10 (More) Relics for Cairn

 

Yes, more of them. They're too fun to write, and it just so happens that the campaign I'm working on now has some haunted forest vibes, so I figure these will be useful to me in the near future anyway. Hope you can use these to break your woodsy game (in a good way)!

1. Mug of Good Health, 3 charges - An oversized mug of cracked earthenware. When filled and raised with a hearty toast, everything in earshot capable of hearing must pause what they're doing for a moment and return the toast, raising whatever item they hold in their hand. Recharge - Offer to share a drink with a hostile creature, then convince them to agree of their own free will.
2. Wrenpenny Bit - A small copper piece in the local style, save the chubby little wren printed on its transverse. Its most recent previous owner always has an instinctive idea of the direction the coin lies in, and in their presence it will let out a chittering birdsong.
3. Sanguine Lantern - A rectangular lantern with frosted, brown-stained glass. It's sealed tightly, with angular symbols scratched into the joints. A small reservoir on top feeds fuel to the petty fae sealed inside, who illuminates the lamp with a pure white light. The only fuel the fae accepts is a good quantity of blood from whoever will be carrying the lantern (d4 STR damage for an hour of light). It gets irritated by attempts to trick it with other blood, and may attempt an escape if aggravated enough.
4. Whisperwing, 3 charges - A brown and cream moth wing contained in a small box fashioned from an acorn. Releasing the wing from the box mutes all nearby noise for the time it takes to flutter to the ground. Recharge: Find a Whispermoth and convince it to trade you for one of its own wings. They tend to be understanding and agreeable, as long as you make the trade with a delicate hand and speak in a hushed voice.
5. Peregrine Pellets, 3 uses - A snakeskin pouch with three large bird pellets inside. They smell of tobacco. When the pellet is torn in half and consumed by two people, they learn a common, secret language that only the pair can understand. The aesthetics of the language are peculiar to that pair. It may be communicated through sound or gesture, but there is no written version. The language cannot be deciphered by anyone else through mundane or magical means, and it cannot be taught to anyone but the original pair.
6. Birch Barque, 1 charge - A folded sheet of pure white tree bark. When refolded into a toy dinghy and placed in a body of water it grows into a sturdy 8-footer with a remarkable resistance to capsizing, even in the roughest of waters. When you finish your journey, the bark will unfold back to its normal size, now soaked through and useless. Recharge: Catch a fish under the full moon from a sacred pool or river. Wrap it in the bark and cook it, then give the fish back to the water. The bark will float back to the surface, pure white and whole once more.
7. Frostberry Sprig, 4 charges - A small branch from a dark-leaved bush, laden with 4 ice-blue berries. The core of the branch is still green and lively. Plucking a berry and crushing it releases a blast of chill that leaves your fingers frostbitten. It might be useful to extinguish a fire, obscure someone's vision with rime, or momentarily freeze a limb in place. Recharge: Plant the end of the branch in the carcass of a freshly-killed hare, then let it sprout outdoors over three nights, undisturbed in the bitter cold. On the third morning, you will find the hare whole and healthy, nibbling at the leaves, and d6 fresh frostberries.
8. Crooked Canteen, 3 charges - A large flask, made of polished, deeply furrowed wood. The cap is attached by a silver ring, held closed with a pin. At the cost of one charge, twist the pin - whatever fluid is inside is replaced with half a canteen-full of water. Twist it back, and the original fluid reappears. Handy for carrying extra water on journeys, hiding your best brandy from your fellow adventurers, or to convince a rival that there really isn't any poison in there, after all. Recharge: Dowse and dig out a fresh well or untouched spring, or any source of water that has never before passed mortal lips. Fill the Canteen to the brim.
9. Bidding Bones, 3 charges - A pair of graying deer ribs cut to size for rhythmic performance. One has a crude skull etched into its surface, the other a skeletal hand. When played, they can be used to control the bones of another creature. If they still live, the effect is brief, a single instant of abrupt bodily control that may only be enough to foil another physical action. If they are dead or undead, the effect lasts for as long as the bearer can continue playing. Recharge: Stand at the edge of the dark wood, and throw one of the Bones overhand as far as you can into the tangle. Keep your eyes tightly shut as you enter to recover it. Do not peek, and do not respond to the taunting whispers of the dead that greet you. 
10. Grand Gob's Seal, 1 charge - A wax stamp made of rocks, sticks, a bird skull and a rat tail. A paper stamped with this seal in greenish-yellow wax will be considered by any goblin as an order from the Grand Gob themself. At the cost of a charge, stamp a schematic describing a wondrous contraption or magical item, and gather a pile of shiny stones, straw, bugs, fungi, or the like into a pile vaguely shaped like said item. The pile binds together, and functions as the item described for about an hour. It then fails catastrophically. Recharge: Supplicate before the Grand Gob, describing in flowery terms how inferior you and your fellows are to their magnificence. Beg a boon of them - if impressed, they will provide a small, probably slimy token to tack onto the seal.