[Announcement] Round Zero!

[Inem]

Wake up, wake up! Round Zero is upon us!

Iron DM 2019

This is the Round Zero thread, where all those who wish to partake in this year's competition can show what they have, and see if they can stand up to their fierce competitors! Come, refine each other so that the best may face off, and the greatest be crowned Iron DM of 2019!

The thread will be open for two weeks from the time this is posted. Make sure you get your entry in quickly! Once you have posted, that is it: no edits, no second posts. Breaking these most simple of rules could lead to a very early (and very embarrassing) departure from the stadium.

Round Zero Rules Create and describe an interesting item for an adventure. Do not include links outside; the item should exist totally within the post itself. The item should be compelling enough to be a focal point in an adventure - possibly with hooks or history - and can be fantasy, sci-fi, or whatever other setting you like! You have a hard maximum of 500 words for your description. Do not break it. This limit includes all text within the body of your post, so be careful! Do not waste words on mechanics - the focus for this Round Zero challenge is to create an interesting story or description behind the item you provide. You get one entry; second posts by anyone will result in disqualification. Do not edit your entry once posted. Secreting to me is sufficientSecreting and If your spoiler-button includes an "about", where you e.g. place the item's name, it is required that the spoiler-button be within the secretspoiler-buttoning your entry is not only highly recommended, but required! The best write-ups will move through to the actual competition.

[Silent Rain]

 

Orb of Iskandir
Wondrous item, artifact (requires attunement)

The orb of Iskandir, so named for the archmage that once wielded it to disastrous effect, only to then die mysteriously, has its origins long before that.

Nearly two thousand years ago, the kingdom of Hindal was on the verge of collapse. The Council of Seven, wizards that had ruled over Hindal with a cruel iron fist, had nearly been cast down. A coup, fueled by the neighboring Shintar kingdom, had trapped the Seven in their council chambers, using magic of their own to prevent them from leaving via magical means.

The seven mages were not willing to relinquish their power so easily, with many of them having sat on the Council if various forms of life and undeath for hundreds of years. Realizing that they could neither fight their way out or escape, they decided upon another plan that would allow them to remain in this world indefinitely.

As the so-called Hindal Liberation Army broke into the council chambers, they were shocked to find seven bodies standing in a circle around a silver orb, just small enough to be held in one hand. Thin lines and strange runes were etched over its surface. Assuming that the orb must contain some form of evil magic, they covered it with a sack and Hindalans stored it in their royal vault. There is remained for over two hundred years.

A young wizard named Iskandir had become obsessed with the history of Hindal and of the Council of Seven that once held complete sway over the entire kingdom. He found it strange that wizards of such power would simply vanish without a trace and without putting up a fight. Iskandir eventually learned that a small orb had been found lying near the bodies of the council. Knowing he had to get his hands on this orb, he spent the remainder of his money hiring men to retrieve the orb from the vaults.

Before even opening the nondescript sack it was kept in, he could feel the immense power irradiating from the artifact. As he reached into the sack and placed his hands around the orb, his head looked upward and he seemed to want to scream, but no sound came forth. His mind was suddenly embroiled in a fierce battle for control as he was confronted with the souls of the Council of Seven. Although he was young, Iskandir was already quite powerful and managed to wrest control of his mind away from the mages contained within the orb. It’s power, and that of the Council of Seven, were now his.

It was not until many years later, when Iskandir was an old many, that he found himself facing a party of adventurers that had been tasked with ending his evil reign. As they broke down the door leading into his study, all they found was a silver orb lying beside the body of Iskandir…

[Carnage]

 

Voidsinger
When is a sword not a sword? When it’s a hellish parasite...There was a certain order of blacksmiths somewhere deep in the festering bowels of the nine hells. Twisted flesh and tortured souls beyond redemption, they forged an unholy sword using metal only found in hell, Arjale.

Many years ago, when the dungeon of the Undermountain in Waterdeep was still in its infancy, there existed portals which linked our world to the underworld. Out of the portal shambled a nightmarish creature known as the Sword-Keeper. So unspeakably mutilated, this evil fiend worked its way through the very bottom level of the Undermountain with the sword.

