LetsBuild5e:Artefacts
According to legend, there are many ancient artefacts at large in the world, although how many of them are real is highly debatable. (Decision: [1])
- The trappings of the old empire: the weapons and armour of Kuhetzib, believed to include a bronze spear and shield.
- The Seat of Power - a stone seat enshrined in a larger throne, said to have belonged to the rulers of the last nation to speak Old Mystic as a first language.
- The dwarven map of the underworld which they used to travel during the last flip - carved into a series of stone tablets and sealed into a great portable ark.
- The legendary halfling cornucopia - which they say fed them during a time of famine.
- The elven compass - the only one known which magically charts the route to the safe way to navigate the falls at the edge. It is currently said to be kept on board the flagship of the elven boat-city.
- The original tome in which Enkram wrote the words stolen from the divine tongue. It is said to be kept locked away as just to look upon those words will drive most mortals insane.
- Sacred items of the dragonborn, said to come from the hoard of the last true dragon (many counterfeit items also exist, only certain dragonborn priests know how to tell the real from the fake artifacts).
- A magical conch shell, said to be the first ever musical instrument and held in the main bardic college in the country where Wáyéhì hails from. It is said that if you hold it to your ear you can hear the echoes of the song that created the world, but also that if you blow on it in a time of great need then the ghost of one of the great folk heroes will appear to guide you.
- The girdle of the Trickster, which appears to be a simple rope belt. Magical identification reveals it to be a cursed belt of gender changing. In fact it is neither of these and putting on the belt actually has the same effect as if a card were picked at random from a Deck of Many Things (the gender changing ID is actually an epic level casting of Nystul's Magical Aura with Permanence).
- The Chalice of the Healer, with which Lises-Huvnamunu healed the priest-queen Moburene.
- Bormerene, the chief god, gave the First Law. This is a rule so obvious and logical that anyone who hears it agrees that it is self-evidently legitimate. Only those who totally reject any rule of any sort will not agree to follow it. The rule can be used to derive other laws. It is the essence of justice and good government. It is rumored to still exist, but no one knows where. Various tyrannical, corrupt, or otherwise un-just governments have been rumored to have it, keeping it hidden to avoid people seeing what justice actually is.
- Metepes, the Trickster, told the First Lie. This is a lie so perfect it must be believed. The trick is, it only works once for one person. Once they tell the Lie, and are believed, the power of the Lie passes to the person they convinced, who can then empower the next lie they tell, and so on. The First Lie is known to still be circulating, presumably in the hands of someone who is being scrupulously honest, to avoid using the Lie before they need it.
- Endprazad, the Death God, built the First Tomb. This mighty mausoleum is indestructible, and can contain anything. Anything interred within the First Tomb is preserved imperishable, both physically and metaphorically. The corpse of someone in the First Tomb will never decay, and their memory will never pass from history. A philosophy placed in the Tomb will never lose currency in scholars' treatises. There are two catches, however. First, anything interred in the First Tomb is literally unchanging - history will never reinterpret someone's deeds, an idea will never adjust to circumstances, a work of art will never inspire new takes or twists. Second, if something is ever removed from the First Tomb, it quickly decays away into nothingness, and its memory is forever lost. The First Tomb still exists, far to the north of the starting location, at the mid-point of the world. It is currently held in trust by several major states that surround it, who have made a pact not to store anything in it themselves, and to prevent anyone else from attempting to do so as well.
- Avatzakad, the Healer, gave the world the First Wine. This was a vintage of wine so potent it would put anyone to sleep after a single drink, yet so gentle that they would wake with no ill-effects and even heal faster while asleep. No one knows of any of the First Wine that still remains, but rumors persist of sacred vinyards and herb gardens that, if one knew the secret, could be used to brew a new batch.
- The Lover, Lorno, sang the First Song, a beautiful paean to joy, love, and passion. It cannot fail to raise the spirits of any who hear it, and can break even supernatural fear and despair. It takes a mortal years of dedicated study to master even a single verse of it, but those who do are renowned throughout the lands. Every bardic college of note has records of the First Song (though some who have not had a master of it in residence for some time may have corrupted versions that will not have the full impact).
- The god of Wisdom, Denopes, penned the words of the First Book. This weighty tome conveys the secrets of both learning and teaching. Anyone who reads and comprehends it will forever after be a scholar of great repute, able to get to the heart of any natural puzzle or philosophical conundrum incisively and accurately, and to pass on what they have learned to others with equal facility. The First Book itself is lost, but precises and copies are kept in many institutions of learning. These don't have the full impact of the original, but much can still be learned from them.
- The First Treasure is a mystery. Some say the Chief of Fiends, Balmeverni, created it, while others claim it was Kugbazel themselves who sent it into the world, hoping to take revenge on the mortals for whom the gods acted when they attacked the Dragon God. Some even say the two adversaries of the divine acted together to craft and distribute this mighty instrument of discord and strife. Whatever its provenance, the First Treasure is in the world, and causes war and strife whenever it is found. Its true form is unknown. Whoever sees it sees the most desirable object they know of, whatever that may be. Anyone who possesses it finds other treasure flowing to their hands, but this newfound wealth will always inspire jealousy and envy among one's fellows, and the First Treasure will always make itself visible eventually to others. Thus, the First Treasure passes from hand to hand in a chain of theft, murder, and conquest. Occasionally, someone with a noble enough heart to resist the lure of the First Treasure will take possession of it, and act to put it out of circulation - throwing it into a volcano, casting it off the side of the world, and so on. However, the curse of the First Treasure means that it will be found again, sooner or later.
