d20 Bards and Sages Publishing Cursed Relics.pdf

Cursed

Relics

Legends of cursed items

for use in any fantasy setting

for any gaming system

Written by Julie Ann Dawson

Bards and Sages Publishing

Cursed Relics

Written by Julie Ann Dawson

http://www.bardsandsages.com

They are tales told by bards at taverns across the land. They are old legends found in the pages of

forgotten books buried on library shelves. Perhaps your adventurers stumbled upon one of these old

relics by accident, and now find themselves in the dangerous position of overcoming the curse. Or

perhaps your adventurers have deliberately chosen to seek out these items to lock them away before

more innocents can be destroyed.

Cursed Relics presents four cursed items that can be used as story seeds in your game. Each relic

is presented with its tale of woe, as well as story ideas for adding the relic to your game. System-

neutral presentation ensures that you can use this information in almost any campaign setting. Use the

story seeds to fold these items into your existing stories as side adventures. Or have your players

overhear a storyteller telling one of the tales, and send them off in search of the item.

The Crown of Allencott pg 3

The Sarcer Hourglass pg 5

The Drowning Lute pg 6

The Tome of Lost Hope pg 8

Rick Hershey, Standard Stock Art Vol. 1, Empty Room Studios Publishing

The Crown of Allencott

The Crone’s Curse upon King Harold

One day, King Harold was hunting upon his grounds when he came upon an old woman setting a rabbit

snare. He immediately ordered his guards to arrest her for poaching upon the royal land.

“Young King!” exclaimed the old woman. “Surely you remember me? I was your mother’s midwife, and

saw her through her difficult birthing of you. When your goodly Mother died, she granted me permission to trap

here, for the greater woods are too dangerous for an old woman, and there is no harm in me trapping a rabbit

now and again. Surely you remember these things?”

Though the young king did remember his Mother’s wishes, nevertheless he did not like the idea of

commoners helping themselves to the royal lands. “That was five years ago, old woman,” he said. “Long

enough for you to have pilfered the royal grounds. Because you were dear to my Mother, I will let you go this

time. But I will offer you no such courtesy again.”

“Your father, were he still alive, would not think five years so long,” she sighed as she shook her head. The

insult, or perceived insult, pushed the young king into irrational thought. He drew his sword and cut the old

woman down on the spot. As she lay dying, she uttered a curse upon him.

“Let you know how short five years are! Forever more shall no man that bears the Crown of Allencott live

longer than five years into his reign!”

It is said King Harold died a few months later of a mysterious illness, exactly five years into his reign as

king. For several years a regent served in the stead of the King’s son, Prince Gregory, until he was old enough

to hold the crown. At the age of 22, King Gregory fell off of his horse in a freak accident and died . . . exactly

five years from the day he took the throne.

With no male heir ready, King Gregory’s uncle, Prince Bartholomew, took the throne. He died five years

later on the battlefield defending the land during an incursion by barbarians to the north. His son, King William

III, died five years from his coronation while riding when a pack of rabid wolves attacked his horse.

Current status of the Crown

The heirs to the kingdom have tried a variety of means to circumvent the curse. King Harold II, for

example, simply had a new crown made and placed the original crown in a vault. When Duke Sylvester became

King, he named his brother Simon co-regent under the plan that the two would alternate rulership every four

years. Simon because the official king four years after Sylvester’s coronation, however Sylvester still died at

the end of what would have been his fifth year. As did Simon, who had attempted to circumvent the curse by

naming his son King in his stead.

The curse even extended to King Horace, who annexed the kingdom five years ago in a power grab that

took advantage of the land’s chaotic situation. Apparently the curse determined that any man who controls the

land, even if it is only part of a larger possession, is damned.

Currently, Prince Horace II, is scouring the country for scholars and sages that may be able to help lift the

curse. Though it has not been spoken openly, rumors abound that Prince Horace II attempted to destroy the

crown outright, only to have it reappear in the throne room a few days later. He has delayed his official

coronation, remembering that King Gregory’s clock didn’t seem to start until he was actually crowned King.

