This item was inspired by another poster's submission to the 'levels 20-30 spells' post recently. I disagreed with his idea for controlling lightning with rego, but thinking about how one could do that, I came upon a sudden inspiration for a magic item.
The Thunder-Gatherer
This greater enchanted device was a a failed attempt to duplicate The Lightning Bringer (see the Vis Sources chapter of Covenants for details). Nevertheless, it turned out to have some uses.
Base Item:
A tall spike of smoothed wood, needle-sharp at the tip and two feet wide at the base. The wood must be gathered from an oak tree (+7 protection from storms) that was killed by a lightning strike (+2 Auram). As a Huge wooden object, it has a capacity and vim vis cost of 10 to open for enchantment, requiring Magic Theory 5 and allowing 100 levels of effects in its enchantments.
Survive the Force of Thunder
Muto Herbam 19 (base 4, +0 personal, +2 sun, +0 individual, +1 size, +4 levels constant)
This effect changes the wood of the object so that it is not shattered by lightning, but instead simply catches, much as the bare ground normally does. Were the item to be made without this effect, it would be destroyed by the first lightning strike. This effect benefits from the +7 'protection from storms' material bonus for an oak item.
Focus the Power of Lightning
Rego(Intellego) Auram 49 (base 4, +3 sight, +2 sun, +2 group, +2 size, +4 levels constant)
This effect detects and targets any storm clouds that near the area, gathering them closer to the item and causing their lightning-strikes to hit it nine times out of ten. This typically disrupts local weather patterns and creates an overcast, rainy and thundering sky above the location of the item at all times, with a lightning storm almost every other day. Standing too near the item when lightning strikes must make a Size stress roll of 6+ to remain standing, and a stamina stress roll of 9+ to avoid being deafened (as in the spell 'Jupiter's Resounding Blow.) This effect benefits from the +2 'Auram' bonus in the item material, for being made of lightning-struck wood.
Benefits of the Item:
Unlike the Lightning Bringer, this much simpler device is incapable of extracting vis from the lightning, a process which seems to require some sort of non-hermetic effect. Nevertheless, it is usable as a significato (see the Covenants rules) as if it were a similar vis source, and it provides a +4 specialization to Auram and a +3 specialization to experimentation if somehow included in a lab (though careful wards are suggested to keep the thunder and lightning from damaging the rest of the lab, and to keep rain and other weather away while allowing the lightning to strike it)
