Bar of Pure Chardalyn

Bar of Pure Chardalyn

Wondrous Item, rare (cursed)

This dense, black crystal bar is cold to the touch and pulses faintly with a reddish, inner glow when exposed to moonlight or magical auras. Made of pure chardalyn, a strange crystalline substance with planar resonance, this bar is unworked, raw—and deeply cursed.

The chardalyn hums with latent power, vibrating at a frequency just below conscious hearing. Anyone who carries or touches the bar for more than an hour becomes attuned (no attunement slot required) and is unable to willingly part with it. Attempts to destroy it fail unless in the presence of intense divine magic (e.g., Hallow cast at 9th level or a god's intervention).

Cursed Nature

Once in your possession, the bar subtly begins to influence your dreams, thoughts, and willpower.

• Dream Infection: After each long rest, the creature in possession of the chardalyn must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw.
  
  
• On a success, the dreams are unsettling, but the creature shakes them off.
• On a failure, the creature experiences horrific, alien dreams of hunger, power, and cosmic isolation. They gain 1 level of short-term madness (roll on the Short-Term Madness table, Dungeon Master's Guide, p. 259). This effect lasts for 1d10 minutes after waking.
• After three failed saves, the madness becomes permanent until Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or Wish is cast. Roll on the Long-Term Madness table instead.
  
  
• If the player succeeds on five Wisdom saving throws in a row, the dreams shift into something darker and more intimate—the chardalyn "knows" them now, and begins whispering their deepest desires back to them in twisted forms.
  
  

Whispers of the Crystal (Optional Effect):

The longer the bar is kept, the more it tempts the user with visions of power. The DM may offer the following “bargains” after each failed save:

• “Kill someone who disrespected you, and I will grant you strength.”
• “Burn the holy book. They’ve never helped you.”
• “Let me in. You’re already halfway mine.”

Accepting a bargain may grant temporary benefits (such as advantage on a check, a temporary spell slot, or 1d10 temp HP), but advances the curse’s influence—DM’s discretion.

Additional Effects While Cursed:

• The creature gains disadvantage on Insight checks and saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
• Spells cast within 10 feet of the bar using divine magic have a 25% chance of subtly twisting—turning healing into damage, protection into corruption (DM’s discretion).
• Creatures with a divine connection (e.g., clerics or paladins) feel deep unease near the chardalyn and have disadvantage on sleep-based saving throws if within 30 feet during a long rest.

Removing the Curse:

Casting Remove Curse allows the player to willingly discard the bar—but doing so causes psychic backlash. The cursed creature must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion and suffer 4d20 psychic damage as the chardalyn “screams” on its way out.