The fiendish weapon was cursed with the unrelenting hatred of hell imbued into it and placed in the depths of the dungeon by the Sword-Keeper, cunningly disguised as a treasure to the passing adventurer.

Once picked up the hilt of the sword fuses with the flesh of the wielder, making it impossible to put down and forcing the holder to use it as their weapon. Voidsinger, as it was called, also has another special property. When a foe is struck with the terrible blade there is a chance the cursed sword will cause the unfortunate soul on the receiving end to explode instantly in a cloud of gore but this comes at a price as there is also a small chance that when used the sword will summon a creature from hell.

If the poor adventurer who thought this loot was worth picking up decides he no longer wants the sword then the only way to remove it is by amputation, where-after the severed hand will wither and darken, wrapping itself tightly around the handle and becoming part of the sword for the next poor sod to pick it up.

[Retry]

 

Item Finger of K'ulshuuz Wonderous Item, Rare (Attunement Required) With an almost rubbery feel to it this ashy white scaly finger has a near-mummified look about it yet is still slightly warm to the touch. The severed digit once rumored to belong to a crazed Lizardfolk shaman by the name of K'ulshuuz who was struck down by a group of heroes right as he was finishing the ritual to collapse all space and time merging all of the planes into one single entity. Those who attune and hold the finger in their hand can spend an action to see into another plane and interact with it and its denizens as if they were there for up to one minute. Once completed they must role a Intelligence Save with a base DC of 10 that will increase by 2 with each continued use. Upon failure the finger endures a backlash of planar energy and the user becomes insane until they finish a short or long rest. While insane, you can't take actions, can't understand what other creatures say, can't read, and speak only in gibberish. A greater restoration spell cast on you ends this effect. The finger turns to dust after two consecutive failures, destroying the item.

[savoylen]

 

Flavor Text “What to you mean, Ante up?” The young man looks at the table that just held all the money he had in the world. Now there was just a spinner with the words, 'Take All' facing up. “You’ve taken everything I got already.” The man facing him was the picture of strength and health with finely detailed features. He was mature and could have been in his 20’s, 30’s or 40’s and regardless, he was the most handsome man he had ever seen. The man’s silky bass voice replied, “I don’t think you understand the rules… you can Ante up, anything. Anything." “Like I said, you have all…” He was interrupted, “Tell you what,” he ripped a button off the young man’s shirt before he could be stopped and put it on the table by the spinner. “What if that represented a year of your life? You have so many ahead of you, what if you were to Ante up just one of those years? Play the game with me and no matter what the outcome, I’ll return all the cash you’ve lost.” He pulled a button from his own shirt and put it on the table with the other. “See, my Ante. Shall we play?”

'Put and Take' Spinners are small, wood, bone, or metal items that are spinning tops with flats sides that in modern times, have T1, T2, T3, P1, P2, P3, TA, and PA printed on each face.

They have been in use as gambling ‘toys’ in various cultures dating back to antiquity. In most of the cultures, they have been eventually outlawed. The impetus and momentum of some of these objects capture the energy of joy, pain, ecstasy, and misery of those who use them and in time become conduits of esoteric energy or The Mystic Teetotum.

These wondrous Teetotum use a special set of rules:

Everyone puts one Ante into the table. You can Ante ‘anything’ you can agree on and can be represented by a token if needed. Then you take turns spinning the top and follow the directions for the side it lands on.
P1 (or another number) means PUT that many Antes into the pot.
T1 (or another number) means TAKE that many Antes from the pot.
AP means ALL PAY so all players including the spinner put an Ante into the pot.
TA means TAKE ALL which means the spinner wins the whole pot!

The larger the spinner’s domain, the greater the risk. Kingdoms and the fortunes of countries have risen and fallen with the prevalence of this ritual.

The Ante can be mundane items such as money, items of clothing, or even turns drinking. The Mystic Teetotum would also accept Antes such as ‘years of life’, loves, a portion of hope, a modicum of passion, an inkling of influence, and even parcels of one’s soul. Anything, can be an Ante if agreed on by all spinners.

