The Wizards' Argos Catalogue (formerly 30 Days of Enchanted Items)

Games Discussion Ars Magica
21

[I'm at my mother's this weekend, so I'll post tomorrow's item early]

  1. Versuvulus

Cr(Re)Te 35

(Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Diam, 0 Ind, +1 Req, +4 Wholly Un-natural, +1 24 Uses/day)

A pace diameter granite bowl with walls some five inches thick, whose sides bear images of the deeds of Vulcan rendered in inlaid bronze. The bowl its-self is filled with a tiny moonscape of what appears to be solid basalt, rising to a peak in the centre. Those who place incense upon a lit coal at the bowl's rim and speak certain prayers to Vulcan and Verditius the Founder will be rewarded with a minute yet vigorous volcanic eruption centering on the bowl's central peak. Since the resulting volcano is more than capable of flinging lava bombs and pyroclastic flows at an unwary user, circle wards and protective clothing are generally advised.

Some brave and/or foolhardy folk have used this device to cook their breakfasts, though it is generally given a respectfully wide berth, kept locked away behind wards against Terram, Ignem, and Auram. A grog may occasionally need to feed Versuvulus additional basalt to make up for that lost or otherwise thrown outside its bowl.

(Granite: +3 Terram, Bronze: +3 Terram, Container: +5 Create or Transform Within; Base Metal: 5 base points, Large x4, for a total of 20 vis slots)

[Pet rocks are over-rated. Pet volcanoes, on the other hand...]

2 Likes
22

[It occurred to me that I had yet to write any items made by Bjornaer]

  1. My Own Private Ocean

Cr(Re)Aq 45

(Base 5, +1 Touch, +1 Conc/+1 Item concs, 0 Ind, +1 Req, +2 Very Unnatural Movement, +2 Infinite uses)

The magic of the Ritual of Twelve years cares much less about the desires of the Bjornaer to whom it grants heartbeasts than what they are in the depths of their selves. So it was that Dimetri Bjornaerovich, whose passion was for the magic of forests, found himself possessed of -lumbered with, he thought- an octopus heartbeast. Still, he would have his trees, ancient Mysteries and Bjornaer mores be damned.

The magics that resulted from this obsession have taken many forms over Dimetri's decades; moistening salves, spells to make air into water, enchantments that permit his heartbeast to swim as easily through the sky as the sea. Still, none of these have proven as successful as the latest device: a seamless ring of polished rock crystal, filled with a flurry of tiny leaves rendered in shell, jade, and green beryl. Held in tentacled grasp the ring seems to expand, generating and maintaining a second skin of seawater about its owner. One might then watch an octopus climb a tree with such speed and skill as finally gave Dimetri cause to bless his many arms.

(Crystal: +5 Water Related Effect, Jade: +4 Aquam, Beryl: +3 Water, Sea-shell: +2 the Sea, Ring: +2 Constant Effect; Semi-Precious Stone: 12 base points, Small x2, for a total of 24 vis slots)

[If the Heartbeast is a reflection of self, and enough people already hate themselves without magic to drive the point home, then there must be Bjornaer out there who find their Heartbeasts disappointing or embarrassing. You wanted the mighty eagle but you got the humble mole etc. Still, self-acceptance is a good thing, and a flying mole is but spells away!]

23

[I'm scaling the magic for this using the guidelines for Invisible Sling of Vilano, which might be wrong. But why should the Te specialists get all the fun?]

  1. Dragonslaying Bow

ReHe 60

(Base 45, +1 Touch, 0 Mom, 0 Ind, +2 Unlimited Uses)

A very, very, large recurve bow, longer than most men are tall, and curiously constructed indeed. The ribs of some great monster, wholly unadorned, strung with sinew of unknown provenance, bend, as if wood shaped by steam, into an impossible mirrored double curve. Those few brave and strong enough to draw the bow shall be rewarded with a shot of tremendous force, more than sufficient to pierce iron at twenty paces. Since the force of that shot often shatters the archer's arms, few attempt to use it twice.

(Animal Bone: +4 Harm or Destroy Animal, Bow: +5 Destroy at a Distance; Bone: 3 base points, Large x3, for a total of 9 vis slots)

24

[And from maim we go to mend, and in my case to bed, since I am now up to date again!]

