C.U.B.E.

The C.U.B.E. is a magical puzzlebox-like artifact seemingly gifted to Arnica by the tower of Köstlich Wunderturm. A second, seemingly identical artifact was subsequently discovered at Whistletrick's Windmill, although appears to have been sent there by accident due to a teleportation mix-up.

It connects to the collection of disparate rooms and structures in the Astral Sea colloquially known as Otto's Opulent Observatorium.

## Description

During a visit to Old Alycon in the centre of the city of Viridell, Arnica found herself drawn to the former tower of the wizard Otto van der Velde VI. Bypassing the fences set around the building to protect those passing by from falling debris from the decrepit and uneven structure, the tower itself seemed to beckon her close, opening its otherwise ingress-devoid walls to allow her entry. Within a room filled with rotten food, drink, paper, clothes and books and amongst broken furniture, the clicking and mechanical whirring of the C.U.B.E. caught her attention, and so she took the arcane puzzlebox, seeking to unlock its secrets.

The puzzlebox itself is roughly cuboid with flattened corners, measuring 8" x 8" x 8" in size. Some panels seem to mechanically slide past each other, as if connected to gears, servos, while others rotate by their own gyroscopic volition.

## Research

### Completed by Arnica

There is little doubt that the C.U.B.E. is a construction of both clockwork and the arcane, with both acting simultaneously in unison to aid the other, as well as simultaneously confound their counterpart. As such, the process of interacting with artifact would be surely considered maddening by most individuals and the temptation to discard it as a gimmicky novelty intended to do nothing more than waste time or mollify one's need to fidget while attempting to concentrate on other matters. For a few, however, that in itself proves a further challenge, to overcome the obviously unsettled and muddled mind that constructed such an object to discern its function, construction and overall purpose.

With further examination, the composition becomes more apparent. Through efforts to push and pry the outer shell aside, peeking behind spinning gears and other components, it can be established that the outward appearance is simply a container for a box within, akin to a cage that prevents its contents being pertained without first opening the contraptions. The construction is as such that it resists magical perversion or destructive, going as far to prove evasive to use of *Identify*, but with a lingering conjuration aura associated with the central mass when *Detect Magic* is utilised. The outer aspect also seems to be on a timer, resetting after a minute back to its starting configuration - and thus forcing experimentation with the sliding of panels, the pressing of buttons more numerous than a typical number of fingers and rotation of part of the casing while counter-rotating inner pieces between the gaps in the framework - all in unison.

After a matter of weeks fiddling with the box on and off, bordering on near obsession, the sequence starts to become more attuned to your fingers, a muscle memory forming as you handily twist and turn your grip, tools and other arcanely-enchanted aids necessary to match the ticking reset clock hidden somewhere within. After much further trial and error, the exact sequence, taking just a few milliseconds short of the 60 second time limit to complete perfectly is finally, exhaustingly achieved - revealing a sleek featureless box roughly a third of the size of the overall C.U.B.E. within, a polished metal lid flicking open to reveal the contents.

A comically large red button, and an uneven chiselled etching reading *"Do **NOT** Press"* immediately above it.