Artifacts

The artifacts are a set of six powerful items that control certain aspects of the world.

## Characteristics

All six artifacts have the following properties:

Each artifact is linked to a plane of existence (e.g. the Staff of Flow to the Plane of Water, the Kinesis Gauntlets to the Plane of Air, etc).

Each artifact has an opposite artifact that balances out their power (e.g. the Kinesis Gauntlets and the Lead Treads).

Each artifact controls specific aspects of the Material Plane. This aspect is sometimes described as a type of energy or magic. (e.g. the Kinesis Gauntlets control wind).

Each artifact can be claimed by someone, so long as that person possesses the "characteristics" specific to that artifact (e.g. the Kinesis Gauntlets require someone creative, physically agile, and/or morally apathetic).

When claimed, the strength of the artifact's aspect in the Material Plane is proportional to the strength of the bearer's bond with the artifact; this can be balanced out by the opposing artifact and their bearer.

When claimed, the bearer is immune to aging and can use the artifact's abilities. There is no limit to how much of the artifact's power they can draw, but their control over this power is proportional to the strength of their bond with the artifact. The bearer usually understands how far they can go before they lose control, which is expressed as a list of abilities and a number of "charges" the artifacts have.

## Kinesis Gauntlets

The Kinesis Gauntlets are the artifact of wind. They are described as two "transparent, long, vinyl, cyan colored sandwich gloves with white crossguards". The crossguards are revealed to house a white cylindrical object implied to be the source of the gauntlet's power. The Lead Treads are their opposite.

### Characteristics

The Kinesis Gauntlet's characteristics are described as "physical agility, freedom, impulsiveness, moral apathy, creativity, pragmatism." The "physical agility" characteristic can be interpreted as both a high DEX score and a high base speed.

### Confirmed Bearers

Francis and Yvenny both possessed the physical agility aspect, while Roselyn, Jeremy, and Ham each had a more balanced selection of the gauntlet's characteristics. Chadwick is implied to have claimed this artifact; his construction of the Miracle Game and the different challenges contained therein could be interpreted as creativity.

### Abilities

The Kinesis Gauntlet allows the use of spells that are usually wind-themed, such as Gust, Fly, Catapult, Wind Arc, and Gust of Wind. It allows the summoning of Wind Elementals.

## Lead Treads

The Lead Treads are the artifact of earth. They are described as two black graphite-like boots. The Kinesis Gauntlets are their opposite.

### Characteristics

The Lead Treads characteristics are described as "Wellness, security, stubbornness, righteousness, morality." The "wellness" characteristic can be interpreted as a high CON score.

### Confirmed Bearers

Ezekiel possessed all of the gauntlet's characteristics; Sloknek also possessed the Lead Treads, but his characteristics are unknown. Chadwick is implied to have claimed this artifacts, but it is unknown to what degree he possesses these characteristics.

### Abilities

The Lead Tread's abilities aren't known, but they presumably allow the casting of earth-themed spells.

## Sword of Malus

The Sword of Malus (described in other contexts as the "Sword of Hatred"), is the artifact of fire. It is described as a shortsword with a scarlet hilt. The Staff of Flow is its opposite.

### Characteristics

The Sword of Malus's characteristics are described as "Physical power, strong emotions, anger, passion, hatred." Olivia also describes "frustration" as a characteristic of the sword. The "physical power" characteristic can be interpreted as a high STR score.

### Confirmed Bearers

Darius, Liam, and Olivia claimed the Sword of Malus and all possess the physical power attribute; Olivia also struggles with frustration at times. The Sword of Malus was passed down through the Malicious Order monarchy, so there have been other people who claimed it in the past. Jerry was able to claim it briefly, although it seemed to burn him, indicating it was not fully attuned to his characteristics; an unnamed assailant was also able to claim it, causing the Grainsboro Fire. Chadwick is implied to have claimed this artifact.

### Abilities

The Sword of Malus utilizes fire-themed abilities and is offensively oriented, enabling spells such as Wall of Fire, Firewave, Heat Metal, and Pyrotechnics.

## Staff of Flow

The Staff of Flow is the water themed artifact. It is described as a wooden staff with a four-pronged end; the four prongs hold a small cerulean rod inside. The rod is revealed to be the actual artifact part, whereas the staff is just a conduit or vessel for its power.

### Characteristics

The Staff of Flow's characteristics are described as "Thoughtfulness, tranquility, cleverness, indecision."

### Confirmed Bearers

Whoever caused the Great Flood likely claimed this artifact. Josephine claimed this artifact and displayed most of the characteristics. She was later shown to be unable to claim the artifact after she had a mental breakdown over Julian (1)'s betrayal; this is implied to be because this trauma is disrupting her sense of tranquility. Chadwick is implied to have claimed this artifact.

### Abilities

The Staff of Flow utilizes water and cold themed spells, such as Cryogenic Circle. It also utilizes healing and regenerative spells, such as Regenerate.

