Ideas for an artifact

[Palskane]

Ok everyone, I want to ask all the wonderful ENworlders here for some help.

I have just started a new campaign and the PC's have already had some weird dreams and some divinations about a mysterious black cube. I have not yet decided exactly what this cube does, but I do want it to be a major focal point of the game.

They have seen a vision where the cube was beset upon all sides by warring armies, each hoping to gain control of it, and another where it was delivered to a drow noblewoman.

I am open to any and all ideas. As far as visually, the cube is about 6" square and appears to be made of obsidian. Now, since they have only seen the item in their minds it could actually be made of just about anything.

The only thing I'd ask for in any ideas you might want to throw my way is that it is irrevocably and utterly evil.

Thanks to anyone for any ideas they might wish to share.

 

[Bayushi Seikuro]

Interesting set up.

The first thing I thought of is the possibility the dreams and visions are not literal interpretations. Warring armies waging war around it could represent the forces acting to control it. The noblewoman could be anything - tho drow, it could represent a motherly influence, and that the fact it's a drow could merely mean that the person who will control it will be the least likely suspect.

What if it's the Pandora's Box of the universe? The item some how spawns, or will spawn, every imaginable beastie and aberration the world will ever see? Or that it's like the Golden Apple from Greek Myths, just... not golden, and not etched with the words To the Fairest?

Another idea came to mind. Maybe it's a puzzle from some alien/unknown race. I'm reminded of a Babylon 5 episode with a berseker probe. The aliens made these probes that would go out, transmitting complex formulas, etc... like a Voyager probe, but... if the encountered people COULD answer the questions, it'd selfdestruct with enough power to wipe out the system, thus removing any possible future threat to this race...

But, I rant

 

[Jesus_marley]

Have you ever read The Black Company books by Glen Cook?

I can't remember the exact details, but I recall in one of the books a fortress that started out as a lump hidden in the wilderness and slowly grew by absorbing the life around it. Eventually it reached a size that it had it's own keepers who would then use corpses (old and fresh) and even living people to add to its size.

The keepers would often "hire" outside people (read: lowlifes) to loot crypts and fresh graves or even waylay the unwary to bring into the fortress. One of the most unsettling aspects of the fortress was that you could see the corpses inside the semi transparent walls.

You could shamelessly borrow from the novels and create such a fortress...

 

[fba827]

evil enough for armies to wage war over it? hrm...

i would say one option is that it actually has no real power, only legends attached to it and it turns out to be something less extreme.. but that would be highly anticlimactic for a focal point of a campaign. Having said that, how about some sort of power ... some possibilities off the top of my head
* enslaves or controls minds of mass populations (or even just individuals - mind control and making others loose their free will is often considered highly evil)
* can let out destructive blasts (that seems rather boring though, imho)
* can steal other people's magic and releases it back as the wielder chooses (though this may not be "evil" enough)

another option -- some how related to those black orb things (forget what they're called in D&D terms) that are made of black shadow mass (or something like that) that destroys all that it touches ... but what would a cube have to do with the orb? maybe it can control those orbs (making whomever has the cube able to control those devastating orbs).

hrm.. i'll think about it some and post more thoughts if i can think of something useful

 

[Dakkareth]

another option -- some how related to those black orb things (forget what they're called in D&D terms) that are made of black shadow mass (or something like that) that destroys all that it touches ... but what would a cube have to do with the orb? maybe it can control those orbs (making whomever has the cube able to control those devastating orbs).

hrm.. i'll think about it some and post more thoughts if i can think of something useful

It contains an Umbral Blot (a sentient Sphere of Annihilation). The legends say, the wielder of the box can release and control it at will, but in truth it is a prison and once freed the Umbral Blot will wreak havoc upon the world ...

 

[Rackhir]

Have you ever read The Black Company books by Glen Cook?

I can't remember the exact details, but I recall in one of the books a fortress that started out as a lump hidden in the wilderness and slowly grew by absorbing the life around it. Eventually it reached a size that it had it's own keepers who would then use corpses (old and fresh) and even living people to add to its size.

The keepers would often "hire" outside people (read: lowlifes) to loot crypts and fresh graves or even waylay the unwary to bring into the fortress. One of the most unsettling aspects of the fortress was that you could see the corpses inside the semi transparent walls.

You could shamelessly borrow from the novels and create such a fortress...

The "castles" started out as amulets, which would eventually "hatch" into a proto-fortress (killing the wearer naturally). The amulets were intially described as "keys" to enter the castle and trade with the inhabitants. The utlimate goal was to get the castle to be large enough that the creatures of the castles could then free the Dominator (The REALLY BBEG of the first 3 Black Company books).

An interesting idea from a David Brin Story called "Thor vs Captain America", was that the Nazi death camps weren't simply killing people for the sake of wiping out "inferior" races, but were actually a massive scale blood ritual intended to make the norse gods real. You could have the cube be able to accomplish similar things, at a similar price. To really play with their heads, what if one/some of the Good Gods, owed their existance to one of these genocidal slaughters or the "only" way to stop the BBEG was yet another genocide to create a Good God.

 

[Palskane]

OooOooo..... all kinds of ideas to work with! Please, keep them coming!

I appreciate it!

 

[the Jester]

If the pcs are racing lots of factions to find the cube, it might be interesting if it was split into six plates that fit together as the faces. So while the pcs might get two pieces, one enemy got two, a semi-reliable ally got one and someone unknown got one... without them all the full cube can't be assembled, but all those factions are bound to keep trying to get the whole thing.... and the semi-reliable ally might become dangerously hard to rely on, as the tensions rise over the ownership of the pieces...

I once used a cube artifact that had to be assembled, but it was, like, of infinite power. Each face gave absolute mastery over one aspect of reality: space, time, matter, energy, life and death. As the pcs accumulated more pieces- originally planning to keep them separate so everyone could have one- they discovered that the unjoined pieces wouldn't function unless they were far enough apart (no two within 10', no three within 100', no four within 1000', no five within 10000', and no six within 100,000'- about 20 miles). So they had to make a tough decision about whether to assemble it and trust one member of the (evil) party with it.

God killers, those guys were; in the end they were the ones who destroyed my old campaign world. Long story, that continues in my current campaign.