Item:Ornate anloral reliquary
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| ornate anloral reliquary | |
|---|---|
| Look: | The shimmering pale blue stone comprising this container is carved into the shape of an elderly wolf curled protectively around a sturdy box, its stout simplicity at odds with the elaborate latching mechanism securing whatever is inside. Done entirely in kertig, the closure defies conventional wisdom about the workability of the notoriously hard metal with its delicate detailing and intensely intricate design. |
| Weight: | 10 stones |
| Metal: | Unknown |
| Appraised Cost: | Unknown |
| Properties: |
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| Dimensions: | ? length x ? width x ? height |
| Sources: | Source is Guildfest 412/Auction |
Meraud's Reliquary
Housed within this sacred container is a scrap of the last work of a master enchanter. Clerics who revere Meraud have found that keeping this sacred object close improves their memory for spell patterns, allowing such to sometimes persist through death.
Evoke
The letters swim before your eyes, though you cannot say if it is tears, or age, or weariness that clouds your vision. The individual words and patterns are each as familiar as a lover, but today the meaning of the whole escapes you. At last, you relent, beckoning a nearby acolyte.
"Child, fetch me the previous volume if you will. The author's reasoning eludes me. There was a certain figure..."
Fear and uncertainty fill the acolyte's eyes.
"But master, *you* wrote this volume."
Individually, you understand each word, but the meaning of the whole escapes you. Dread claws at your heart, but a terrible certainty rises within you.
"Yes. Yes, of course. Do forgive me. I won't be needing you further this afternoon."
Your eyes fill with tears. You bow your head, lest the falling drops mar the text.
"Meraud, Meraud, oh please, please have mercy for your faithful servant..."
With a start, you find yourself drawn back to the reality of the here and now.
Study
Study: Looking at your reliquary, you feel certain that you could:
FOCUS, PRAY, TOUCH, OPEN, and CLEAN it.
Focus:
The anloral reliquary has some sort of magical pattern, which apparently is an enchantment.
You recognize the pattern as a delicate skein Holy magic.
The pattern manifests as a series of self-similar curves, their loops and angles vaguely reminiscent of handwriting. Analysis of the pattern shows that its geometrical structure is made up of dozens self-similar layers, their superposition looking much like a palimpsest.
Roundtime: 2 sec.
Pray1:
Placing one hand on your anloral reliquary, you mutter a soft prayer to Meraud.
You see a brief vision of a young man studying an elaborate spell pattern by candlelight.
Pray2:
Placing one hand on your anloral reliquary, you mutter a soft prayer to Meraud.
You see a brief vision of an elderly hand carefully writing the words, "I am now a stranger to myself, lost in the labyrinth of my own mind..."
Touch:
You caress the smooth anloral comprising your anloral reliquary. It grows warm, seeming to welcome your touch.
Open:
You carefully open the anloral reliquary.
Inside, you see a tattered bit of yellowed parchment completely covered in fading brown writing in an elegant hand. Damage to the page and the archaic script make deciphering the content of the text nearly impossible. In the lower left corner, a miniature illustration of a wolf can be discerned, bits of gold leaf still clinging to the illumination.
You gently close the reliquary once more, meticulously securing the complex latch.