Aevin, the Duke of the Crystal Taiga of the Seelie Court, was tasked with hosting a conference between warring factions of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Knowing that disrupting the proceedings would hinder the de-escalation of the war and embarrass Aevin, his rival Nionna Scourge of Helliyukel planned an attack.
Transforming herself and a group of warriors into worms, Nionna and her cadre burrowed for days until they emerged in the courtyard of Aevin’s castle. Seeing only butlers in top hats readying the garden for an after-conference dinner, they attacked.
The group of would-be party crashers were surprised to find that the servants were Aevin’s personal guards in disguise and were equipped with hats of rime armor and scrolls of ice knife.
The peace talks were uninterrupted, and a cease fire was called soon after. Unfortunately, the garden dinner party had to be moved indoors as the servants weren’t able to clean the viscera from the plants in time.
Hat of Rime Armor
Wondrous Item, Uncommon (Requires Attunement)
This item is an expensive looking top hat which has a thin layer of frost on its surface.
This item has 3 charges. It regains all expended charges daily at dawn.
If you are wearing the hat and are attuned to it, you gain access to the following effects:
Rime Armor. As long as you are not wearing armor, you can use a bonus action and expend a charge to form a layer of ice around your body that acts as armor. Your base AC becomes 13 + your proficiency bonus. The armor lasts for 1 minute, or 1 hour if you activate this effect and the temperature is less than 50° Fahrenheit (10° Celsius). This effect will also end if you don armor.
Bitter Cold. When you deal cold damage, you deal additional damage equal to your proficiency bonus.
Frosty Demeanor. The sclera and irises of your eyes become an icy blue with snowflake-shaped pupils, and your breath creates a visible vapor if you breathe or talk.
Story hooks for DMs:
- The party arrive in a town and see posters advertising a reward for clearing a passage tomb known as the Chalk Mound of a “terrible ice monster”. The town’s sheriff explains that the tomb has been claimed as a lair by an ice troll. A pair of gems worth 300 gp each is the reward offered for killing the troll. The ice troll is named Grob and is smart enough to understand how to use a hat of rime armor which he wears.
- While exploring a dungeon or underground area, the adventurers encounter a chamber that is at least 100 feet by 100 feet. The temperature is so low in the chamber that every turn a character spends in the room they will take cold damage. Cold weather clothing or cold resistance can reduce the damage. Against the back wall is a cube of ice that is 40 feet a side. In the middle of this block of ice is the hat of rime armor. Every time there is a loud noise, or some reverberation shakes the ground or walls, icicles rain down from above.
- In the winter the party are travelling through a snowy forest when they find a clearing where the barrier to the Feywild has worn away. There are tables set and a feast begins. The host of the feast is Aevin the Duke of the Crystal Taiga. During the feast, members of Aevin’s entourage find reasons to insult non-Fey party members for their manners or fashion sense. If the characters become violent or aren’t clever with their retorts, a strong wind will push them out of the Feywild. At the conclusion of the feast, the party are given a chance to repay the host’s hospitality by entertaining the guests. An exceptional skill or performance will earn a hat of rime armor in appreciation.
