Relic

The term "relic" applies to usually ancient, often legendary magic talismans or items that have been either specifically created for the purpose of a desired effect without having to sustain and continuously cast spells, or has gained a permanent magical change. The term can also be applied particularly old magical focuses, known as "foci" that have become particularly well used or rarer still an item that has been used to hold or channel the power from a mezzite, may harbour a degree of it's power; Most relics are extremely old talismans, some of which have been permanently altered and it's this that separates a freshly-made talisman and a relic.

In most cases relics are only able to be used by magi, as their power is based in magic, have an innate mana charge, however there are some items that have been specifically created for use of those it, or those who charmed the item, to be worthy of it's use. In some cases items or objects can be used by magi to entrap wild spirits or creatures, as was the case for the Ring of Surtur and Jöte, can be wielded by those the bound entities within deem worthy in much the same way as a mezzite, but regardless of ability to tune.

The term can also be used to describe items that possess enhanced or unusual properties, but that are not necessarily magical, but may be extremely out of place in that time period, pointing to alien technology, such as that used by the Danu, Ga'n or Zeltura, or creations such as armour and weapons created by Clay during his time as Hephaestus.

Relics are often sought by a wide array of individuals and organisations,

### **Known Relics**

**Armor of Achilles:** Created by Clay during his time as Hephaestus in ancient Greece, the armour was forged using Hephaestium that was created by Clay himself. The armour has since been lost to time, but Clay believes that it would still be in perfect condition and just as invulnerable today.

**Cloak of Alaepalli:** A white, feathered cloak that had supposed origins in Iceland but links to ancient Rome too and it's exact origins were uncertain. It once belonged to Pura Arcana mage Arielle Lofdahl until it was taken from her after her and Zeroth's battle for Cavum and the Caliga mezzite within the handle. The cloak could transform into a pair of white, feathered wings enabling the user to fly, protect them from magic attacks to a degree, and create powerful gusts of wind via it's wing beats. Arielle could also make it look like a coat via a secondary charm. It was able to be used only by those who could tune and took a degree of control. Zeroth used a spell to bind and fuse the properties of the cloak to his trenchcoat, letting him transform it into black, feathered wings. This destroyed the original cloak in the process. The later coat was sliced and destroyed by Volt during the Manhattan Incident and Arielle was thought to have later recovered the components of the original cloak along with pieces of Zeroth's coat and dispelled it in an attempt to create a new one, but currently lacks the knowledge and magic.

**Danutech:** Any seemingly magical forms of highly advanced technology created and used by the Danu using Tuathium as a power source, this includes the Gauntlets of Skellig, Bow of Aine and other unidentified weapon armours, tech and craft.

**Eldi-stokkr:** Also known as the the Firebox, the Eldi-stokkr was a mysterious ancient Norse weapon supposedly created by Clay to "kill gods", though it was rarely, if at all mentioned in historic accounts. The weapon appeared to be a metal box with straps so it could be carried like a (very heavy) backpack. By saying an activation phrase, the words of which is uncertain, a user can retract the straps, extend a handle and heat up and ignite the 'box', forming a fiery hammer. The Firebox was almost indestructible and possibly made from hephaestium, as such it was only able to be wielded by those with superhuman strengths and Clay has declared finding Eldi-stokkr a high priority as he has declared it "his" property.

**Excalibur:** The legendary relic was said to have been owned by Arthur Pendragon, and capable of immense release of heat and light, while it's scabbard had healing and sustainment abilities of it's own and was one of the few relics that worked without a tune-capable user. The exact creators of the weapon are also unknown other than it was an "Elf" from Avalon that was later attained by Merlin. As historical accounts are mostly based on the legends and stories written afterwards, which tell varied tales between the Sword in the Stone being the same, or a different weapon to the sword administered by the Lady of the Lake. One of the House of Season's greatest, oldest and still-ongoing missions was to seek Excalibur and the myths connecting to it. Rumour was that the sword contained a mezzite of such power it permanently altered the sword and scabbard over the centuries. It is now known by Robin that the sword was much older than originally thought, surpassing the tales of the Knights of the Round Table by millennia; the weapon existed as the sword of the Thera/Aesurian Lucifer Morningstar before he was sacrificed by Quetza to create a mezzite, and was likely the very first; rather cruelly Quetza placed the crystal that hosted his spirit inside Excalibur, making it one of the most powerful relics in existence, though at some point the Mezzite was removed from the sword post-12th century.