[Wyrom]

Item: Charolette’s Polish

Wondrous Item, Rare

Price: 2,500

 

Said to be first concocted by a baroness, it was later learned the origin was with a young house-maid. This nail polish shines a deep purple and when applied, casts suggest on anyone who comes into contact with it (except the wearer). The polish has a charge equal to the number of fingers coated in it and is in a vial filled with three full coats. If not used within 6 hours from application the nails become fully dried, rendering it useless.

 

Charolette Inead started her rise to greatness as a simple housemaid under a barons rule. She spent her days on simple chores, and most of her nights up late potion crafting. After many years of trial and error she attempted her first use of the polish. Slowly she began her interactions with the baron. Simple touches of the shoulder as she passed a plate. Assisting with his dressing and even offering relaxing baths. Anything she could do to win over the baron until he began to fancy her. The charade continued with suggestions of long walks and late night conversations. What the poor man took for love, was simply an enchantment buried in his heart.


This was obvious to those around him, as he lavished graces and gifts upon a common woman. Many came close to finding her vials stored within a personal bedchamber. But always Charolette would seduce the baron into exiling them. Even the local church was abolished upon announcing an investigation into the recent proposal of the baron to the young woman. At that, the clerics reached out through the taverns and pasted notices upon every board within the surrounding city. Any adventurer interested could investigate the matter, and if proof was given and the church established again there would be a handsome reward.

[Unko Talok]

 

The Transmogrifier, DnD5E Magical Item, Very Rare ”When we first started seein’ them rat-people, thought they might be lycans… Armed ourselves up wit’ silver weapons ‘n’whatnot. Figured out reaaaal quick how wrong we was. Edmund got picked off by some beaked git wit' wings. Darren got bit by a big fella and went down like a snake got ‘im. I had ta retreat to, uh.. get… reinforcements.” ~ Daryll Nym, City guardsman. The Transmogrifier looks on first glance like an artistic Mithril sculpture. It is an ovoid the length of a human’s forearm. The outside is covered in dark grooves connecting gems of different varieties and sizes, each gem surrounded by a ring of strange sigils. On one end is an opening into which an appendage can be placed. Doing so begins a painful process, the effects of which are different depending on whether the Transmogrifier is “charged.” If the device is not charged, it becomes charged by sapping blood from the user. This forces a DC15 constitution saving throw as the Transmogrifier drains the victim’s life-essence. On a failure, the victim dies. On success, they gain a level of exhaustion. If charged, the Transmogrifier infuses the user with the life-essence stored within it. This permanently grants the recipient a single proficiency or racial feature of the creature that charged the device (DM’s choice; DM may rule that a high Medicine check increases chances of a desired result). The user also takes on some physical feature of the “donor” creature—e.g. gaining excessive back hair if the Transmogrifier was charged by a bear, or taking on aquiline features if charged by a bird. Using the Transmogrifier requires a living, blooded creature to insert some fleshy part of their body (or their entire body) into the device for the duration of the process—which takes no less than a half hour. The creature must be willing or helpless throughout. The DM can rule that a creature cannot do so (e.g. an ogre without fingers or toes may be unable fit into the Transmogrifier, or a fly may not have sufficient bulk to use it). A creature can only benefit from the device once, though they can be a donor as many times as they wish… so long as they still live. Few have ever seen the Transmogrifier, but many have seen its effects. Stories abound of fanged thugs whose teeth drip poison, or graceful dancers who bear suspiciously feline faces. Some pay for an enhancement not knowing the nature of the device. Less scrupulous folk bring specific victims whose talents they wish to sap. Those who search closely for the Transmogrifier’s origins find hints of a sinister cabal of alchemists and transmuters. This group seeks to sit atop a new world order, creating and benefiting from powerful new devices as magical and alchemical knowledge rapidly advances. Of course, soon after learning of the cabal, one often meets its members… along with an uncharged Transmogrifier.

[mujie]

 

"Don't open the box"

That's what they say. The keepers of the box. For thousands of years, they warned people. The box had the power to draw people towards it, to convince people to open it, but that wasn't what was dangerous. The object inside was what was dangerous. The object inside can change reality itself in unpredictable ways. And nobody has any control over it, not even the one who opened the box.

