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Copyright © 2003 Ian Martin
Created On 29 January 2003
Last Updated On 29 January 2003

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# Magic Items

Here are some more magic items, but this time not from my own stack of index cards, these are instead by Ian Martin, with whom I have been having a very interesting conversation for several months. I have left the items as they were written but have added my own notes.

## The Red Stone.

The stone is the size to fit inside a man's fist, it is flat with curved edges, like a stone from the beach front. It is a deep red in colour, almost burgundy and has black and silver flecks running through it. It weighs more than you would expect a stone of its size to weigh, the same as if it were made from lead. [1]

The stone needs to be attuned, but instead of waiting for someone to place a magic point into it, to begin the process of attuning, if it is touched by someone with more than 10 POW and 10 MP (it will do its thing when the person regains enough MP's if they are below 10) it enters spirit combat with them, for the purposes of the combat it has a POW of 14 and if it wins it reduces the attuned person's POW by 5. [2] If it loses the contest then it only draws 1 POW from the attuned person but still stays attuned.

From then on, until the stone is removed from the attuned person by a distance of 100 yards all spirit magic spells cast have a 90% chance of being cast twice, on the same SR, for example, if you cast Disruption, then there is a 90% chance it will result in 2 Disruptions (same target although a new POW v POW and hit and dam roll) it also goes for spells such as countermagic, cast countermagic 4 and there is a 90% chance it will cast it on you again (you cannot change the target) in effect wasting the spell. It always takes the MPs from the attuned person's own and never from spirits, matrix or crystals, although the initial spell may be cast from any of those items. [3] Spells such as Bladesharp will effect multiple weapons, so if you have a weapon in each hand and you get a multicast then you can have the spell effect each.

This stone is a double edged sword, it means that spells like Firearrow (if you are holding 2 shuriken or throwing stones) will happen twice in the same round 90% of the time. It also means that spells like Protection and Countermagic are VERY expensive in MPs.

The only other feature of the stone is that it can never be attuned to the same person twice.

Its true history is long lost although there is one rare reference to it in some old scrolls, detailing a stone that fell from Eurmal's boot treads when he was in Orlanth's Hearth, it was swept up by one of the servants, but soon after the servant was seen no more.

## Trail Grit

Pouches of trail grit are one of the many secrets of the Rubble Runners who travel into the rubble from the Flintnail temples in Pavis. These heroic bands who often help adventurers and escort those in need of protection know the rubble better than most of its denizens. Notoriously hard to track the rubble runners use a small pinch of this dusty grit in each of there boots, once applied although slightly uncomfortable to those unused to it, it reduces the tracks of the runner, and his party.

Anyone within 5 yards of someone who has a pinch of trail grit in their boots will leave only light signs of passage, effectively reducing the tracking chance of anyone following them by 40%. [4] If the runner sprinkles five pinches on the ground then his parties trail will disappear forcing anyone following to delay for a number of rounds while they search for the trail afresh (with a -40% penalty). Trail dust lasts for four hours and then the trail left from then on will be normally trackable. [5]

The Flintnail temple makes this dust by grinding up a small part of the foot rock of the giant stature, it is mixed with pumice and is sometimes given as a reward to adventurers who do the temple, or runners a service.

## The Pavic Quill of Families

When the city of Pavis was at it lowest ebb, the darkness races running amok and the humans of Pavis hid amongst the rubble of their once great city, the people found care and support and, better yet, food from the Flintnail and Pavis temples. In this time families became spit up, though those lost always found succour with one band of refugees or another, time took its toll and the people started to lose the family they were born to and instead found shelter with others.

Rimlar the writer was a Daughter of Pavis, he worked hard as a scribe to re-unite these lost families, especially in the time after the Dream when the darkness creatures did not threaten them so. He was an old proud man, who worked deep inside the catacombs of the Pavis temple, he kept the rolls and his close friends, some say even followers, brought hundreds of long lost families back together. It is through him that bloodlines in Pavis can be still traced through this hard time.

Rimlar was also a HeroQuestor of some small renown and spent many years learning about the Quests and Myths of many different people. One time he returned with a quill of significant magical power. He used it up to the day he died with many of his followers defending the temple against a massive troll raid, his body was found smashed and his things taken by the trollkin that sought treasure for their masters.

