Saturday, November 30, 2019

Ten Magical Items


Crown of the Damned Mooncalf


A braided milk-silver circlet. Owned by a changeling prince who rejected his fae parentage and dove instead into the study of heresies and heterodoxies, culminating in his embrace of the Malthusian Emanations and Twined Demonic Dance, an experiment of disastrous consequences for him and his kingdom.
  • Wearer may view all invisible (purposefully or naturally) signs and beings.
  • May transform into a beam of moonlight (moon must be visible) at will.

Scepter of the Last Dwarven King


A diorite scepter engraved with scenes of dwarves at war against beasts of the deep and crowned with a ruby the size of a child’s skull and carved into the semblance of such. Held last by King Uristagar VII (“The Mad”) and thought lost with the majority of his corpse.
  • Possessor may command up to 10 maggot-men servitors.
  • Possessor is recognized, legally, as a member of the High Oricalcum Warren regardless of origin.

Cat’s Tenth Life


A tiny figurine of a kitten curled up asleep, carved out of carnelian.
  • After the possessor dies, the figurine will crumble into powder. A living kitten carrying the soul and memories of the dead player will then claw itself out of the corpse’s stomach.
  • The becatted player can talk and cast magic, but is a cat in all other ways. Their class is now Magic-User.

Tyrant’s Bell


A silver bell, engraved with excerpts from the ancient laws of Hagranna and depictions of the grotesque punishments.

When rung, it will have one of the following effects:
  • If underground, it will summon a redcap executioner - they have no obligation to be friendly, but they cannot directly harm the wielder.
  • In the presence of a violator of the Code - Target will be painfully and visibly branded with whatever violation they committed (note: the Code is thousands of years divorced from modern laws so the target might not have committed any criminal or immoral act.)
  • Over an execution - Target’s ghost is bound to the bell, summoned when it is rung in a certain pattern.
  • Over a construct - will awaken and animate it.
  • Over an altar - the god worshipped there must make a sign that it has heard the request made.

Seraph’s Feather


A long flight feather, shimmering with the glow of golden sunset, moving like a tongue of flame. It warms your hands as you hold it.
  • Source of light and heat.
  • If used as a quill, no lies may be written with it.
  • May cast a searing beam of light (d8 damage, double damage to evil spirits and demons)

Book of the Gorgon


An anonymous, first-person account of a gorgon’s life, covering a period of about fifty years. The pages are snakeskin and the cover consists of thin sheets of marble. It is written in Classical Aegean.

Within it, besides the meditations of a solitary creature cursed to predation, are the following spells and topics of note:
  • Flesh to Stone
  • Stone to Flesh
  • Kranat’s Killer Kidney Stone
  • Mold Stone
  • Sculpt Flesh

Brass Bull’s Anchor


A ship’s anchor fashioned in the shape of a bull with curving horns. Tarnished with age and spotted with barnacles. It was upon this anchor that the Maritime Savior was tied and tossed into the deeps to die.
  • Those in physical contact with the anchor can breathe underwater.
  • Sprinkling your blood over the anchor will allow you to carry it deftly. It does 2d12 damage.
  • Bovines of all sorts will be rendered agreeable in its presence and defensive of the anchor.

Balm of Blindness


A thick, pale green paste in a lacquered bamboo vessel.

  • When applied to the eyes, it will either cause or cure blindness, as appropriate.
  • Those who have been blinded gain prophetic visions - once per session they may enter a trance to see something that will occur:
    • 1-5: Within a few hours
    • 6-10: Within a few days
    • 11-15: Within months
    • 16-20: Within years
Events will not be directly related to anyone present at first, but will always be something players might interact with.

Helm of the Ironbroker


Little more than a bucket with eye slits and engraved runes. Crudely made and bordering on useless, it seems the practice work of a distracted, untalented smith.
  • This item will open the cannon-scarred doors of the Vault of the Star-Eyed God, high in the mountains. These chambers have never been opened before, and contain all the riches the Ironbroker accumulated in his extended life.

Emanations of the Demiurge


A long parchment scroll, beautifully illuminated, containing a treatise on the movement of the celestial bodies, the spiritual powers thereof, and the secret nature of all the hump-backed sky.
  • Contains directions on the (lengthy, expensive, difficult) process of building a golden barge.
  • Contains a map of nearby spheres as well as a path to Troika.
  • Contains directions on how to brew space-mead.

7 comments:

  1. August's patron grab bag, now open for your perusal.

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    Replies
    1. The scepter, it ought be noted, was based on an item in Michael Kennedy's Weird Marches

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  2. "Killer Kidney Stone"

    Really specific.

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  3. Stone and Flesh sculpting are the MS Paint of spells. The Book of the Gordon is the tutorial.

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  4. Right mix of magic marries milieu in items. Good stuff.

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