  1. Galen's Eyes

InCo 50

(Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Conc/Item Concs, +4 Sight, +1 24 Uses)

Made by a Pharmacopoeian either very out of date or shorn of irony, the smoky quartz lenses of these folding spectacles do not appear very useful at first glance. Anyone who cared sufficient to open their orangewood and ivory frames and set it upon his nose, would, however find himself viewing matters quite differently. Galen's Eyes show the world as a physician ought see it, showing every injury and malady of the bodies that pass their gaze. Most find them very tiring to wear.

(Rock Crystal: +3 Healing, Mask: +2 Affect Wearer's Sight, Orange: +5 Sight, Ivory: +5 Healing; Hard Stone: 7 base points, Small x2, for a total of 14 vis slots)

25
  1. The Boreal Window

Cr(Pe)Au(Ig) 35

(Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Conc/Item concs, +1 Part, +1 Req, +1 Slightly Unnatural, +1 24 uses/day)

A pair of louvred wooden shutters in the Roman style, decorated, in naive and colourful fashion, with ships under sail and fan bearing melusines (one gains the impression that the painter was more interested in some aspects of those nymphs than others). A cooling breeze blows through any window to which the shutters are afixed, so long as they are open. More and less tastefully made variations are common in the chambers of magi all over Southern Europe.

(Doorway: +7 Effect Movement Through, Fan: +4 Create Or Control Winds, Sail: +4 Effect Winds; Wood: 2 base points, Large x 4, for a total of 8 vis slots)

1 Like
26

[Even by my low standards this is a ridiculous amount of magic to throw around. Also a mite inspired by Junji Ito (if you don't know who that is and are fond of sleep then I strongly advise against googling him)]

  1. A Subtly Tilted Hallway

CrVi 70

(Base 25, +1 Touch, 0 Mom, +2 Room, +4 Pen, +2 Infinite Uses)

A hallway the length of a longship and barely wider than a man's shoulders, which represents the only obvious path to the treasury deep in the Mercer house at Frankfurt. Whilst the stars and clothlike folds carved into its elderwood panelling are doubtless beautiful, whilst its ashwood planks are laid so closely not even dust could slip between them, practiced eyes would note that this chamber's dimensions do not wholly add up. The sum of its angles is always too great or too small.

The wise would do well to note this property and find another route, for every step they take down that corridor, every touch against its walls, will burden them with Warping (5 points per incident). Tales abound of those eager to make off with Mercere wealth whose traversal of the hallway left them barely recognisable as human.

The Mercere (and their trusted servants) use secret passages which wholly circumvent this particularly cruel thief trap.

(Ash Wood: +3 Harm People, Elder Wood: +4 Malicious Magic, Room: +6 Affect Everything Within At Once; Wood: 2 base points, Huge x5, for a total of 10 vis slots)

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27

[I'm actually going to put a trigger warning on this one, since it is genuinely an unpleasant item. TW: brainwashing, mental breakdowns, emotional abuse, mental abuse, and related implications.]

  1. The Sword, Logic

MuMe 55

(Base 10, +2 Voice, +3 Moon, 0 Ind, +3 Pen, +1 24 Uses/day)

Deep in the Tremere's archive regios at Tablinum, hidden well away from the eyes of other Hermetic magi, one might find a sword that is not a sword. A cord wrapped walnut grip bears a garnet pommel fashioned after the bust of a smiling centurion, the hilt is a pair of steel victor's laurels; mercury fills a channel in the grip, granting the sword weight and heft. To draw it from its black leather scabbard reveals nothing save an empty hilt, for the blade of Logic is its wielder's words.

Those struck by Logic's 'blade', if it penetrates their Parma, lose all memory of themselves. They are and have always been friends of the Tremere, and believe, as wholeheartedly as their faithful sodales of that house, in the great project of Hermetic unification. By the time the enchantment wears off it is likely that the person enchanted has so thoroughly alienated their former friends, so thoroughly compromised their beliefs in serving Tremere ends, that they will be wholly broken. Some such wretches have killed themselves or sought death in lashing out against their captors, others begged to know Logic's embrace again. It is House policy to treat the sword's victims with kindness, for they have been shown the light, the glory of Tremere's plan; surely to gain their loyalty by means of mundane words and deeds should not now be so hard. The success rate has proven so high that to wield Logic requires the express permission of the Tremere Primus, lest the Order at large become aware of its existence.