The item inside is called the Scarlet.

Most of the keepers don't know anything about the Scarlet. They just know not to open the box. Of course, that means every so often, one of them will try to open the box out of curiosity. Sometimes it can be good, sometimes it can be bad. A lot of people have opened the box, and now our reality is unrecognisable from what it originally was. The Scarlet has caused presidents to get assassinated, world wars to occur, slavery to end, and much more. And whenever the box gets opened, it disappears and appears somewhere else on Earth. The old reality is erased and the box never existed in its old position. It was always where it is now: Different from where it was before it got opened last.

The keepers are always different, and they always form a cult-like worship of the box. Most people won't remember old realities, but there are some that do. Those that are seen as insane and the mentally ill. Those who are schizophrenic hallucinate realities that used to be, but never were. Those with multiple personality disorder have a personality that they used to have, but that person no longer exists.

And there are some who even remember the original reality, before the Scarlet was even made. But they appear to be the most insane of all.

Nobody should know about the Scarlet. Each different reality should be the real reality to everyone on it. But whoever created the Scarlet made a mistake. Even those who remember think themselves crazy. But there are a certain few who know what the Scarlet does: What it has done. Supposedly they know how to destroy it. Thanks to them, we have learned that if the Scarlet is destroyed, we will be thrust into the original reality: From before the Scarlet was created. But it's impossible to guess how many people will survive the "journey". After all, if reality changes, so do the people on it...

Nobody knows who created it, or why or how they created it. But the location has been found: The Bermuda Triangle. The box's reach grows more powerfuil each time the box is opened, and the Scarlet unleashed. It can bring down planes in an effort for them to open the box.

Are the Scarlet and the box sentient? Is the creator of the Scarlet still in control? How does the box work? Nobody knows. It just works.

[ParzivalFair]

 

The Rock

It was forged alongside the beginning, and it will be here long after the end. It was formed in the mud womb, that ancient primordial ooze that served as the origin of all creatures, and baked in the fires of all that fought to destroy it. Wars have been waged for it, men have cleaved life from flesh and spent their last breaths to merely look upon it, only to have the light leave their eyes as it slipped through their hands. Kings sent their people spiraling into ruin, entire nations collapsed, all in the pursuit of it. Brothers killed brothers, and mothers their children, and when one of them came to possess it for more than a moment, another would come in search of it. For the gods had wrought it with their own hands, molding it to be that which men sought, and if it meant that some might die in the coursing of it, such was the way of things.

Jezrah had been searching for it almost all his life, questing across the wide expanse of the world for it. He'd followed leads across six continents and dozens of countries, forded streams and combed mountains for any scrap of evidence that would lead him to it. And the whole way, his faithful wife Kalissa had been by his side. She'd been the one to piece together the map they'd found in the chest at the bottom of Akkram's Reach, and they'd married weeks later. Decades had passed, and Kalissa had supported him every step of the way, and he owed her in ways that could not be repaid. But when he found what he was looking for, he would become as a god-- and he would give her everything she could ever want, and more.

So yeah, it was a pretty nice rock.

The fact that it was the root of all avarice in the world and people only saw that which they desired the most when they looked upon its image was completely lost on him. Sketches, carvings, even graphic descriptions of it conjured up a different item in each person's mind of something they'd give the whole world for. So when Jezrah flipped open the hidden compartment beneath the wardrobe expecting only another frustrating lead and found an old gray rock instead, his eyes lit up. He'd found it-- his search was at an end, and as his fingertips brushed across it with something akin to reverence, he gave a cry of joy that echoed through the old house. This would change everything, this would end his struggles, make him great, he would finally be taken seriously--

"My love, have you found something?"

Greed, black and galvanizing, swept through him. Kalissa would try to take it from him, she'd see its true worth and come for it, she couldn't have it, she wasn't worthy of it--

The knife was in hand before he could think, and in her chest before she could react.