**Fragarach:** An Irish sword, magically charmed and reformed with the ability to command the air. When the blade was close to the throat of another, it is said that they couldn't move nor tell a lie. It was the weapon of Nuada, the first High King, who may of himself been a mage as while others could wield it, couldn't access it's powers without the magical gift to tune.

**Gáe Bulg:** The legendary spear of Cú Chulainn, the Gáe Bulg was a notched spear supposedly carved from the bone of a sea monster (which may have been a titan). It was particularly deadly in his hands but was said to be only truly welded by Chulainn using a unique martial arts form taught to him by his trainer Scáthach. The weapon's true abilities, if the spear actually had inherent magical properties are highly unknown and it has become one of the most sought after relic in the world.

**Gan Jiang and Mo Ye****:** Were a pair of Chinese swords that may have been made with Kinzium, as the legend tells of the couple's inability to melt the metal, there may have been some truth in the extreme lengths of the methods used to generate heat hot enough for the blast furnace to melt kinzium.

**Gungnir:** The weapon of the Asgardian god Odin, who may have been a Halfbreed, son to the Aesurian Borr, who was one of a few who supported Xeus' decision to be worshipped as a god. However somewhere along the line Borr was killed by Xeus. His weapon was passed to Odin who used it to channel the energy of his Dragon heritage. Over the centuries it gained a signifigent power of it's own, but a power that was almost unwieldable by anything but a full-blood Dragon or strong Halfbreed such as Odin himself. Where the spear is now is uncertain,

**Haïdos Kynein:** A helm supposedly worn by various Greek gods that gave the user the ability to become invisible, especially towards other supernatural creatures and entities. According to Clay, it was actually him that created it for the Aesurian Hades, but it was misused and later stolen by Athena and later given to Hermes, who lent it to the halfbreed Perseus.

**Iarrthóir:** A magic pendant used by the young priestess and magi Fiona O'Reilly in the 18th century who became the later wife of Jack Smith. It is much older than it looks and has been used for countless centuries before her.

**Mjölnir:** The myth of Mjölnir was well-known amongst the magic community, myth and in the public as the hammer of the Norse god of thunder Thor. However the weapon may have been devised by the Asgardians, who were believed to be a mix of magi and halfbreeds as a way to kill Zeus, or at least rival his power and also kill Quetzalcoatl; what links and feuds the Asgardians had to the Olympian and Tlaloc was uncertain, other than that only the Olympians possessed true full-blooded Aesurians in their ranks. The weapon supposedly let the user create and control weather effects; while the weapon was intended for only halfbreeds or those with immense strength and durability to wield, the weapon was supposedly unlocked by Odin to respond only to a few.

**Kaminari:** Although having no inherent magical qualities, Volt's kinzium sword can be technically considered a relic, or at least a near-relic, for it's age and ability to absorb and harness energy, in particular it's unique capabilities to soak up and dissipate magical mana. It could also be technically classed as a spellbreaker.

**Mezzite:** Because of their age and unusual properties mezz as containment crystals for the spirits of halfbreeds and Aegons are considered relics, that similarly to some other relics 'choose' a usually magical host to "feed" from in return for use of their power; in most instances they feed on the mana reserves of a magi, but can grant a mage incalculable power and enhance their own abilities; often this may lead to madness.

