Scalpel of Bogdanbert

The Scalpel of Bogdanbert is a small surgical knife with a series of six tiny diamonds set in its handle. The surface of its blade always glistens when someone turns their eyes towards it, no matter the light. When picked up, the mind of whoever holds the scalpel is filled with the realisation that they can be made more beautiful and more fit than anyone else, if only they would go the extra mile. At the price of a little bit of flesh the scalpel can make anyone more gracious, more powerful, even more admirable than anyone else.
At first this works very well. Their face becomes more symmetrical, their hand-eye coordination improves, and they become more muscular. They have reached the idealised self, and if only they would hand the Scalpel of Bogdanbert to someone else who needs it more now the world could become an utopia indeed. But this is seldom how it goes. Exemplar is the person who is able to put down the scalpel on their own. Instead they continue to use it, but as they do the scalpel requires more and more flesh to do its magic.
The user becomes emaciated as they willingly twist their body into more and more exaggeration forms. In their desperation most will begin to prowl the dark streets, looking for those society wont miss to obtain the flesh they need to push beyond what is already perfection in their eyes. Slowly their minds turn to avarice and paranoia as they continue their work, filled with the idea that they are not enough and that others will soon supersede them. Their faces slowly twist into shapes the mind barely recognises as humanoid. By now they will either seek out more worthy prey such as their kin and friends, or will set up a system that allows them to have access to the downtrodden as if they were their cattle. Eventually they will turn into abominable blobs of amorphous flesh, still wanting more and more and still under the delusion that they are the most beautiful being in the world.
Category:Artifacts
Category:Bas
Category:Items