Key of the Keeper

Such a small item that is worth such a massive amount of money...

If someone from another culture spoke with a human about the Key of the Keeper, he would be surprised by how mundane it is. Indeed, the Key could not open any door or do other mysterious stuff. In this matter, it is a usual richly made key. What it does is to allow the owner to go through one exact door. Yet, the Key is what any human would think of it they were asked about the most important item of their race.
The reason for this is the door that it opens. Some time after the foundation of the Human Empire, the Imperial Academy was entrusted by the Emperor Jaymond to create "the safest place in the world".
All the things too valuable or too dangerous to be anywhere else, all great empire treasures and its worst curses have been put in this place, and the keys to it were entrusted to a group of individuals from among the people of Academy. Most of the things there were supposed never to be taken out of the room, and that room was protected with all the magic and artefacts the empire could afford. An impenetrable wall that shall hold priceless treasures safe behind it for thousands of years.
When the word of it got out of the Academy, many people became interested in it. Criminal guilds had a busy time, spying on the entire Academy and trying to locate and acquire any of the Keys. Over time, five of them were found out to exist. The price of the contract for getting the Key skyrocketed. Thousand gold pieces, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, there was no end to the desire of rich people to acquire the treasures hidden inside that room. Should someone manage to steal one of those, they would get enough money to buy a noble title and a position of the governor, if so wished. The requests for the Keys did not cease to appear for decades.
Despite all that, the Keepers continued to safeguard the empire's treasures and dangers hidden inside that room. Many people have claimed that they managed to steal one of those keys, only for it to mysteriously disappear from their pocket. Some told that the imperial soldiers came and took the stolen Key back. Some could not open a door with the Key no matter how hard they tried to, at least so they said, and thus it must've been a big ploy all together. And even after the collapse of the empire the Keys, each belonging to a different Keeper, remained the only way for anyone to get those mythical treasures.

Significance

Cultural, key to empire's treasures

Item type

Service

Current Location

Imperial Academy (city)

Related ethnicities

• Civilised humans

Owning Organization

Keepers

Rarity

Unique (5 pieces known)

Base Price

Millions of gold each