Tag: Peter J

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Lethe’s Draught

Aeneas moved by the sudden sight, asked in his ignorance what it might mean, what was that river over there and all that crowd of people swarming along its banks. Then the ghost of his father, Ankhises said:–“They are the souls who are destined for Reincarnation; and now at Lethe’s stream they are drinking the waters that quench man’s troubles, the deep draught of oblivion… They come in crowds to the river Lethe, so that you see, with memory washed out they may revisit the earth above.'”

–Virgil, Aeneid

Lethe’s Draught is as clear and flavorless as water, though holding a bottle of it to one’s ear reveals a faint whispering. Drinking this potion causes the imbiber to forget the events of the last several hours. Consuming two doses at once increases the effect to several weeks, and three causes complete, permanent amnesia.

A more concentrated distillation, Lethe’s Essence, can be used as an applied poison by thieves, though the effects are limited to only about an hour.

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Candle Blade

“Though we had slain the fire wolf, its fur continued to flicker with lingering traces of it’s magical flames. The enchanter was upon it even before the flames had died, carving at the monster’s flanks. ‘Do you think death could extinguish this fire?’ he asked of me.”

A large candle rendered from the fat of a creature that dwells upon the elemental plane of Fire. When lit, a blade of fire springs from the wick. The blade can be wielded like a regular sword, dealing an extra 1d6 points of fire damage when it hits.

The candle has only a few uses before it burns down to a stub. While the stub can be lit one more time to gain an extra use of the blade, the flames sear the wielder’s hand as the last of the wax is consumed.

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Drop of Night

Like everything else about him, the Shadow Thief’s knowledge of poison was stolen. He stole the color of the night sky, and traded it back to the Moon Goddess for her knowledge of the plants and venoms that cloud the mind and cripple the body. When asked why he didn’t just steal the knowledge directly, the Shadow Thief replied, “Who says I didn’t?” and showed the bottle which contained the night sky.

The liquid inside of this tiny bottle is an inky black, though when held under moonlight, it glows faintly. When the Drop of Night is added to a poison, the poison becomes much more potent than normal. Alternatively, it can be consumed unmixed, granting the drinker the ability to see clearly in even total darkness until the next sunrise.

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Sir Stephen’s Shield

The enchantments of the Witches of the Icy North have long been known to come with a price, but that did not stop Sir Stephen of Blackstone. He traveled north in secret to conceal his blasphemy from his fellow knights. Trading a large bag of gold to them, the witches did indeed enchant his shield, but they warned him that there would yet be another price to pay.

It was shortly after Sir Stephen returned home that a dragon besieged Blackstone Keep. As the right rode out to meet the monster, he raised his enchanted shield, and the dragonfire did not burn him, but instead deflected as light from a mirror. Though the knights of Blackstone won they day, the witches’ prophecy came true, for the fire deflected by Sir Stephen’s shield set ablaze the home of his family, killing all within. Disgraced and overcome with grief, Sir Stephen threw the shield off of a cliff and left Blackstone forever. he sought revenge against the witches, but could never find them, and he perished among the tundra.

This steel knight’s shield has seen a few battles, but it is still quite sturdy. The crest upon it has been scratched almost beyond recognition, though the rune of the Ice Witches are still easily readable on the inner rim. When you raise this shield against an incoming magical attack, roll+CHA. *On a 10+ you wrest control of the spell and may turn it back against the caster. *On a 7-9 the spell is deflected, but it goes haywire and may cause some collateral damage. The price upon the shield is still in effect, and anyone who uses the shield is one day destined to destroy someone or some thing that he loves dearly.