## Magic Eraser

The Magic Eraser is the magic themed artifact, and is linked to the Ethereal Plane. It takes the form of a white square eraser hanging on a silver chain. Its opposite is implied to be the Book of Truth.

### Characteristics

The Magic Eraser's characteristics were never explicitly stated, as Belaros, the resident expert on the artifact, was not aware of its existence. "Making deals", "compromise", and "having a patron deity/fiend" appear to be criteria shared by holders of the artifact.

### Confirmed Bearers

Elton is able to claim the Magic Eraser, and he makes a deal with Order (4) and Julian (2) which he is not fully on board with. He also has a patron deity, Cuthbert. Aveeno similarly has a patron deity, Chance (1), who he signs a controversial contract with. He is also made aware of Elton's uneasy alliance with Order (4) and Julian (2) and is told he will have to make the same choice Elton did. Both Chadwick and the Fogged Ones are implied to have claimed this artifact.

### Abilities

Magic-related spells, such as Detect Magic, are related to the Magic Eraser. The holder of the Magic Eraser is unable to be detected by the Book of Truth.

## Book of Truth

The Book of Truth uses an unknown energy type. It is implied to be linked to the Material Plane, and the Magic Eraser is its assumed opposite. It is a large book with the symbol "2^9" written on the cover.

### Characteristics

The Book of Truth's characteristics are even more ambiguous than the Magic Eraser's are, and there is no consensus on what criteria are required to claim it.

### Confirmed Bearers

Julian (2), the Fogged Ones, and Chadwick are all confirmed bearers.

### Abilities

It is unknown if the Book of Truth has any magical abilities, but it enables the bearer to see all physical events that occur in the past or present of the Material Plane.

## History

The artifacts originated from Augustus and his friends, who exist in a dimension that supersedes the system of octaves the campaign exists in. They created the artifacts - and the corresponding planes of existence - in order to escape from a series of conflicts in their world perpetuated by the four "old gods" (Chance (1) and his future iterations). Each octave of existence has a unique set of six artifacts; because the manufacturing process of the artifacts is not perfect, each set has defects that create unique and differing properties in each octave.

The set of 2^8 artifacts would be stolen by Chadwick and then converted into the 2^9 artifacts via the Magic Eraser by the accidental/intentional work of Chance (1), Aveeno, Order (4), and Elton. They somehow ended up in the hands of the Fogged Ones afterwards, who would release the four elemental artifacts into the world of Malice. Without proper knowledge or guidance on how to use them, the inhabitants of the plane would frequently misuse them, causing the extinction of everyone on the planet. The Fogged Ones would then use the Book of Truth and Magic Eraser to find and harvest the dead remains of the population, and repopulate the plane with people so the cycle could start over again.

This cycle of destruction ended 16,001 years ago when April intervened. She defeated or infiltrated the Fogged Ones and took the Book of Truth and Magic Eraser from them. She collected all six artifacts and buried them in the future site of the Grainsboro Catacombs, in the hopes they would never be found.

These artifacts were found 1847 years ago by Roselyn, Elton, Josephine, Sloknek, Darius, and Julian (2). They each claimed an artifact and exiled themselves to a secluded location to prevent the artifacts from being found (except for Darius, who passed down the Sword of Malus through the Malicious Order royal lineage).

Julian (2) initially sought to destroy the artifacts, and he (or his simulacrum) put a bounty on the Lead Treads, Kinesis Gauntlets, and Sword of Malus through the Grainsboro Mercenaries Guild. His experiences in arc 6 changed his goal towards collecting all of them, and he dropped the bounty until the start of the Malice Party's adventures in 1846.

The Sword of Malus was stolen from Olivia by Jerry, who used it to kill Roselyn. Olivia reclaimed the Sword of Malus, and she had the Malice Party deliver the Kinesis Gauntlets to the Brightcoast Monastery for Francis to claim. This was important to do quickly because, with Roselyn dead, there was now an imbalance in the earth-wind dichotomy, since Sloknek was still claiming the Lead Treads.

This imbalance resulted in a lack of wind, removing the ability of ships to sail and reduced the ability of airships to fly. It also caused earthquakes of an increasingly severe intensity, until Ham and Jeremy finally claimed the gauntlets at the end of arc 1.

The Magic Eraser was picked up under the disguise of the Pendant of Reflection in arc 2, and the Lead Treads were picked up from Sloknek's dead body in arc 3. With the Lead Treads unclaimed, Jeremy gave up his Kinesis Gauntlet to Olivia, while Ham decided to keep his but kept it unclaimed to balance the elemental energy.

The Sword of Malus was taken from Olivia in arc 4, during which Josephine also lost her ability to claim the Staff of Flow. The Sword of Malus was kept unclaimed throughout arc 5, while a contest was being fought over it. At the end of arc 5, Julian (2) is implied to have taken possession of all the artifacts except for Ham's Kinesis Gauntlet and the Magic Eraser. He melded Ham's artifact with a Sphere of Annihilation, effectively disabling it.