Mnemonic Brush

"Be wary of what you can find in those ruins, for as even the walls could turn against you."

The Mnemonic Brush was created originally by Serpentfolks. As they proceed to complete impressive structures thanks to the assistance of many enslaved races, the serpentine tyrants desired to allow control and instill fear into such slaves by making the whole concept of literacy dangerous , to refrain amateur linguists to master their tongue and decipher their secrets. As such, they created a unique magical item called the mnemonic brush.
Thanks to this brush, they were able to infuse magic in the scriptures they made, activating those as traps with ritual magic to specifiy the triggers. Once activated, a painting made of a mnemomic brush will start to manifest a crude representation of the creature portrayed. As making those magical inscriptions demands several bodies of the creature you want to manifest, most creatures created that way are usually common in the nearby ecosystem.
This made their wall scriptures protected from future tomb raiders trying to discover the secret of their language, and also discouraged sapient species enslaved by the serpentfolk to learn the language, or even gain litteracy for some, as it gave the serpentfolk an aura of 'Word Warlocks' and dangerous knowledge holders. Outside of defensive mechanisms, some serpentfolks used this magecraft as an assassination tool, creating venomous creatures like snakes to attack those that would open a letter written with the paint/ink of it's brush.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The brush works just like a regular paint brush, but uses special components as paint which is later distillated to make a concentrated paint drop. During the process, the residual memory of the creature's salvages will infuse the paint drop: this has an uses to help mimicate body memory and behaviour of those creatures. The creation of the brush's pigmentation is then made of numerous of those mana-infused paint drops, requiring many dead creatures to emulate the reaction as clearly as possible.


By using the brush on a surface, such as a letter or a wall, said paintings will radiate in magic. After another ritual, the spellcaster can order the painting to animate it's shape , creating a faux-semblant of the creature painted.

Current Location

The temple-city of Yaz

Related ethnicities

• Ahrimanjin

Rarity

Mnemonic brushes can be made by talented magecrafters, but most secrets of the craft's potency remains in those made by the serpentfolks of old.
Most countries have about less than five in circulation or used by denizens.
Rumors are a unique set of 9 mnemonic paint brushes made by the wizard (character) are considered the masterwork in the field. Only two of those brushes is known to have a current owner.

Weight

1 lbs

Dimensions

20 cm long, 1.5 cm radius

Base Price

Luzury magical item tiers

Raw materials & Components

The ritual for the paint to use with the brush involves making a mix of a creature's ashes and blood as material components.
As for the structure of the paintbrush itself, the materials varies. Serpentfolks are known to have used ivory for the handle.

Tools

woodcutter (or similar object if not using wood as handle base, like a stone carving tool), distillator (for magic paint).