Rare Magic Items

Introduction-

Rare magic items oftentimes are complicated masses of congruence that combine effects, or produce a prominent single effect. Any of the listed below are extreme examples, but a flaming sword would qualify just as much as any of these, and any of the items on the Common Magic Items list, if increasing the quality, effectiveness, or duration would fit just fine as a rare magic item. While normally a magic item is imbued with a portion of congruence from a congruence core, some of the more rare items utilize an entire core in its construction.

After -

A mantle of flowing energy that glows as the ribbons of shifting energy twist and curl in streams of semi-solid light behind the wearer. When moving, the mantle activates and, depending on the type of movement, flows behind like a river, or spreads to the side like wings. The person wearing the Afterburner is able to move almost twice as fast, and perform feats not possible to normal people, such as standing on vertical surfaces, or upside down, running on water, or hopping across twigs between trees. The mantle also allows the wearer to leap great distances or slow descent if so wished. During these impressive displays, time dilates and slows visibly around the area where the Afterburner was active, causing reality to distort slightly around the wearer, almost appearing like a water that turns to gel, before snapping back after the feats are finished. The mantle then releases a wash of heat depending on the intensity of the activity, as reality snaps back into place, potentially lighting objects on fire. Generally the heatwave washes out away from the wearer, but in rare instances, it can release in on itself and harm them.

Rank -

Ranks are miniature homunculi that carry out a particular edict, ranging from mundane to arcane. Their cores are originally monstrous, and while they appear to have a semblance of life, they have no soul or functionality besides what is assigned to them on their creation. They do ‘die’ when damaged enough, although they will regenerate over time thanks to their core. If equipped with the right parts, they can speak, but only designated words or phrases. Ranks completely lack the ability to think, and like a computer program, instead respond to inputs and specific stimuli. They are rarely larger than a human toddler, but a person sized rank is not impossible, nor are ranks that can fit into the palm of your hand. Regardless of composition or who made them, they always smell reminiscent of the monster their core was taken from (unless doused in perfume or soaked in a bath regularly).

Longspear -

A longspear appears like a 3 to 4 foot spear with ornate carvings around its hilt, and a customized design on the tip based on the preferences of the user. It contains 2 special abilities, the first is the ability to extend and retract up to 4 times its normal length at will in a second, without changing its weight or balance. The second is a customizable ability that the user has imprinted when having it made, and can range from elemental effects, to parting effects, to repelling, and more.

Guardian Bloom -

As dangers approach the wearer of the brooch, vines and plant growth spring out to intercept the danger. The composition of the brooch determines the type of growth that appears, whether it is metallic, ceramic, liquiform, beetle shell, or normal plant matter. Each type of growth has supplemental properties. The normal plant growth attempts to entangle items or people that it comes into contact with, binding them to be stationary. Metallic growths attempt to shatter and destroy on their contact points, forming harsh angles and rigid lines before returning to normal. Ceramic blooms are designed to negate non-physical forms of danger mostly, and while they adequately respond to physical threats, they mainly deal with energy types, preventing cold and heat. Liquiform blooms slow and soften their impacts, and explode into a freezing gas that coalesces onto the danger in layers. Beetle shelled blooms are special, as a swarm of insects of the type of scarab used in the brooch amalgamates over the wearer for several seconds. All but the most finely crafted blooms are expended after a single use. Additionally, different types of blooms worn together tend not to mesh well if activated simultaneously.

Crux -

A nebulous gas that is controlled with a shimmering net of blue-frosted webbing. The net’s dimensions may stretch and shift to accommodate the size of the user. When swung and released in a particular manner, the net will release its strange gas, drawing everything nearby that isn’t the user towards it with a crushing pull. Strands of the net’s webbing attach to random points in the released gas clouds. Activating the Crux again will redraw the gas back into the net for later uses, as if being reeled in from a lure. If the entirety of the Crux is empty, the user may activate the secondary function of the net, and rapidly draw themselves towards the released gas, 1 strand (or multiple if needing to go in a direction adjacent to the strands) at a time recapturing the gas as they pass.

