Magic Belt
The Magic Belt was one of the most powerful magical artefacts in many versions of the Land of Oz.
History
In one universe, it had the power to grant almost any wish, including duplicating other magical items like the Powder of Life, though it did not seem to be capable of creating true living beings by itself. It was formerly owned by the Nome King, who once used it to transform many of Dorothy Gale's into ornaments. Having a liking for games, the villains had set up a way to reverse the spell: Dorothy had only to figure out which ornament was who and say the word “Ev”. After besting the King, Dorothy took the Belt for herself, and kept it thereafter.
Around the time of Acquaintanceship-982's visit to this version of Oz, the Imps Olite, Udent and Ertinent stole the Belt to bring it back to their master, Blinkie, formerly the Wicked Witch of the South, but who had lived as a powerless old woman for many years after the Scarecrow and his friends tricked her into drinking a potion which took away her own powers. Using the Belt, Blinkie instantly cast a spell to make everyone in Oz forget about the Imps' existence, so as to cover her tracks. However, she was only partially successful as Glinda detected the spell, if not its source, and blocked it partway through. She then used the Belt to cover a whole field in Jinxland with imp statues, and had the imps steal the Powder of Life, hoping to duplicate it and use this increased stock to bring the army of imps to life and thereby conquer all of Ozeria.
However, with the help of Acquaintanceship-982's Fog Ship, Ozma and a great number of her friends and associates found Blinkie and the Imps' trail. Wanting to put them out of the picture, Blinkie first sent some kalidahs after them then, once that failed, decided to create a magical gust of wind using the Belt to bring them right to her, and dispose of them herself. After gloating about her plan, she started using the power of the Belt to turn everyone into random objects, notably transforming Tik-Tok into a copper whistle, Cap'n Bill into a mechanical grasshopper, and Button-Bright turned into a button with a dull cloth over it. Toto briefly escaped her, but she created a burlap sack using the Belt and caught him inside before transforming him too.
The only members of the party to make it out untransformed were Dorothy, hidden behind a rock, and Acquaintanceship who managed to grab the Powder of Life and flee in his Fog Ship. He was already out of range of a transformation spell when Blinkie noticed, forcing her to instead use the Belt to cause his ship to crash over the forest. When he returned, his Ship not only repaired but granted a life of its own by the Powder, Blinkie tried to fire lightning-bolts at him from her fingers, but missed every shot until Acquaintanceship and his animated tools got one of their own, successfully romanticising her. Instantly remorseful, Blinkie took off the Belt and gave it back to Dorothy, who returned everyone to their normal appearances. With the sentient Fog Ship deciding to stay in Oz, Dorothy used the Belt one more time to send Acquaintanceship back to the Cupid Homeworld. (PROSE: The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids in Oz)
Behind the scenes
The Magic Belt is a recurring element in the Oz books, having debuted in Baum's third volume, the 1907 Ozma of Oz. As such, it is in the public domain.