**Murgleys:** A French Saex with a golden pommel topped with a red carbuncle, belonging to Ganelon, inside this pommel was supposedly a "holy relic", although what exactly it was or if this gave the sword any enhanced abilities is uncertain, but the sword's name roughly translates as "Death Brand" from Old Frankish and may have been particularly, perhaps even supernaturally efficient at killing.

**Pasha:** A magically-imbued noose from India, not much is known about it apart from the fact it occurs in a few Indian legends from the Jaadooni school of magic and also appears in depictions of Ganesha, Yama and Varuna. The noose was capable of binding just about any opponent, regardless of strength, was unbreakable, would automatically ensnare and latch on to targets depending on the will of the mage, even spiritual entities and phased matter, and could even pull a soul from a body without killing. The noose was thought to be in the hands of the Bajwa family, but has since been stolen.

**Ramus Autumni:** Literally the "branch of autumn", the Autumni was a powerful and unique weapon that consisted of a seemingly benign twisted spiral of branch on it's own. When attached around arm of a person, mage or otherwise, it grasps the skin and digs in to the flesh painfully, where it will feed on the user's blood and grow orange and red leaves under the user's skin, that are visible from the surface and appear as tattoos. After the branch has settled, the user is able to summon and control "autumnal" winds without incantation or too much concentration, that have an unusual effect on living matter, causing it to age into a weaker state, perhaps as a representation of the "autumn years" of life. It causes Deciduous trees to enter their autumnal state and autumn-blooming plants to be under the user's sway, regardless of season, including the leaves themselves. During autumn the winds able to be produced are extremely powerful. The relic seems to prefer magi, with their ability to harness mana acting as a buffer to the control of the branch, with some normal human users previously dying of it's blood cost and sapping of stamina and strength. It is currently owned by the cybrid head of the Autumn Branch of the House of Seasons, whose enhanced physiology has allowed him to control the Ramus Autumni without succumbing majorly to it's degradational effects.

**Ring of Jöte:** A powerful relic in the form of a crystal in a ring that contained the energy of a bound ice golem known as Jöte, it's the 'sister' ring of Surtur. It's current whereabouts are unknown, but like Surtur it was not reliant on a mage, but would itself choose a host. Currently sought by the Winter branch of the House of Seasons.

**Ring of Surtur****:** A dangerous relic supposedly imbued with the power of an ancient volcanic golem known as Surtur, summoned by early magi and used by a now long-dead tribe of the Køurg in what later became Denmark, as a guardian of their tribe. Unfortunately a rival tribe, the Bræk, came to their lands with a similar idea, except their own golem, Jöte was made from stone and ice. It gave the user various fire-based abilities and was not limited to magi use, but rather 'chose' its host itself.

**Seven League Boots:** One of several mystically-empowered boots capable of launching a user 7 leagues (21 miles) in a single bound and giving tremendously powerful kicks, the boots are usually said to be prepared from existing boots, usually well-made and sturdy, and altered by adding magical materials, talismans and being charmed through rituals. There were supposedly seven, seven league boots with each one slightly different in appearance and slightly in strength too, but are mentioned in many different stories, both fiction and supposed 'factual' manuscripts from ten different countries. Any manuscripts relating to their location, or how to create such boots are highly prised. There also may be poor imitations of the boots, with minimal leaping ability or limited magic, resulting in death to the magi after falling from great heights mid-leap without a magic landing. It is likely that these boots somehow amplify the kinetic energy of the wearer to massive degrees, both in take-off and landing, though seem to so fairly minimal, though still very potent, damage in comparison when used to kick another. It's likely these were designed only for magi to use, as is usually the way with many relics in their normal state, but at least one may have been especially made for anyone to use should it deem them worthy.

