Description: A plain-looking gold ring. The inside of the band is inscribed with a dozen alternating stylized images of a humanoid and a fish. Basic magical detection will reveal a strong aura of transformative magic, with more exhaustive research or more powerful spells revealing a fairly accurate description of the powers below. An extremely difficult lore check or very potent magic will also reveal the complications.
Powers: Any air-breathing creature that dies from drowning while wearing this ring will immediately return to life at full health and be transformed (along with its gear and clothing) into an odd-looking fish with facial features vaguely similar to its former body. The fish form has roughly the same size and weight as its previous body and retains its mental characteristics and memories, although it cannot speak and may be briefly disoriented. Physical statistics and basic abilities will be based on the new piscine body.
This transformation lasts until the fish "drowns" in air, at which point it returns to life again and transforms back to its original form, coughing up the ring as it does so. If the fish-form dies by any other means it remains dead, and anyone cutting open its body will find the Ring of the Sea-Spouse in its guts.
Only death by drowning triggers these transformations, not other forms of suffocation. For example, the ring won't help if you go to the gallows or drop dead from smoke inhalation.
Possible Origins: Legends suggest that this ring may have been a gift of some deity to a former paramour. If so that deity was less than eternally faithful, since at least a half a dozen of these rings are known to exist. It's also possible that some mortal artificer knows the secret of crafting them and has deliberately spread the legend to improve the perceived worth of their wares.
Complications: The "return to life" that triggers when transforming into a fish is "free" for purposes of accruing penalties for being resurrected. Changing back to your original form by "drowning" as a fish is not, and whatever penalties your game system applies for using an "extra life" should be applied. If your game system lacks that, I'd recommend permanently reducing the user's Constitution (or similar "how healthy are you" stat) by ten percent, rounding normally.
Design Commentary: Narrowly applied resurrection effect that's free if you don't mind staying a fish until you find a way to transform back without dying again. Many systems have polymorphing effects that can accomplish that, and I'd let players go questing for a ritual magic fix to accomplish it in the ones that don't. Of course, first you have to find a way to communicate that you're actually not a weirdly-familiar fish to your friends, which offers some roleplaying possibilities.
Given the accumulating dangers of returning to one's original form, if a deity did hand these things out they must have had a thing for fish.
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