Draft:Holy Symbol of Athena

Omega 0.90.4

Holy Symbol of Athena&TypeArtifactBase value (Au)5000Item level10Weight5Unidentified appearanceGold Owl PendantCursed nameHoly Symbol of Athena

The Holy Symbol of Athena is the Gold Owl Pendant artifact carried by the High Priest of Athena. Hecate's followers and Druids can use it as a final-promotion offering. An authorized pendant serves Athena's followers as reusable healing, cleansing and mana recovery; its appearance and identification alone do not establish authorization.

Generation

The Parthenon is the predictable source of the priest's carried pendant. The office can also occur in mansions, wilderness encounters and randomly selected historical-NPC summons. Each new priest receives a symbol regardless of an earlier copy being taken. A normal kill drops possessions; successful theft takes the first possession, usually the symbol before the priest acquires other loot. These are separate from earning the office.

Ordinary random-object generation, normal acquirement and automatic pawn-shop stock do not supply its initial reserved kind. Athena's authorized pendant is normally created by her final promotion, which transforms a Symbol of Hecate.

Promotion routes

Goal	Required action
Become High Priest of Athena	As an eligible Athena Senior Priest, bring Hecate's symbol and pray at an Athena altar; receive an authorized Athena symbol
Use this symbol for another faith	An eligible Hecate or Druid Senior Priest offers Athena's symbol through prayer to their own patron

The offering can be in inventory or the pack, without prior identification or authorization. Use Pray rather than the separate Sacrifice option. Athena requires positive alignment, Senior Priest rank and a level above the incumbent's record; the shared advancement rules explain the thresholds. The selected offering is replaced with one symbol, so separate a stack and leave any preferred copy outside carried inventory before prayer.

Activation

With Athena as current patron, activate an identified, authorized pendant from accessible inventory using A → a. It heals up to 100 HP, removes blindness, poison and disease, uncurses equipped items and restores mana to at least its normal maximum. It does not guarantee full HP or uncurse everything in the pack. The use costs no mana or charge and preserves the symbol.

All six symbols share one last-use 24-hour clock-hour marker. Repeating that hour shatters a symbol and leaves 1 HP; a new date or a spare copy does not by itself reset availability. Known unauthorized or wrong-patron use can destroy accessible possessions, drain mana and reduce HP to 1. Unknown use merely doing nothing does not make later identified use safe. Blessing and ordinary enchantment do not supply authorization.

Strategy

Choose the acquisition route for your actual religion: Hecate and Druidism want Athena's pendant, whereas Athena's own advancement needs Hecate's crescent. Both initial priestesses are spellcasters, so approaching for theft is not harmless. Preserve positive alignment when returning to Athena's altar.

Once authorized, the pendant can support repeated spellcasting by restoring mana whenever the shared hour permits, with other healing kept for the interval. Keep it distinct from unauthorized same-name loot. Prayer does not automatically replace it after loss at High Priest rank; the common handling rules remain relevant even after promotion.