(Mercury: +5 Muto, Walnut: +4 Mind; Garnet: +3 Bonds of Commitment, Crown: +3 Control People, Helmet: +4 Effect Wearer's Mind and Emotions; Precious Stone: 15 base points, Tiny x1, for a total of 15 vis slots)

[Quite possibly the most disturbing thing I have ever written. Good for an antagonistic Tremere campaign, if that's your jam, but a minor re-write would make it suit almost any other House or faction.]

28

[It occurred to me that the last few items had become a bit...dark. So here's a palette cleanser.]

  1. Marriage Bands

CrIm 31

(Base 1, +4 Arc, 0 Mom, +1 Ind, +3 Pen, +1 Complexity, (+1) 2 Uses/day)

A pair of gold seal rings, each inset with a garnet cabochon bearing the image of a pair of clasped hands, bound together in the fashion of a handfasting. These belong to Adrian of Guernicus and Antonius of Bonisagus, made by the latter when he grew sick of how often his Quaesitor beloved's work called him away. Kissing either ring presents the wearer of the other with the sensation of a warm embrace and a kiss on the lips. Since there is no real way to know what the person wearing the other ring is doing, some embarrassment has resulted from poorly timed displays of affection.

(Garnet: +3 Bonds of Commitment, Glove: +4 Affect things by Touch, Rope: +4 Binding, Precious Stone: 15 base points, Tiny x1, for a total of 15 vis slots)

29
  1. Helping Hands

ReAn 30

(Base 1, +2 Voice, +2 Conc/Item Concs, +2 Group, +2 Finesse, +1 24 Uses)

Multiple leather gloves of various design, ranging from long fingered kidskins through to rugged, steel reinforced, gauntlets. These are not themselves the item, indeed they are replaced as regularly as their destruction requires, which, given they belong to the magical zoologist Udane of Bonisagus, is often. One ought instead look to Udane's own hands, and the dragonleather gloves she wears, the backs of which are studded with copper and magnetite, each stud bearing likeness to some mythic creature curled in sleep. These allow her to compel other gloves stored around her lab and menagerie into motion; to clean out the enclosures, to scratch her Barghest familiar behind the ears just so, to restrain angry or injured creatures at need. Much more satisfactory than endangering covenfolk to the same purpose.

(Glove: +4 Affect At A Distance, Copper: +4 Deftness, Magnetite: +4 Animal; Base Metal: Base Metal: 5 base points, Tiny x1, for a total of 5 vis slots)

30

[Oh God. It's only a month away.]

  1. Yule Grate

Cr(Mu)Ig 33

(Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, 0 Ind, +1 Req, +2 Unlimited Uses, (+3) Env Trigger

Dagonet of Flambeau made this very ornate pair of fire-dogs on request of his sodales at the Arbor Low covenant in Stonehenge, to help drive off a pernicious fairy thief. The iron and brass andirons are cast to resemble dragons, one bearing a torch, the other a pair of bellows. Wood placed upon them burns, smokelessly yet with the scent of incense, at a steady clip and re-lights immediately when extinguished. When their fairy nemesis, a poor quality Wotan imitation with a penchant for red, attempted to gain entrance via the chimney as was its wont, the light, flame, and frankincense undid it, leaving nothing but a pathetic heap of coal.

(Iron: +7 Harm or Repel Faeries, Brass: +3 Ignem, Hearth: +7 Create Fire and Heat, Lamp: +4 Create Fire, Bellows: +5 Strengthen Fire; Base Metal: 5 base points, Medium x3, for a total of 15 vis slots)

[Cue Christmas music, everywhere, for the next 5 weeks. Bah and indeed, humbug.]

31
  1. The Drunkard's Friend

ReCo 30

(Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, 0 Ind, +1 24 uses/day)

The Hermetic covenant at Laess has within its grounds a fountain that produces an endless stream of cider. The Hermetic covenant at Laess once suffered a long running issue with hungover covenfolk and magi. These may not have been unrelated. Since local supplies of willow bark had begun to run low, Greta ex Miscellanea devised a solution at the instigation of her sodales. By the doors of Laess' great hall now stands a small alabaster bowl, filled to brimming with cold water, whose sides are decorated with images of men and animals cavorting in an orchard, each of whom has tiny chips of baltic amber or walrus ivory for eyes. Those washing their faces in the water held there are blessed with relief from their hangovers.

