said to have been created by a cabal of unspeakable entities that reside beyond the known realms of existence. Fabled to have been lost during an ancient war fought between celestial beings and aberrations, its legend speaks of a forgotten traitor deity. This unnamed being, known only as 'Nyodros, the Harbinger of Agony and Pleasure,' used the puzzle to seal their elicit pacts with mortals—through experiences so far beyond the senses that they fractured the very soul. Prisoners of the puzzle often remarked upon the extreme juxtaposition of pain and ecstasy felt through its use, its inexplicable power drawing individuals into a compulsion to solve it, unaware this was the key to one's eternal undoing. It has passed from ruler to ruler, leaving behind shattered kingdoms, broken minds, and twisted bodies.
Material Composition. Eldritch Silver interwoven with interdimensional sinew and agony-imbued crystal lattice
Notes: Bonus: Spell Attacks, Bonus: Spell Save DC
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