**Spear of Nyuki:** A powerful magical relic created by the ancient African magi council known as the Vijiti (The Staves) for the leader of the warrior tribe the Mkuki (The Spears). It had power over bees, honey and gave the user powers too. Both groups were said to enforce laws, justice and peace in the mysterious ancient nation of Lêlyni where the country of Burundi now lies. It was one of the few relics that could operate in the hands of a non-magi should the relic choose to bond with it's host. It is currently bonded to Ajani Abimbola aka Nyuki who is a Burundian superhero, and part of the African supergroup Miungu ya Haki.

**Spellbreaker Weapons****:** Created by Clay using Hephaestium that have unique ability to reflect and break magic spells due to the advanced nature of it's forgery. The weapons, and hephaestium itself is highly prised by various organisations, including and especially Claymore and VALER by extension.

**Sharur:** A magical weapon owned by the Sumerian god Ninurta, it was virtually indestructible, could levitate on it's own and was both intelligent and able to communicate telepathically with Ninurta and could changed into a winged lion; Weather or not Ninurta, who may himself have been an Aegon, somehow altered the weapon, or if it was created by some other magical or cosmic forces are unknown, but evidence of it's existence may have been documented by both the House of Seasons and OTO.

**Svalinn:** A powerful ice-imbued shield, in Norse mythology the Svalinn protected earth from the fire of the sun, but in reality the shield was an item created for an unknown Norse warrior who was believed to be a female shieldmaiden in the 6th century. The shield can itself be used as a weapon, generating spikes and shards of ice, but it can also be used to create immense, nearly-impenetrable ice-walls.

**Tarnhelm:** A German magic helmet capable of distorting the wearer's image; the item was actually capable of bending and warping space finitely, and allowed the user to teleport too. Such a complex and powerful item was only able to be used by magi, and experienced mage at that. The helm was said to drive inexperienced magic users insane, and would simply not work on normal humans. It is currently owned by the House of Seasons where it is kept in their relic chambers.

**The Book of Gates****:** One of the infamous Books of Egypt, there are actually two versions of the book, or rather two parts of the same book that were split up, one, the traditional funeral rites of the dead, and the "real book" that exists as an extremely powerful magic grimoire to magic users, listing not only every magical gateway known at the time (until at least 1st century) to other countries, realms and worlds, but spells to unlock doors, mechanisms and basic knowledge of locomantic (teleportation) artes. Because of it's immense potential power, however, this second book has been locked by both a magical physical locks for centuries, and it's pages sealed with spells of varying types, supposedly only unlockable by spells that are only written in the book itself. Figuring out how to open it, or at least read the book without opening it, has stumped magi for centuries.

**The Book of The Dead:** Like the Book of Gates, the Egyptian Book of the Dead is somewhat fronted as a funerary rites book, though this does have some spells in, are considered pretty basic, even useless to real magi and existed as little more than ritual to normal human priests, but the real, second volume of the book was signifigent for ancient Egyptian necromancers, particularly the Sect of Nephthys, who, even during more ancient times, kept their magical heritage secret, particularly in their use of necromancy, though it was usually actually for purpose of good. Nevertheless the Book of the Dead became infamous as a powerful and dark book because of such links. The Sect was supposedly discovered, and slaughtered as they slept by a priest who believed what they were doing was a perversion of the order of things.

**The Talaria:** The supposed "winged sandals" used by the halfbreed Hermes, the sandals were developed by Klaytos to allow him access to more of his godly powers, notably superspeed and flight. What happened to them is unsure.

