The Gilded Skull

The Gilded Skull is a thing of legend whispered about in the shadowy alcoves of Mage Academies scattered across the multiverse, from Strixhaven to Hogwarts to Winterhold to Brewkessel and beyond.

Aside from it being a potent artifact of great magic, none of the whispers can agree on just how potent it is, nor exactly what it does.  Yet the whispers persist until shushed by a proctor or hall monitor.

Skull of Orm by Daren Bader

The whispers are silenced because the proctors have a much better understanding of what the Gilded Skull is and can do.  A few even have awful first-hand experiences with the Gilded Skull, so shush out of mercy to the magelings.

What the Gilded Skull actually is, is a spellbook of sorts.  The bearer of the skull (not the carrier, and wielder isn't the proper verb) has access to a vast catalogue of arcane spells - several only available through the Skull.

Among these unique spells is a simple spell with the innocuous title Receive Knowledge.  This spell is the equivalent of a cantrip in complexity, but is actually a complex trap, because once casting of Receive Knowledge begins, it cannot be halted until complete.

Which is a lie, as killing the caster (who is also the unwitting target) of Receive Knowledge halts the spell in a particularly gruesome and painful fashion, as the caster's head explodes (like in the movie Scanners).

Not halting the spell results in the Gilded Skull replacing the caster's skull, slice by bloody slice, trading places, with the Gilded Skull disappearing from the bottom up and the caster's skull appearing from the bottom up.  For all the world, it looks like a 3-D printer in action.

As might be imagined, it is a painful process.

Horribly painful.

Like saving throw to remain conscious and a second save to remain sane painful.

Witnesses must save versus fear or run away, and even passing the save leaves the witnesses shaken and with nightmares.  

Once the spell is complete and the skulls transferred, the caster now has access to the knowledge within the Gilded Skull.

That knowledge includes not only the aforementioned spells, but also dark secrets that bring nightmares and madness, and the souls of former bearers of the Gilded Skull - because upon death, the body immediately wastes away, leaving the Gilded Skull behind.  

Which is how it is often found - in the head position of an empty set of clothes that looks vaguely wizardish in nature.

This is why the proctors try to quell the whispers, for they fear what happens should the Gilded Skull claim 1001 souls.

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Yes, this is not fully fleshed out (unintentional, I promise) for any particular ruleset, but is enough to riff off of, so feel welcome to do so.

Opinions - is this too much drawback for what it provides, or not enough?