[Auron3991]

 

The Phoenix Mantle is an ancient gold and red cloak. Said to hold the brilliance of the Sun itself, the Mantle signified the ruler of Tenlore instead of a crown. The stories say it was gifted to King Galeran by Ganrunda, the third Immortal as a reward for freeing her from her volcanic prison. Galeran would go on to unite the continent under Tenlore's banner. It was a long and difficult campaign, but Galeran was always at the front of any army he commanded. Several times, the King would appear to fall, but would immediately stand up and resume the fight. Seeing their king as unkillable, the armies of Tenlore fought far longer than any other would, and thus no army lead by Galeran would ever be routed. This would extend to military campaigns by any king wearing the cloak. They would still die when their time came, but none would be slain. Thus Tenlore entered a golden age, which lasted five hundred years.

However, as it is with mortals, no prosperity could eternally satisfy their desires. The people of Tenlore began to wish to tread in the Immortal's domain. King Fennor, seeing his people discontented, hatched a plan. He would attempt to trick Erox, the second Immortal, into giving his life to raise Tenlore's people to immortality. Hiding the Pheonix Mantle under a normal cloak, Fennor challenged Erox to slay him. Try as the Immortal might, Fennor would never fall, his wounds searing shut before he could succumb to him. Towards the end of the time limit, Erox asked the contest to be relocated outside, where the cloak hiding the Mantle caught on a branch and tore a bit. Seeing the radiance of the cloak under the Sun, Erox stole the cloak while Fennor was distracted. Thus, when Fennor turned to face Erox, the Immortal slew the king. Erox then threw the Mantle in the volcano that had housed Ganrunda and told the Third Immortal of Fennor's scheme. Flying into a rage, Ganrunda shattered Tenlore, ripping the continent itself asunder and sinking it into the sea.

Recently, new islands have begun appearing where the legends placed Tenlore. Kingdoms from all over the world have been sending people to explore them. So far, the ruins of several villages have been located. However, they're searching for some of Tenlore's grand cities or, the real prize, Ganrunda's Prison.

[Silk]

 

Vhe Spoov ov Sharpvess There once was a Gnome Wizard that went by the name of Thenius Thrison. Unfortunately, Thenius had a speech impediment that caused the 'T' 'F' and 'N' in words he spoke to sound like a 'V' instead of what he meant to say, and so everyone only knew him as Vhevius Vhrisov. For years he was ridiculed by his peers and none so harshly then Tiffany Fiona, a human of untold beauty. The fact that he continually called her Vivvavy Viova might have something to do with the hate between the two. It got so bad that he threatened to carve her heart out with a spoon, and he even created a magical artifact embodied with all the hate he had for the vile witch that cursed him so; a silver spoon with the front edge sharpened to a fine point, and he called it Vhe Spoov ov Sharpvess. Putting all his hate into a magical item was cathartic for the Gnome, and afterward, he felt shame for how he was acting. Inviting Fiona to an etherial resort, he apologized to her and explained how he felt about their pointless squabbles. It turned out Fiona also felt terrible, and they became friends of a sort that Thenius hoped would turn into romance. With a new and more worthy pursuit in mind, Thenius forgot all about the spoon he had enchanted and left it to clutter his work table. But hate is a powerful thing, and though Thenius purged himself of the vile substance, it lived on in Vhe Spoov ov Sharpvess. Using its hateful magic, the Spoov enticed a thief that was ransacking Thenius's apartment one day while the Wisard was out. The Spoov shined so brightly; the greedy thief took the silver spoon that was quite sharp. The Spoov used what hate it detected in the thief to eventually cause the young thief to attack what he most hatted. But not with the fellow's short sword or even his dagger. No, it was the Spoov that he drew when facing his teacher in the pilfering arts. Unfortunately, a spoon no matter how sharp was no match against a longsword, and so the master thief cut down the young upstart that had dared to challenge him. As his prize, he took the young rogues silver weapon that was a quite shiny spoon. And so Vhe Spoov ov Sharpvess went from one owner to another, never fulfilling the hate that welled in the little Spoov's magical heart as spoons made inferior weapons. Maybe if the Spoov let its wielders use stealth the magical hate that resided inside it would have been sated, but the Gnomes hate that created it wanted to be recognized and so, only face to face confrontations were the results the spoon engineered, and never once did its bearer succeed in using Vhe Spoov ov Sharpvess to vanquish what they hatted most.