**The Thorn of Binding****:** A wand that supposedly belonged to an ancient Scottish witch Una the Petulant who lived sometime before the 4th century, and who cursed people for being ignorant, angry and generally rude, even though she herself was all of those things. The Thorn was a dark, elongated wand with a sharp point created from an unusually large hawthorn thorn treated with various alchemical potions and strengthened with a thin but rigid iron core that was also alchemically treated. It was said to be strong enough that she could use use it as a dagger, and the wand was said to become more powerful when covered in blood. Like many wands, the Thorn acted as a focus for Una's hexes and curses, but developed a unique ability to bind anyone she wished by forcing their hands and feet together as if tied by an invisible force; this ability was likely derived from her constant use of the same spell and Una may have herself and it's empowerment by blood was likely evidence that Una was a practitioner of blood magic, with the iron core of her wand further focusing this bloodmagic. It was said that eventually the wand became bloodthirsty and harboured Una's anger and intolerance and need for retribution, requiring blood to even work as a foci any more, itself growing small thorns on it's handle, but it's ability to bind was supposedly so powerful, there was next to no one it couldn't stop, even locking away other magi's tuning or temporarily depowering a neo (who were not known as such at the time), all without incantation. As the Thorn is a wand and foci it's more than likely to also only work in the hand of a magi. The wand is currently lost, and being sought by a number of agencies.

**Vajra:** Powerful and dangerous Indian relics, while the term "vajra" are any number of symbolic ritual tools, "real" vajra are used by Indian magi, though even they found these weapons too uncontrollable and unpredictable at times. The double-ended baton-like objects were thought to have originally been created by an Aegon or Aeon posing as Indra on Earth during India's early Iron Age to help them focus their limited sonn. After his death, the weapons gained a reputation for being insanely powerful and retained a lot of Indra's power over electricity. Magi managed to study and replicate Indra's vajra fairly successfully. Vajra often came in sets of varying numbers, from two, to as many as ten; it is thought that the more vajra are in use the more stable casting and each set forms a link with a magi, enabling the items to freely levitate around the user to help channel away the harmful energies and the potential attacks of others. The exact number of vajra, individually, or as sets, is utterly unknown, other than that the House of Seasons and Pura Arcana possess at least one set and several individual objects each. The usual way to tell apart a ritual vajra copy between a real one is the clean definition between the heads and body of the relics as each head actually rotates in opposite directions when in use. The more electricity they generate the faster each head spins. The core of these items are thought to contain strykenite; a type of sonnstone. While only magi can use the items, they must do so by creating spells unique and tailored to the vajra set, lest their energies inadvertently destroy the user, and only the most experienced magi dare control the power of the vajra. Multiple vajra are said to be the power source operating vimana machines.

**Vimana:** Supposed magical flying machines created by ancient Hindi magi; though no proof of a real, working vimana has ever been found, parts of at least one large device, and broken schematics thought to be over 8000-years-old are known and highly prised by magi and non-magi organisations alike. One of the most common features is the use of a multitude of vajra as magical batteries. Little else is known of them other than they may have been created by a now-extinct ancient magi-ruled civilisation linking ancient Africa, Egypt, India, South America and Atlantis; These civilisations may have been in contact with the Aeons and Dragons and been some of the most advanced people on Earth, but were destroyed from within by interference from the Ga'n and Zeltura, afraid of their potential growth out to the stars.

**Vimana Joote****:** Powerful magic boots capable of granting the user flight, likely Indian in origin and currently in the possession of Krishna Bajwa. The boots take years of practice, control and confidence and require an "activating" spell before they can be used; though this activation can last all day. Their origin is unknown, though it is likely not with the Bajwa family, claim the boots are extremely old and must be upkept and regularly maintained and cleaned due to their age. This relic can only be used by magi. Unlike the Seven League boots, that are regular boots "modified" with spells and inserted magical materials and fabrics, the vimana boots are made from scratch with the intention to be used as flight relics. So far the boots owned by Krishna are the only pair in existence, but a manuscript on their creation is also thought to exist and sought after as a relic itself.

**Zulfiqar:** A Middle Eastern sword that supposedly belonged to Ali, cousin of the prophet Muhammad, who may have himself been a mage, the weapon also acted as a talisman, protecting Ali in some form, be it physically or by means of altering fate, and likely acted as his foci too. Such a weapon would have vast magical potential although all evidence of the true weapon has since been lost to time.