Does the Banner of Storm's Eye protect against a mummy's despair ability?

Question

The Banner of Storm's eye (Magic Item Compendium pg 151) States:

As long as it is held aloft, the banner automatically suppresses (but does not dispel) fear effects on all creatures within 20 feet. It also prevents any creature within 20 feet from becoming confused or stunned.

A mummy's despair ability reads:

Despair (Su) At the mere sight of a mummy, the viewer must succeed on a DC 16 Will save or be paralyzed with fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same mummy’s despair ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

I get that the banner "Suppress" the effects of paralysis while within 20 ft of the banner as despair is a fear effect. But how exactly does this function in game?

Would the players roll for the save upon seeing the mummy and while within the radius of the banner, and then if they left the radius they would become paralyzed if they failed the save? I guess the "suppresses" word has me scratching my head a bit.

Answer 1

Your instincts are correct

So long as its held aloft, the banner of the storm's eye (Magic Item Compendium 151) (15,000 gp; 2 lbs.), in addition to other effects, suppresses fear effects on creatures within 20 ft. of it. Although the game could make clearer the definition of the term suppressed, it's possible to discern the term's meaning from its use in other contexts. Examples are below.

• The 2nd-level cleric spell calm emotions [abjur] (Player's Handbook 207-8) says that the spell

  suppresses any fear effects… from all targets. While the spell lasts, a suppressed spell or effect has no effect. When the calm emotions spell ends, the original spell or effect takes hold of the creature again, provided that its duration has not expired in the meantime.

• The otherwise troublesome 6th-level Sor/Wiz spell antimagic field [abjur] (PH 200) says that it

  suppresses any spell or magical effect used within, brought into, or cast into the area, but does not dispel it. A hasted creature, for example, is not hasted while inside the field, but the spell resumes functioning when the creature leaves the field. Time spent within an antimagic field counts against the suppressed spell’s duration.

Thus a suppressed effect is ongoing—its duration continuing to count down—, but the suppressed effect is inactive. Presumably, a suppressed magical effect is still revealed to a creature that can perceive magical auras, for example, as, unlike a magic item suppressed by a dispel magic effect, there's no mention of a creature becoming nonmagical while suppressed magical effects persist (cf. the spell dispel magic says, "A suppressed [magic] item becomes nonmagical for the duration [i.e. 1d4 rounds] of the [dispel magic] effect").

So, when a mummy comes into view, saving throws are still made normally by the viewers who are within the area affected by the banner, but any who fail the saving throw have that mummy's despair effect on them suppressed. (This DM would tell the affected creatures that they know they were affected yet the banner's protecting them, but another DM might not.) If those who failed the saving throw later leave the area the banner protects, the despair effect resumes if it any of its duration remains, and those poor fools will be paralyzed… just as they would be were the dude flying the banner to himself move away from them so that those who failed were left unprotected by the banner.

Answer 2

If they fail the save, they are still frightened, it is just supressed. If they leave the radius, they become paralyzed because it isn’t supressed anymore. If they reenter the radius (or if the radius enters them), they are free again.