Shears -

A single blade that slices a line of space in front of it beyond its natural reach, severing items cleanly regardless of composition or hardness. The range varies from item to item, but when the Shears are activated, anything in the range of the ‘cut space’ is sliced, as it cleaves space itself for a moment. The cut is such that bonds at the atomic level split apart. Sometimes, the cut appears as a wave that travels outwards from the point of origin, and other times the effect is instantaneous.

Wicker -

A fractaled mess of what looks like a ceramic bramblebush in the shape of a cringing, screaming person, Wickers are used to create subservience. Congruence users MUST be the ones to claim ownership of such a device. Any living being pricked by one of the wicker’s thorns begins to feel a sense of negative emotion and dread pertaining towards the owner of the Wicker, be it fear, anger, sadness, hate, etc., that only increases with time spent under its spell. Wickers used in combination with a Font is an incredibly dangerous tool. If the subservient disobeys a direct order or directly harms the Wicker’s master, they become wracked with intense pain as thorns begin growing inside the subservient, or their thoughts become partitioned, both effects last for a long period of time.

Boxed Time -

A flat, spherical cube that remains stationary and is constantly rotating. When activated, Boxed Time melds several adjacent timelines into the currently observed one. It observes the next ‘yes or no’ action that occurs, and for everyone except the activating user, they observe reality as if the other action happened. For instance, a thief with Boxed Time needs to open the door to the vault in order to get outside of the treasure room. Several guards are standing around the entrance, waiting for the door to open as it is the only exit. The thief activates Boxed Time, and opens the door, walks out, and leaves unmolested, as all of the guards believe that they are in the reality where the door is still shut. It otherwise has no effect outside of general perception, but for the activator, should they use the device for protracted periods of time, they may experience problems, as merging timelines result in odd occurrences when ending the effect and re-merging the timelines. The ‘them’ from the other time has a greater tendency to merge more fully with the ‘them’ in their current time. If the thief in the example above instead opened the door, and activated Boxed Time in as they dodged attacks, the guards would believe they were successfully hitting them. After making the escape outside and turning it off, time would collapse, and the thief collapses as countless wounds from the other, now-real, time combine. This effect is never guaranteed. While garnering the attention of Axiom, these items do not break his rules as they technically only peer into possible futures and affect perceptions, rather than actual time travel.

Wind Wheel -

Large stabilized wheels that are made out of a hard metallic/ceramic base and a rubber/sap lining rimming the outside. Inside of the wheel rests the chair and control box for the rider. These wind wheels generate a sphere of air around themselves and travel slower than a horse at about 25 to 30 mph at top speed, but are indefinitely sustainable, and can even go underwater for a limited depth and duration, or hover across it. They activate through a command or a linked congruence item, making them difficult, though not impossible to steal, and serve as valuable tools for messengers and adventurers.

Cleanser -

A Cleanser takes the shape of a large cluster of fungus and completely revitalizes the body by removing harmful pathogens. Cleansers are made to analyze a person, determine the cause of their physical detriment, and fix it, and so come equipped to cure light wounds, but mainly are used to treat diseases, viruses, and even curses. They don’t regenerate body parts and their sole purpose is in removal. A cleanser will almost always be successful, but sometimes there are unintended side effects. For example, if a patient has a problem that removing would cause more, the cleanser will sometimes ignore it, or remove it anyways and attempt to take care of the future problems then. In other times, certain parts just go missing, as the cleanser deems it no longer necessary.

Regalia -

Regalia are wonders to behold. Indomitable articles of worth and prestige, regalia are used mostly for their flashiness (as each one has pronounced and wide effects that manipulate light, sound, heat or others), but can be incredibly effective when used beyond their surface level traits. They are similar to the common magical item prowess, and their flashiness is in large part to the condensed glows and ribbons of hard light that weave into their construction, but the effectiveness they have on the wearer is magnified significantly more. Beyond enhancing the body, they also grant an enhanced ability to wield congruence, and individual pieces allow the wearer to cast limited congruence spells depending on the item they are wearing, regardless of whether or not they would be able to cast it normally. Normally these powerful items are without side effects, although in some cases, a wearer’s personality and mannerisms have been known to shift, although whether that is from their own mind or the lingering influence of the regalia’s shaper is difficult to say.