[Drager]

 

Plain Text Version Cloak of the Dancer Wondrous Item, Unique (Requires Attunement), Cursed A perfect fit for whichever adventurer is lucky enough to find it, this cloak immediately begins to assist them. At first, it is simple things, giving them a boost at a skill they hadn't practised, but once the user is attuned the benefits grow over time. As well as learning to sneak or bake without ever needing to practice the bearer will start to develop magical abilities they never had before. Just little things at first, changing their appearance helping them find just the right turn of phrase. Naturally, as time moves forward the sentience of the cloak and the bearer come to know each other better. The cloak ensures it always matches the bearers' outfit and the bearer can use just a touch of magic to ensure they keep up their end, making their appearance suitably regal. Over time, slowly, the bearer and the cloak need to talk less as they get to know each other very well and their desires naturally align. Within a few months, or a few years, depending on the bearer of working together they and the cloak will have risen in society and begin to be recognised everywhere they go. For their own betterment, the cloak will hint to the bearer that they should adopt a more appropriate name for their adventuring persona, a stage name as it were. Thus it is that the legend of Diebin der Seelen continues through the ages. History of the cloak Originally crafted by Axela the Arcane, the cloak was designed to give the untalented folk she found herself surrounded with a chance to feel valuable. As such, she wound it through with strands of her own skill, the Dance of Power, the Dance of Steel and the Dance of Shadow. This worked perfectly, as did everything she created, bringing power and joy to each one she chose to bestow the cloak upon, until one chose not to give it back, instead, running from Axela. The cloak, at the time having only meagre sentience insisted on calling its bearer Diebin (meaning thief) and deriding him, whilst nevertheless lending him power. The newly christened Diebin was not destined to be long for the world, for when Axela discovered his treachery she came after him with the fury of a demigod. Hiding in a cave, trapped and nearly hopeless Diebin made the worst decision of his life and pressed deeper into a crack in the ground. In the darkness, he was found by an intellect devourer, a monster which quickly overwhelmed him and stole his body. The parasite and the cloak began a dialogue there, in the darkness, a dialogue which lasted for an age as Axela was drawn away and never found her toy. The thing that left the cave wore Diebin's face and had a spiteful mind, powered by the cloak's magic, yet was now much more than the three parts that had formed it.

[Umber]

 

THE SOUL PENDANT
A thumb-sized magnetic cat's eye stone boasting miraculous galaxies of color dangles from clasped black titanium steel links. Known as the Soul Pendant, as named by a high priestess, it is a highly sought-after item by adventurers and collectors, the only of its kind, for the black ranbow stone is a meteorite from unknown origin.

It reveals the appearance of souls in the vicinity, those embodied and those not. It bridges and tethers the living wearer to the realm of the dead and thus opens a direct line of communication. It can also raise the dead, possess an animate or inanimate body, and exorcise any possessed body. It can help communicate with animals or people in a coma. It also comes with a satanic reputation for inviting the devil to make deals. It is a fine tool for mediums and necromancers, a trinket that drove kings and queens mad, an object so stained it makes angels flutter away. The endless whispering is taxing but this can be remedied by locking it inside things.

However, it comes with an extraterrestrial curse; the phantom that is nameless, the ancient that is faceless, the seven foot tall, nine-armed, hairy skeletal beast and spectral warrior that cherishes this Soul Pendant above all else. It has traveled light-years to reclaim it and kill its previous wearer. As slow as it creeps, it pursues silently and relentlessly. It will reach. The high priestess has foretold this: once the pendant reunites with the monster, then all life on earth is devoured. Many wearers have met a swift end by discovering that the Soul Pendant does not affect the monster. That is why in many languages, the warning "KEEP MOVING, KEEP GIVING" is etched into the flat back of the meteorite. That is why the Soul Pendant is often given away by a victim's soul who has fled their death, passing on the cursed powers to the ideal wearer. The one who can bear the burdens and duties of the Soul Pendant...

With great power follows and shadows a hungering death.
Don't pray for the Lord's grace. It was He who cursed us.
To save us all, keep moving the Soul Pendant.
To save yourself, keep giving it away.