Some warping may result.

(Alabaster: +4 Mental Acuity, Amber; +3 Corpus, Ivory: +5 Healing; Prescious Stone: 15 base points, Tiny xq, for a total of 12 vis slots)

[The covenant of Laess and Greta Ex Misc are property of our GM, who gave kind permission for their use in the flavour text]

32
  1. The Lute Of My Heart's Desire

ReAn 50

(Base 1, +1 Touch, 0 Mom, +2 Group, +1 Complex Motion, +6 Me requisite, +2 Unlimited Uses)

Quintil de Jerbiton wished to be known as a great troubadour, and none who knew him could doubt his skill as a composer or the beauty of his voice. Yet, cursed with Leprosy, he possessed neither sufficient feeling in his fingers to play the lute, nor, before the end, sufficient fingers at all. Instead Quintil fashioned a lute that might play in his stead. The instrument, still kept by the lazar house where his days ended, is of lemonwood and cedar with an intricate brass rose depicting scenes from romances popular at the time. If properly tuned then asked politely it will play both from Quintil's repertoire and those of other troubadours of his lifetime, in what is considered a very fine style. The lute is capable of learning other songs if demonstrated sufficiently often and of answering simple questions by the plucking of its catgut strings (it tends sarcastic), but otherwise lacks much intelligence.

(Lemon Wood: +5 Hearing, Cedar Wood: +5 Mentem Requisite, Brass: +3 Music; Base Metal: 5 base points, Small x2, for a total of 10 vis slots)

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33
  1. The Hand Of Necessity

PeVi 50

(Base 15, +1 Touch, 0 Mom, 0 Ind, +4 Pen, +2 Infinite Uses)

The Tremere are an army, and as every army they maintain a corps of battlefield medics. These magi, however, skilled as they might have proven in Corpus and chiurgy, oft found themselves stymied in attempting to treat magi whose wounds incapacitated yet whose Parma still stood. A minor concern when the House was at peace, a glaring oversight in the throes of the Schism War. Increasingly frustrated that they must resort to less effective methods whilst waiting for Parmas to fade, that too many of their sodales died in waiting, the Tremere Physicians appealed directly to Primus Cercistum. His answer came in the form of the three Hands of Necessity, given each to one of the House's senior medics, whose descendents still bear them as a mark of rank and earned respect. Each device consists of an alarmingly accurate, wizened, hand, carved from ivory and mounted at the end of a thin hornbeam wand; the hand its-self bearing the image of a chirurgeon's knife, fashioned of inlaid lead wire such that it appears to be a tattoo. Touching a Hand's fingers to a Parma'd mage's bare skin will obliterate any and all defensive wards they bear, allowing swift provision of healing magics. Rumours that other Hands of Necessity exist for use against the Tremere's foes are wholly apocryphal.

(Glove: +4 Effects At Touch Range , Ivory: +5 Healing, Hornbeam: +6 Against Hostile Vim, Lead: +4 Wards, Dagger: +2 Precise Destruction; Base Metal: 5 base points, Tiny x1, for a total of 5 vis slots)

34

[I'm late, I'm late, and its a very important date!]

  1. The Travelling Chest

ReHe 55

(Base 10, 0 Per, +2 Sun, 0 Ind, +6 Mentem Requisite, +1 (Env Trigger/3 Uses))

Zuhur ibn Pralix (Ex Misc.) travels widely across lands Hermetic and not in pursuit of his calling. Indeed his writings, passed from covenant to covenant, increasingly inform Hermetic society's understanding of the lands and magics beyond its borders. Alas, whilst Zuhur has witnessed numberless marvels in his long pilgrimage, he has also very often seen his worldly goods being carried off by bandits, or awoken to find his guides have abandoned him in some desolate location. Annoyed at the cost of replacing lost property, the Praclician commissioned an item of luggage that could not be stolen and need never be abandoned. The resulting item delivered its-self to him, resting at a remove caravanserai, within the year; an ironbound trunk of cedar wood, of size sufficient to enclose a grown man, lined with woven palm leaves, and borne aloft on sixteen stubbly lilac wood legs. Once he had calmed his fellow guests and overcome his own surprise, Zuhur found the chest exceeding useful, for its maker had not only enchanted it to walk, but granted it also intelligence and character alike a faithful ass. The chest has travelled tirelessly alongside its master ever since, and proven as impervious to theft as was promised, not least because it possesses no compunction in biting thieving hands or charging at bandits. Lately, the aging Zuhur has taken to affixing a carpet to the chest's lid and riding upon it, directing its motion with gentle taps of his staff.

