L'zthnyl in his never-ending quest for fulfillment had hidden an item of terrible power within the gigantic redwood forest, one with the effects of his crystals but on a greater scale. He had created the Crown of Krysalis, a crown made of the degenerative crystals. The crown grants great intelligence and understanding of the power of the Plague Ridden God, almost supernatural in nature. But, as always, such power is not one to be trifled with, for as always with L'zthnyl's crystals, there is a drawback. Due to the significant power within the crystals on the crown, the wearer's soul is extracted at significant speed. In fact, even those who are near such a being that wears the crown can feel the tug at their innermost self.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, one Minotaur named Ash-nzagh wandered off to a nearby river to gather some food for his tribe. As he wandered into the mud to gather some fish, his hooves slipped and he fell into the riverbank, and it was at that moment that he saw a glowing green light appearing out of the corner of his eye in the mud. As he got to his knees and crawled over, he dug the crown out of the mud. His eyes, enamored by the intricacy of such a thing, could not be removed from it. He could almost feel his soul being pulled to it, as if his whole body was just asking him to take it. And so he did, grabbing the crown before putting it on his head, fitting well. His mind immediately flashed, as if he was teleported from the riverbank somewhere else. But it wasn't to somewhere in particular, it was flashing through different sights and places and things before it finally stopped at some sort of cave, but soon all he heard were the deafening cries of terrible monstrosities. The last thing he saw before his mind cracked was an image of some amalgamation of diseased flesh and tentacles, and it felt as if a thousand eyes were on him.

In L'zthnyl's cave, he could feel the connection as the minotaur put on the crown, and he paused his work. He could feel it's mind crumbling under the weight of such direct power. Then, he could see the minotaur itself as the direct connection to L'zthnyl was formed, and he could feel as it's mind completely broke. L'zthnyl could still feel the connection, as if he was inside the minotaur itself. He paused, and saw the minotaur's body sitting in the riverbank. And thus he realized what such an item would do to a mortal.

It was not long before Ash-nzagh returned with the fish in hand, and the crown on his head. The entire tribe paused and looked as Ash-nzagh simply stood in the center of the camp, and challenged the chieftain. The chieftain, taken aback, had no choice but to accept. Within a few seconds of the fight taking place, the old chieftain had been decapitated by Ash-nzagh, his strength multiplied by the power of the crown. The rest of the tribe submitted to his terrible power, but were careful to avoid being around, less its corruption spread to them.

The story would spread, and Ash-nzagh as the vessel would move through the redwood forest bringing many of the tribes together in a sort of unity. Before long, this terrible King of Crystal would continue the conflict with the Dryads to the south, carefully avoiding taking part directly in the conflict. However, it would become apparent to the Dryads that something had changed, for the Minotaur appeared to be much more organized and have some sort of plan as they attacked, and were able to do coordinated attacks over long distances. Whispers were heard throughout the trees that someone, or something, must have united the tribes somehow. And everyone was sure, that whoever it was, was capable of terrible power.

[M] Spending 6 points on a regional myth on the Crown of Krysalis and the King of Crystal in D12