With no official King, however, several factions are seeing an opportunity to wrest control of the land, or at least

parts of it, from the frightened prince.

Prince Horace cannot circumvent the curse by avoiding coronation, however. Because the clock starts

ticking when the heir is old enough to rule. This is why King Gregory survived until 22, because he was still

considered a child until he reached seventeen, at which point he was a man.

Story Seeds

The party might find itself working with one of more factions for control of the land. Possible scenarios

include:

1. Helping the Prince hold the land together and weeding out traitors to the Crown

2. Working with a neighboring kingdom to usurp control of the kingdom

3. Working with a noble family to cease control of part of the kingdom

4. Working with a resistance movement of commoners that wants to replace the monarchy entirely

The party may be recruited to track down an old oracle who allegedly lives in the mountains. This oracle is

rumored to have the power to reverse curses, or to at least figure out how to thwart them. The oracle claims she

can in fact provide information on how to thwart the curse, but the party must perform three tasks for her first.

The party may be recruited to figure out a way to thwart the curse or destroy the crown once and for all.

Removing the Curse

The most obvious method of removing the curse is to name a woman Queen, since the curse specifically targets

male heirs.

Locate the ghost of the old crone and try to negotiate with her. She can be persuaded to remove the curse if

certain tasks are performed.

Replace the current monarchy with a different form of government.

The Sarcer Hourglass

The Sarcer Curse

Such is the history of “swift justice” that often-

innocent people pay the ultimate price for crimes they

did not commit. Such is the case of one William Dellen.

Dellen was a poor farmer that ended up in the wrong

place at the wrong time, and was accused of a heinous

murder of a young woman. He was sentenced to death

by hanging. At his trial, his wife begged the judge for

mercy, sure that her husband was innocent. The judge,

taking some pity upon the woman, agreed to give her

three days to accumulate evidence to bring doubt to her

husband’s guilt. If she could, he would reopen the case

and offer the condemned a new trial.

For three days, she and her sons talked to everyone

they could find, and eventually came upon a homeless

street urchin that admitted to seeing another fellow

leaving the scene just before her husband arrived. She

rushed the child to the town magistrate, a man named

Louis Sarcer, to inform the judge that she had found a

potential witness and that he needed to stay the

execution of her husband until the judge could interview

the boy.

But Louis Sarcer was a man who stuck with the

letter of the law. He pointed to the hourglass on the

counter of his office. The hourglass was a large, gaudy

thing some three feet high, and it counted down a

complete ten hours of the workday. The sand had

already run out on the clock, and thus the workday was over. She was about five minutes too late for him to

process any appeal.

In a frantic state, the woman sought out the judge herself, finally knocking upon his door at a late hour.

Hearing the woman’s story, the judge immediately rushed to the jail to put a hold on the execution. But they

were too late. Three hours after Mrs. Dellen had arrived at Sarcer’s office, her innocent husband had been

executed.

In her agony, the now widowed Mrs. Dellen placed a curse upon the entire Sarcer line. The following day,

Louis Sarcer set his hourglass as he had always done. At the end of the workday, he went home. Three hours

later, his wife suffered a heart attack. Sarcer did not return to work for a ten-day after her death. When he did

returned, he set the hourglass as normal, and began the process of catching up on his work. He worked late that

nigh, and did not arrive home until three hours later than usual. As he entered his home, his eldest son slipped

and cracked his head on the corner of the desk, dying a few moments later. Sarcer became despondent, and

retired from the magistrate position. The Hourglass was left at the office, however. Several weeks went by

before a replacement was named. And when the fellow first arrived at the office, he admired the hourglass and

decided it would be wise to put it to use. Three hours after the last grains of sand ran out of the hourglass,

Elizabeth Sarcer, Louis Sarcer’s sister, was tending to her chickens when a wolf snuck into the hen house and

attacked her.

Current Status of the Hourglass

Sarcer reclaimed the hourglass from the office, and attempted to destroy it. However, the item would not

shatter. He then stored it, assuming that if it was never reset then the curse could be halted. But the item would

not be denied in this manner, and the sand started to fall upwards to reset itself. He then attempted to store the

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