MAGICAL ITEMS
Magic on the world of Carbunkle! is both fickle and volatile. To wield it requires a sharp mind and an iron will, for all wizards know that their magic can quite literally turn on them at any moment. And should a magic spell go awry, the results can range from mildly embarrassing to catastrophically fatal.
When bound to a physical item, though, the enigmatic force that is magic is much more agreeable and far less temperamental. For this reason, wizards throughout history have bonded magic into a wide variety of items for uses both great and small.
While some magical items are rare and history-altering, like the Wishgem of Zedaro, others are mass-produced and provide small boons to everyday life, like Cockapenny’s Cookpot of Second Chances.
Adventurers are often tasked with finding and securing the most dangerous and powerful of these enchanted artifacts, whether they are ancient relics lost to time, family heirlooms brimming with forgotten power, or a curious trinket found at the bottom of a rusty old spittoon.
In a world always on the brink of disaster, a powerful magical item in the wrong hands is all too common an occurrence, so their recovery is an essential duty for every adventurer.
The Wishgem of Zedaro
Considered the most powerful magical item ever created, the Wishgem of Zedaro is highly coveted for its unparalleled ability to grant a single wish to whoever uses it. Once wished upon, the gem vanishes and reappears somewhere else, waiting to be found again. The gem’s magic is believed to be so powerful that it can alter time, rewrite history, and change destiny. Though highly unscientific and lacking scholarly rigor, Scholarists point to inexplicable discrepancies in historical records as possible evidence of the Wishgem’s use. While it is not known who or what “Zedaro” was, or even where the name originated, the Wishgem first appeared during the second incarnation of the world. How many wishes the gem has granted since its creation is also unknown, but many myths and legends have sprung up around its use. From the folktale of “Farmer Pidgeontoe and His Bountiful Harvest” to the epic saga of how the legendary city of Tannabarber rose from the ocean fully formed with gleaming silver spires, the stories connected to the Wishgem of Zedaro range from the humble to the grandiose. The Wishgem does not grant additional wishes, nor can it be restrained from disappearing after one is made. Its subsequent reappearance is completely random. Tales tell of it being found by a grandmother floating in her stew, by a surgeon who discovered it in the stomach of a particularly gluttonous dwarf, by a king who found it in his chamber pot, and by an adventurer who uncovered it lodged within the skull of a beast from antiquity. The Wishgem of Zedaro appears indiscriminately, without rhyme or reason, offering unparalleled possibility and power to whoever wishes upon it.
The Ribbith
While it appears to be nothing more than a small, rotund frog figurine, the Ribbith is a powerful magic deterrent. Anyone attempting to cast a spell within its radius will find themselves involuntarily croaking instead, disrupting their magic and possibly causing a catastrophic misfire. Because of this, the Ribbith is highly coveted as a safeguard against hostile magic. However, its protection comes with a peculiar cost. For every spell the Ribbith disrupts, one small frog appears. Multiple spells mean multiple frogs. If these frogs are not well cared for, the Ribbith becomes temperamental and may refuse to interfere with spellcasting altogether, rendering it frustratingly unreliable at the worst possible moments. The upper limit of frogs the Ribbith can produce remains unknown. One infamous account tells of a previous owner who concealed the figurine within a spell laboratory at Raelthorne Academy. The result was chaos: hundreds of students croaking throughout the day and producing thousands of frogs, until the figurine was found and confiscated. While, luckily, none of the magical misfires that day were fatal, the descendants of those frogs still plague the school to this day. While its current whereabouts are unknown, any spellcaster who finds themselves unexpectedly croaking in the presence of an increasing number of frogs would be wise to assume the Ribbith is near!
