Recorder of Ye'Cind
The Recorder of Ye'Cind is a musical artifact once owned by the demigod Ye'Cind, in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Publication history
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The Recorder of Ye'Cind was first described in the original 1979 Dungeon Master's Guide.[1]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The Recorder of Ye'Cind was further developed in 1993's Book of Artifacts.[2]
Description
Crafted from a hollowed-out lake reed, the Recorder of Ye'Cind is eighteen inches long, with ten holes drilled through its surface.
Powers
The Recorder can play simple yet haunting tunes on command. It sounds a shrill alarm when anything within 30 feet, including itself, is stolen. Once per day it can create a magical vision containing clues on some topic of interest to the user. It can manifest a variety of other spell-like powers as well.
History
Ye'Cind came into the possession of his Recorder between 100–80 years before the time that the Book of Artifacts legend was told, when he used the artifact's powers to uncover a regicide.
In the adventure Reverse Dungeon, the Recorder is found in the possession of the illithid Hlyddhth in the Vault Level of the dungeon. It was placed in the dungeon some time within the last 600 years by the wizard Blaise after it fulfilled whatever purpose it had for it, and the illithid discovered it there and decided to keep it. Hlyddhth has become deaf to all sounds made by anything but the Recorder, though its telepathy makes this only a slight hindrance.[3]
Creative origins
Ye'Cind, and by extension, the Recorder, is named for Cindy, one of Gary Gygax's daughters.
References
- ↑ Gygax, Gary (1979), Dungeon Masters Guide, Lake Geneva WI: TSR
- ↑ Cook, David. Book of Artifacts. (TSR, 1993)
- ↑ Rateliff, John D., and Bruce R. Cordell. Reverse Dungeon. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000
Additional reading
- Grohe, Allan T., and Erik Mona. "All Oerth's Artifacts." Dragon #299. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2002.
- Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K. Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.