The Acorn of Wo Mei is an artifact in the Dungeons and Dragons game. It first appeared in the Book of Artifacts and was later reprinted in Encyclopedia Magica: Volume 1.

It is a large lead structure made to look like an acorn. Two golden bands, enscribed with magical characters, encircle it from top to bottom. These two bands connect to the base, which depicts a dragon coiled around it a sword. It can be lifted with ease by strong characters, despite being three feet tall.

According to legend the acorn is a prison for a powerful fiend who once ruled over an eastern kingdom with terror. During battles between the fiend and a band of war wizards, the wizard Wo Mai learned that the fiend could not be killed. He bound the fiend in shackles that it could not break, then mde the acorn and imprisoned the fiend within. The artifact was brought back to the imperial court where it remained until barbarians seized the castle, and the artifact was lost.

The fiend within the acorn provides telepathic advice to anyone who possesses the artifact. The advice is good, but the fiend will also constantly attempt to use its powers to convince the owner of the artifact to free him.

Like all artifacts in the Dungeons and Dragons game, the Acorn of Wo Mei cannot be destroyed through normal means. The Encyclopedia Magica suggests three means of destroying it: breaking the seals with a powerful magic weapon ( 5) over the throne of the Emperor, somehow erasing the characters inscribed on the bads, or casting it into the Volcano of Carceri.

See Also

List of major artifacts in Dungeons & Dragons

References

Doug Stewart, ed. Encyclopedia Magica Vol 1. (TSR, 1994).

David "Zeb" Cook, Book of Artifacts (TSR, 1993)