Box-helm

Box-Helm
The box-helm was mounted in the chest area of the Batship
Basic Information
Other names	Helmbox
Type	Helm
Created by	Sarelk the Sage
Crystal Sphere	Unknown distant crystal sphere
Location	Tears of Selûne in Realmspace

The Box-helm, also known as a "helmbox", is a unique helm created specifically to power the Batship in the Spelljammer campaign setting.

Overview

The box-helm, also referred to as a "helmbox", is a unique helm specifically designed to provide power to, and to control, the spelljamming vessel known as the Batship by its creator, Sarelk.

Description

The box-helm resembles a large obsidian cube which is located in the chest area of the Batship, where security and structural integrity is at its greatest. There are no access ways leading to the helm, which can only be entered through the use of a wish spell.

Powers

The box-helm is integral to the design of the Batship, and allows the helmsman full control over all aspects of the vessel, including the ship's wings, its claws and its tail, as well as the magical breath weapon mounted in its head. However, to gain entry into the obsidian cube-like "helmbox", the helmsman must wish themselves into the helm (as per the spell).

Once inside the "helmbox", the helmsman will no longer be able to cast any spells, and as such will be unable to leave. The helm will immediately place the helmsman in a form of stasis: their physical body is no longer subject to the passing of time, meaning the helmsman's body will not age nor will it require food or drink. The body is also immune to all physical harm and cannot be killed. The helmsman is essentially immortal. The helmsman's mind, however, remains fully conscious; but similar to all spelljamming helms, the helmsman's consciousness is displaced somewhat in that the entire ship becomes an extension of their body. The helmsman no longer experiences any sensation beyond pain, which is only felt when the ship is physically damaged in some way.

The helmsman will see through the "eyes" of the Batship, and will experience the sensation of breathing through the ship's "mouth" when using the ship's breath weapon. Whenever the helmsman attempts to perform a physical action, the "helmbox" translates this into a corresponding movement by the Batship. If the helmsman attempts to move their arms, the Batship will flex its wings; if they try to move their feet, the Batship will extend its clawed lower limbs; if they try to turn around, the ship will wheel about, etc.

Although the box-helm controls all aspects of the vessel, it still requires additional crew to operate any external heavy weapons mounted on the ship's decks and to perform basic maintenance. To meet this need, the box-helm will attempt to charm any person boarding the vessel who is not a current crew member whenever there is an open space on its crew roster. It is unclear whether this is a conscious decision by the helmsman, or an automatic response by the box-helm itself. The helmsman can issue orders to the crew by speaking through the Batship's mouth, which can be heard throughout the ship. The Batship's jaws are so well articulated that an observer skilled in lip reading may even be able to tell what is being said from a distance.

The box-helm can detect all ship-sized objects within 10,000 yards (5.7 miles or 9 kilometers), meaning that the vessel cannot be surprised.

Curse

Once a person has wished themselves into the box-helm, they are unable to leave unless another person uses a wish spell to get them out. If a person wants to replace the current helmsman, they must remove them from the helm first. If they do not, the wish spell will simply create a new, unmounted box-helm somewhere in the phlogiston and place them within it. The new box-helm will have all the properties of the original, including its preservation function, and will simply float along the currents in the phlogiston until discovered by a passing ship.

A person removed from the box-helm will immediately suffer the permanent loss of a great deal of their personal experience and power.

The occupant of the box-helm cannot die. In fact, the helm will not allow the helmsman to perform any action that would needlessly put them in danger. While this doesn't appear to be all that bad, what it does mean is that, for the rest of their existence, the helmsman is limited in their interaction with the world around them to hearing, sight, speech... and pain. They cannot feel anything else, except the sensation of movement and the ship sinking its teeth and claws into an enemy ship. The effects of enforced long term sensory deprivation can have some serous mental repercussions on sentient creatures, particularly humans, as is made clear by the current helmsman who, after being trapped inside the helm for over 900 years, is quite insane.

History

Over 900 years ago, in a crystal sphere so distant that the phlogiston is reputedly so thin that it is barely visible to the eye, a powerful mage by the name of Sarelk created the spelljamming vessel that would become known as the Batship. At the core of this new ship was a powerful spelljamming helm known as a box-helm. Sarelk designed the helm so that it would protect the helmsman at all costs; however, there were unforeseen consequences.

When Sarelk's wife, the Astral mage Burnayette Skyansdanya, wished herself into the helm, she discovered that she couldn't leave. In a panic, she fled in the Batship, leaving her home sphere behind. For the next 700 years, Burnayette travelled from sphere to sphere, possibly visiting Krynnspace, before reaching Realmspace, where she remained for the next 200 years, based somewhere in the Tears of Selûne where she preyed on local shipping.

Appendix

External Links

• Batship article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.