The quill looks like a normal goose feather quill, but radiates strong magic under the correct spells. Normally the quill works like any other, but it never seems to need to be sharpened, and even when sharpened it never gets any shorter. Long research would be needed to find its function, [6] but when done it would be this:

When the quill is used to write a name upon parchment that is them rolled and tied with a blue ribbon and burned in a censor, at the time the scroll becomes ash it will levitate by itself and point its writing end at the person named, if two persons share the same name, it points to the closest. It gives no indication of distance and no limit had been found to how far away it finds people. [7]

Every use of the pen drains 4 Magic Points that can be regained normally.

The cult of Pavis would love to have this item back, it is thought lost somewhere in the rubble but could have changed hands innumerable times.

That one is something I plan on putting in later for my group, so they can track down some relatives that have been sold into lunar slavery.

## Crokis's Sword

This one comes from an old joke at a RQ session a long time ago:

Long ago, a tired and battered adventuring group settled down by the fire. Much talk was made and of course ale made boasts start. Crokis, a Sword Sage of Lhankor Mhy, was always being belittled by the warriors of the group, two Orlanthi and a Humakti, because of his studious nature. Crokis's skills with sword and dagger were not at all grand and as such he was the butt of their jokes. One day he exclaimed "The pen is mightier than the sword", the Orlanthi took this as a riddle and thought long and hard about it, but the Humakti, a small quick man named Rudarr, exclaimed that it was true, bringing a hush to the group, "but," he continued "only if the pen is very sharp and the sword is very small". Much laughter ensued but Crokis decided then he would stop being the butt of the group's jokes.

Years later, after the group became separated in the Holy Country, Crokis spent long hours researching the secret scrolls in the great library and lead an expedition to a ruined keep not far from Sog. When he returned he bore with him a weapon, a quill that was tipped with metal. It never needed sharpening and wrote the neatest of notes. When in time he met his old friend Rundarr he challenged him to a Humakti duel and history tells he took first blood with nothing more as a weapon than this new quill.

The quill is a long white plumed ostrich feather quill its tip is a diamond shaped piece of enchanted iron with a small split in it. It functions in all purposes as a pen, and does in fact help the writer's presentation (+10 write skill) but if grasped tightly about the feathered stem, as one would a weapon it looses its natural flexibility and becomes rigid. It is then a weapon, related to knives and daggers and much akin to a parrying dagger. It has a base 20% attack and 45% parry, it also has an AP of 20. It does the same damage as a dagger. It never needs repairing, if it is left stuck in the corpse of a creature slain by it, it regenerates its AP at 1 per hour. Crokis had a Bladesharp 4 matrix inscribed upon it as a reward from King Byron.

Crokis adventured for more years with Rundarr until they both sold themselves dearly in the Starbrow uprising, no one knows what became of his quill, but the Lunars never recovered it from the battle field.

## Glowtions

These small glass tubes are filled with a clear viscose liquid with a sealed stopper. They are 6 inches tall and resemble a modern day boiling tube. They are purchased from the Pavic Alchemist Guild or from the Flintnail temple. When shaken vigorously they emit clear light for 15 minutes, the light has the same radius as a
torch and is colourless.

The glowtions are bought only in ten use tubes for a price of 300 Lunars, they are used by many adventurers since torches produce smoke that easily brings those creatures a fire will not scare to the light. The liquid reduces each time it is used, and some of the tubes have scales marked down the side to indicate how many uses they have remaining. Recently they have been produced with 11 charges, since the first one is used for demonstration, after a large number of tubes of water were slipped onto the market through a less than honest group of adventurers. [8]

## Notes

1. I would give it ENC 1.

2. Ho, ho, ho.

3. As written, this screams "Cursed Item" to me. The average person, with maybe 10-13 MPs would soon run out of MPs when attuned to this. I would allow the Red Stone to use MPs from other sources as well, otheriwse it is only playable in a very low magic game.

4. The tracks would still be visible using Silver Track or similar magic.

5. The tracks that were made when the Rubble Grit was still active are still covered when the 4 hours is up. The tracks do not suddenly all return. The 4 hours is when the Rubble Grit is all used up from the user's boots.

6. Or an Analyse Magic spell.

7. Spells such as Detection Blank would block the effects of this item. They would have to be in effect when the Quill was used, though.

8. Making these would require the use of the Make (Glowtions) skill, which would be only taught to the Alchemists of Pavis. I would think that even the Mostali would not have access to this skill, unless someone were to try and steal the secret from the Alchemists.

[End]