[Atua]

 

The Deck of Many Blanks

Introduction: Felshwin trembles with glee as he draws out the plain looking packet from its resting place within the tomb of a long dead mage. It isn’t much to look at, a small box approximately 2 inches wide, 3 inches tall and half an inch thick, however his innate sense of magic tells him this is a powerful magical item. He opens the packet and looks in to see an array of cards. He pulls one out and finds that it is blank; confused, he puts it back and pulls out another only for an empty visage to be presented across the off white cardboard. Totally flummoxed by now, Felshwin turns to his friend Luca and shows him this second card, holding it up so that Luca is obstructed from view due to the card. At this moment, a white flash blinds Felshwin, and when his vision recovers Luca cannot be found. Looking at the dropped card, Felshwin stares in horror at a still image of Luca imprisoned within the confines of the magical card.

Details: The Deck of Many Blanks is a powerful magical item created by a mad mage aeons ago. The concept of the magical item is simple in its execution; the deck is filled with up to 20 blank cards. When a blank card is drawn and then placed an arm’s width away from the wielder while framing an object or creature, then that object or creature is captured within the card (as per the Imprisonment Spell, pg 252 of the 5e PHB). The wielder can then return the card back into the packet for safe keeping. At any moment after this, the wielder can draw the card again and place the card an arm’s width away again and the object or creature will reappear in that location. This could be used to capture someone so that they can be brought to jail, it could be used to remove a door in one location, and place a door where none was before, the possibilities are endless. Once a card has something stored within it, then that card will be destroyed once that item is returned to the material plane.

History: The Deck was made by the mad mage Groomish the Demented who thought this was his way of living forever. Groomish was trapped within one of the cards of the deck as part of making it. If a player is foolish enough to draw this card and summon him, they will be subject to an opponent of immense power.

Hooks: 1. The Deck is the only means of imprisoning a greater evil that is ravaging the world. The party is tasked with finding it and using it. 2. The party finds one of the cards with a person already trapped. Upon releasing the captive she tells them of the power of the deck.

[KhamLuc]

 

A Tome Of Sealing name « Obsidian Guardian » This Magical Tome is heavy. When closed, it's about 12x16. Cover with two obsidian plates to protect its content form the time “harshness”. The first ability of this tome is to seal any dimensional door, portal or gate in 10’ of it. On the first page, the sealing process is described in detail in the easiest language that the looker knows. Only the first page can be read by anyone. For second ability, it's to unseal those it was previously sealed. The Third ability is on the last page. A ritual to open some dimensional door is written there. The ritual can only be done by someone who knows how to do at least one ritual. When the ritual of the opening is done with the help of that book, the description of the location is transfer in a page of the book, in the language used to do it. The caster can add any note. The “Otherside” of the dimensional door is a room of 1'cube per blood sacrifice in the process (10 temporary hp/feet2) The Scribbling There is a piece of parchment that has some ruff scribbling in it, toss in the middle of the book. It explains what seems to be the last owner. He has used the book to hide some parts of an artifact that has been separate then scatter. “If you can read this, I’m probably disabled somehow, you are now the “Obsidian Guardian”. You have the responsibility to let those “things” inside... INSIDE. If for whatever the reason, you manage to not do it, know that your name will be famous... one way or the other.” “I put some challenge for those who want to try to undo my many decades of work. So please unseal those in order ... more challenging test will be set up to you, to know if you are worthy of opening those 5 last seals.” Each door has been created and seal by a different race knowing a different language. So the player has to find someone worthy of their trust to help them translate each page if there are not able to do them by themselves. The LAST dimensional door location’s page is sealed only with a memo inside: “If you open that one ... you cannot be trusted and you are not worthy of this Tome. The world I know is doom”. As you can conclude ... it’s nearly the fifth last page that got the artifact parts. The fifth one got a message to tell to not open the next seal if you are worthy of trust. In the beginning, the player has been requested to help to retrieve all those parts of the artifact and reunite them to battle an archfiend that will come back from the abyss at the next eclipse. They receive the tome to do the job.