Escaped gaming meme

[mithriltabby]

Some of the best magic items are the ones that are nearly useless in ordinary adventuring.

The Crown of Waterfowl Leadership is a platinum crown with a central ornament in the shape of a mallard drake’s head (formed of green jade with topaz eyes and a yellow jade bill) and detailed wings on the sides, folded to the wearer’s head. It adjusts its size to fit anyone in the normal human size range. The craftsmanship is superb, and the duck head looks sufficiently imperious that an already dignified wearer will not be made to appear ridiculous.

The Crown’s power is straightforward: it can summon waterfowl from vast distances and direct their general activities. (It cannot issue individual orders: a flock could be directed to land in a city park, but an single duck cannot be ordered to land on a particular person’s head or trigger a trap.) Its primary purpose is to defeat plagues of locusts by summoning vast numbers of ducks to devour the bugs before they can devastate human crops.

The enchantment involves a compact with a Duck totem spirit, and abuse of the Crown (such as to set off traps and clear mine fields) will displease the spirit and may bring its curse upon the wearer. (Curses are left to the evil GM’s imagination: appropriate precautions to minimize their impact would include never eating the flesh of waterfowl and alway, always, always keeping an umbrella open over one’s head while outdoors... or even indoors under a high ceiling.)

This item is a valuable treasure for anyone who lives in the vicinity of cropland. An adventurer might occasionally find it useful when travelling through a land suffering from locusts, but it is far more useful in cementing an alliance with settled folk.

Comments

[cmccurry.livejournal.com]

I think Amanda would want this for our backyard. We've had a hell of a problem with slugs and beetles lately...

[mithriltabby]

...and she’d also take care of all the neighbors’ duck-edible vermin problems in a ten block radius... great way to become popular!

[racerxmachina.livejournal.com]

I would want this if I wanted to particularly piss off someone with a nice lawn. All the golf courses in SB are at their wits' end trying to keep the ducks and geese from befouling their nice courses.