(Dead Wood: +4 Affect Dead Wood, Cedar Wood: +5 Mentem or Herbam Requisites, Palm: +3 Animating Wood, Lilac Wood: +2 Travel; Wood: 2 Base Points, Huge x5, for a total of 10 vis slots)

[GNU Terry Pratchett]

35

[Trips and falls over the finish line.]

  1. Pentarch Armour

ReTe 50

(Base 3, +1 Touch, +2 Conc/Item concentrates, +2 Group, +1 Stone, +4 Finesse, +1 24 Uses/day)

A massive bronze golem, at first glance, something after an ancient hoplite, if thoroughly armoured in interlocking plates. Yet were you to melt away the bronze - obliterating the medusae and titans lovingly sculpted into it-, smash the insulating glass beneath, chip through the granite below that, you would find a very angry maga. The item in question is not her armour, which you have just now carelessly destroyed, but the padded woolen gambeson she was wearing beneath. Even shorn of the plating it supports, the gambeson is nigh armour in its own right; its shoulders, arms and chest shingled with scales of bronze and granite. Once its giant blooded wearer is armed cap-a-pied, the enchantment in the gambeson moves the armour's stone components, mimicking her movements and magnifying her strength and durability to a frightening degree.

(Granite: +3 Terram, Bronze: +3 Terram, Armour: +7 Protect Wearer; Base Metal; 5 base points, Tiny x1, for a total of 5 vis slots)

[We started with one masterwork, so we'll finish with another, this one to be my character's. I'm using finesse (one point per mag) as a bit of a proxy for things like the armour supporting its-self and not tearing its user apart. My best guesstimate is that, with a little prep and lab re-arrangement, this ought to take her 3 seasons continuous work to make]

1 Like
36

Oh dear lord, I'm back on my bullshit.

  1. The Shah's Game
    ReHe 50

(Base 3, +1 Touch, 0 Mom, +2 Group, +6 Mentem Requisite, +2 Unlimited Uses)

"Of course he's showing off; that's just how Verditius are, but you do have to admit a certain artistry in the design."

"Well, yes. Look, I like cedar and palmwood as much as the next Herbam specialist, and the topaz eyes in the pieces are certainly striking but..."

"But?"

"The joy of chess lies in the interplay of ideas and philosophies upon the board, in truly coming to understand the mind of your opponent. Playing against an enchanted chess board would be like...like reciting love poetry to a cliff face."

"Wolf of the founder, woman! Do you have to be such a stereotype!"

(Cedar: +5 Mentem requisite, Palm: +3 Animating Wood, Dead Wood: +4 Effect Dead Wood, Topaz: +4 Leadership; Wood: 2 base points, Medium x3, for a total of 6 vis slots)

[I was today years old when I learned how weird the Tremere can be about chess.]

37

So does this board play against the Owner?

I have been toying with a pair of chessboards that can be used for remote playing (A made by a bonisagus and his Redcap husband to stay in contact) but I haven't quite worked out the details...

Bob

38

This case is board against owner, but if you wanted linked boards, I think the maths (using He for consistency) looks like this:

ReHe 35
(Base 3, +4 Arcane Connection, 0 Mom, +2 Group, +2 Unlimited Uses)

An is slightly cheaper however...:

ReAn 25
(Base 1, +4 Arc, 0 Mom, +2 Group, +2 Unlimited Uses)

Bear in mind that neither of these are likely to work through an Aegis without mags for pen. Your Bonisagus will also need to make two. Many, many, many interesting opportunities for plot to arise.

39

Candle of st.elmo’s fire: a iron candle that glows with the light of a lit candle on command, the same command word snuffs out the light.

40

This thread is for Elaterid's creations, try to keep from posting your own items or such here.