Relics of Kazavon

The Seven Relics of Kazavon

Seven blasphemous artifacts compose the Relics of Kazavon, all crafted from the remains of the dreaded wyrm Kazavon, and all bearing sentient fragments of Kazavon's foul spirit. Each relic is a potent intelligent artifact in its own right, but if collected, they reveal the lingering essence of the infamous dragon from whose bones they were forged. Should one of the artifacts be destroyed, the original relic—a piece of the dragon Kazavon itself—still remains. The relic loses all of its powers, while retaining the lingering consciousness of Kazavon. To truly destroy all of the Relics of Kazavon, the dragon must be brought back to life and then slain.

HISTORY

In 4043 ar the vile blue dragon Kazavon ushered in an age of blood, forging an empire of atrocities in the heart of the Hold of Belkzen. Disguised as an enterprising human mercenary and tasked with defending Ustalav's western border, Kazavon gathered an army of sellswords and criminals to his banner and fought back the orcs, slaughtering them in their own homeland, and claimed a realm of his own. Raising the accursed Castle Scarwall in the easternmost arm of the Mindspin Mountains, the disguised dragon terrorized Belkzen, Lastwall, Ustalav, and Varisia, dedicating his empire to his dark lord Zon-Kuthon. The dragon's blasphemies persisted until the heroic soldier Mandraivus—united with Lastwall mercenaries, Shoanti mystics, and Ustalavic arcanists—pointed his sacred sword Serithtial and led the assault on Scarwall. Beating back the tyrant's legions, the heroes faced Kazavon and discovered his true nature, that of an ancient and tortured draconic champion of the god of pain. The toll in lives proved staggering, but in the end the dragon fell. Yet his terrible essence was guarded by Zon-Kuthon, and Kazavon lived on within his own shattered form. Thus, the surviving champions took up the bones of Kazavon and scattered them across Golarion, swearing to ensure the evil dormant within could never be reunited.

The barbarian prince Kuraigh carried away the skull of Kazavon, burying it in an ancient shrine of his people's ancestors atop the Mountain of Frozen Echoes. Six hundred years later, the frost giant jarl Yensiir Rimeblood freed the dragon's skull from its tomb of ice and crafted it into an emblem of his growing empire.

A stern paladin of Abadar named Roianda took charge of Kazavon's claws, carrying them far into the southern reaches of Garund on an epic 180-year journey. Before she died, Roianda bound the claws in chains of adamantine and interred them in molten gold. Centuries later, a lone choker found its way into Roianda's tomb and discovered the Bound Blade lying atop her bier.

Coja Eyes-Aflame, a Shoanti shaman of the Sklar-Quah, took possession of Kazavon's fangs, hiding them deep beneath an ancient pyramid in southern Varisia called the Grand Mastaba—a site now located in the city of Korvosa.

The elven sorcerer Laizuriel planned to carry Kazavon's horns back to Kyonin. His journey came to an end, however, when he was ambushed by the blue dragon Cadrilkasta, who placed the horns in her hoard hidden among the sea cliffs of Razmiran.

A Qadiran scholar-priest of Irori named Vahahn took Kazavon's ribs to countless worlds and impossible realms in an attempt to destroy the bones. His fate remains uncertain, but the ribs—now the relic known as the Shredskin—are now thought to be in the possession of Zon-Kuthon himself.

The wizard Kolwyddon of Taldor sought to commune with the consciousness residing in Kazavon's tailbones, but the dragon's spirit overwhelmed his mind. In desperation, Kolwyddon blasted his own body to ashes, denying Kazavon a living vessel, but ensnaring his own intellect in the Staff of the Slain.

The dervish Kallad of Rahadoum took the wings of Kazavon, but his ship was lost before he reached Azir. The wings were later found by the smuggler Nalt Tarbrow, who proclaimed himself a pirate prince of the Shackles and crafted the wings into an ornate throne on the island of Eel's Skull.

In the centuries since, the bones of Kazavon have attracted despots and lunatics, and have been reshaped into the armaments and accoutrements of rule. The cruelty of Kazavon lies locked within these relics, and each fragment is drawn to the others, relentlessly seeking a blasphemous reunion and the day they might be reborn to forge a new empire of suffering.

Reuniting the Relics

Each of the Relics of Kazavon bears a vestige of the ancient dragon tyrant's invincible spirit. Although the Relics of Kazavon have no ability to unify themselves, the servants of Zon-Kuthon have long sought to restore the foul wyrm. While the artifacts currently lie scattered across Golarion, should two of the Relics of Kazavon ever be reunited, the dragon's shattered spirit would increase in power—a first step toward the tyrant's resurrection.

If two of the relics are donned by the same individual, or if two of the artifacts (even just the bones) ever come within 100 feet of one another, the fractured intelligences instantly reconnect, forming a unified and more lucid facet of the dragon's scattered mind. At this point, the two Relics of Kazavon are treated as having the same ability scores, senses, and methods of communication—essentially, one intelligence now controls both items. In addition, the reunited relics gain several increased benefits and abilities.

• • United Abilities: Upon the reunion of his pieces, Kazavon's mental powers increase. For the purposes of determining the unified relics' ability scores, treat their base Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores as 10. For each of the artifacts' mental scores that is higher than 10, add +2 to the combined mental score of the relevant ability. If this is the same ability for two reunited items, the increase stacks. For example, as the Howling Horn has Charisma 12 and the Staff of the Slain has Intelligence 12, their combined stats would be Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 12. If the Crown of Fangs was to joined with these two relics, their unified stats would become Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 14.

  • United Senses: When multiple Relics of Kazavon reunite, the dragon's spirit regains a portion of its sentience, strength of will, and ability to influence the world. Thus, the relics' combined ego, methods of communication, and senses increase as noted on the following chart.

  • United Purpose: Upon the reunification of at least three of the Relics of Kazavon, the wyrm has recovered enough of its sentience and personality to realize its situation. At this point, the artifacts gain a unified purpose: the recovery of Kazavon's remaining parts. Either through the domination of bearers or subtle manipulations, the relics seek out their brethren in an attempt to resurrect Kazavon.

  • Scattering the Relics: If one Relic of Kazavon is ever taken farther than 100 feet from the others, the relic reverts to its normal statistics and the group of assembled artifacts decreases in ability scores, communication, senses, and ego.

Restoring Kazavon

Should all the Relics of Kazavon be united at a site holy to Zon-Kuthon, a lengthy and bloody ritual might be conducted to resurrect the dragon. Numerous mortals, an adult dragon, and a blood relative of one of Mandraivus's cabal must be sacrificed as part of this lengthy ceremony. At the end, all seven Relics of Kazavon are destroyed, uniting to unleash Kazavon reborn, a unique being easily as potent as a great wyrm blue dragonravener.