Seed -

Seeds are copiers, beginning as an inert object and blossoming into a variation of the thing it is copying. Their ability to adapt a chosen theme relies strongly on the willpower of the person adapting it and their perceptions. Once a seed is sown (activated), it will only follow the direction of its original master. Seeds can replicate almost anything, but they do so without magical properties, and are otherwise unable to create life, although it can create a very realistic semblance of life. Seeds are often used for blueprinting strange artifacts, weapons, modeling cities and castles to scale and are, like congruence, mainly limited by the knowledge and understanding of the one using them, however they require no congruence to activate on their own. Once a seed’s purpose has been served it becomes inert and unusable, as it has completely transformed itself in the process of copying its chosen theme. Orders to copy themes without a clear definition, such as mannerisms, expressions, language, concepts and others result in dangerous or weird amalgams that express the theme chosen reflected by the views of the original user, the work or concepts being copied, and an unknown factor which can only be described as the seed’s will. The process for sowing a seed can range from a few hours if small and uncomplicated, to several years depending on the complexity. There is a story about a woman who lost her children and husband and tried using a seed to get them back as a grim reminder of what she cherished, but died before the work could be completed. The house that held the family is said to still be occupied by the very same family going about a happy, unchanging, daily routine, but is actually the seed’s shape made manifest, as it still grows its roots into the house and below. All seeds, sort of like red giants, eventually reach a critical mass where they are unable to sustain themselves any longer and reach their maximum size, even if not finished yet. These seeds can also lead to congruence scars, strange formations, and other unexplainable happenings out in the world.

Arc -

An Arc is used for transporting the most important of goods, and occasionally people. They come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from nondescript crates, to ornate sarcophagi, bags of carrying, and even things that look like floating obelisks with runic writings. Each one has the ability to open itself, exposing their interiors, and many are incredibly resilient to damage from both in and out. They serve as a sort of stasis pod for whatever is inside when the object is shut tight. In reality, the Arcs remove the items inside of it from the current timestream and place them back once the item is opened. Breaking an Arc when something is inside of it causes strange ripples to reverberate through nearby space, causing distortions like an epicenter for a massive congruence storm. Side effects of using an Arc are minimal, but in some reported cases, Arcs have been used as items of healing, as the time that they manipulate can rewind slightly, and can return a person to a state from before they were injured. Bodies that have died regain their “health” but are devoid of life. Arcs as punishment are very rare, but in those cases they take the form of one of two main types, one where the inside ages much more rapidly than the outside, and one where the inside slows tremendously, but whose occupant is still able to view the outside and is helpless to do anything.

Doctrine -

A doctrine is a dangerous item, and normally one never seen outside of closeted organizations or buried deep within forgotten tombs. Doctrines are the final products of scientists, adventurers, and thinkers who dedicate their lives towards the research of one purpose. It completely outlines the way that object of their fascination works, and then, vitally, it changes something. Either intentionally or unintentionally, every recorded doctrine gets ALMOST everything correct, but the single part that is missed or changed never breaks their study. That is because everything that comes into contact with the doctrine has a change that affects it. For a more absurd example, reading a doctrine about gravity that stipulates that gravity for all things becomes halved if one moves away from the highest source of mass, will have an ongoing effect (possibly a permanent one) that follows the doctrine’s new ruling. Somebody who reads a doctrine will not understand that they exist in a changed state, and will believe that theirs is the norm. They can affect living and nonliving material around them, and can be treated almost like forbidden eldritch existences. In most cases, a doctrine will slowly affect everything within a radius around it, taking time to rework living and non-living things alike. The exception is when a sapient creatures reads or studies the doctrine, in which case the changes happen nearly instantaneously.

Equalizer -

Dangerous tools that take the form of weapons or accessories, equalizers analyze the amount of ‘power’ their wielder’s opponents have before adding more of their own to balance out the scales. Equalizers mimic the abilities of congruence that they are against, and can have basic elemental effects, though their most basic trait is related to prowess, similar to regalia. It is really only useful for less powerful people, but those who are gravely wounded may use this as a second chance to get back into a fight. The danger in equalizers lies in their ability to push people past their limitations to a degree where they break themselves, and that if the item’s stored congruence isn’t enough to make up the difference, it will heavily draw from the wearer.