Chalice of Estate, Dhukav's Cup
The Chalice of Estate is a Dwarven relic of the Age of Wonders.
Overview
Description
The Chalice is a squat, stemless golden cup inlaid with a fortune in precisely matched rubies, some of which have been pried off over the millennia.
Effect
"Drink from the Chalice of Estate, he'd said, and you'd lose everything that mattered to you. And then, once you'd paid that brutal price, the chalice's magic would give you wealth beyond your wildest dreams. Considering the client was a Cortosi banker with a desperate glint in his eye, those dreams were probably wild indeed."
The magic of the Chalice is stark and uncompromising. Any adult who makes the willing choice to drink from it will lose everything that matters most to them, be that titles, family, friendships, fame, fortune, estates, prized possessions, beauty, and/or knowledge. The Chalice's magic seems designed to be cruel, maximizing the price that powers its magic.
Anyone who drinks from the Chalice will, by seeming serendipitous good fortune, become inordinately wealthy and stay wealthy until their death. Drinking again from the Chalice has no effect; the Chalice can be passed to (or taken by) another owner without jeopardizing either the positive or negative effects of the magic. There is no known way back.
History
Background
The Chalice has popped up here and there in history. Typically, its owners have come to see it as a curse.
A humble young Elven prospector named Adelari Vhel unearthed the Chalice around a hundred years ago. Upon learning the Chalice's nature, he drank from it. Within a fortnight his wife and children left him, and his modest home burned down (events which may or may not have been related). Within a month he was the richest man in the county. Within a year, a sleepy village at the north edge of the Falwood had become the prosperous town of Vhelton.
Raiders hit Vhelton more than once, clashing with mercenaries that Adelari could now afford. Upon his death, the town's prosperity withered, the mercenaries moved on or turned looters themselves, and Vhelton became a virtual ghost town.
Adelari kept the source of his wealth a secret throughout his life. The Chalice was not associated with Adelari or Vhelton until a Cortosi banker and some Anirian spies learned of its presence in Adelari's tomb. At Vhelton, a Dreadlord named Venanin Sen Shiir clashed with the Silver Key mercenaries under Ledhros Caur. By the battle's end, the Chalice belonged to the Dreadlord.
A humble young Elven prospector named Adelari Vhel unearthed the Chalice around a hundred years ago. Upon learning the Chalice's nature, he drank from it. Within a fortnight his wife and children left him, and his modest home burned down (events which may or may not have been related). Within a month he was the richest man in the county. Within a year, a sleepy village at the north edge of the Falwood had become the prosperous town of Vhelton.
Raiders hit Vhelton more than once, clashing with mercenaries that Adelari could now afford. Upon his death, the town's prosperity withered, the mercenaries moved on or turned looters themselves, and Vhelton became a virtual ghost town.
Adelari kept the source of his wealth a secret throughout his life. The Chalice was not associated with Adelari or Vhelton until a Cortosi banker and some Anirian spies learned of its presence in Adelari's tomb. At Vhelton, a Dreadlord named Venanin Sen Shiir clashed with the Silver Key mercenaries under Ledhros Caur. By the battle's end, the Chalice belonged to the Dreadlord.
Lore
During the Age of Wonders, a Dwarven goldsmith and enchanter is believed to have created the Chalice of Estate as an idealistic commentary on the lust for wealth. It's said he then fell victim to his own creation: in desperate times, he drank from it and became both miserable and unspeakably rich until his dying day. The dwarves of Belgrath remember him in song as Goldfever Dhukav, the master crafter. Dhukav's Cup, as those songs call it, was stolen from Belgrath a very long time ago, and has changed hands many times.
Some believe that King Grichen's devout knights quested for the Chalice in the final days of the Age of Expansion. Certainly his great kingdom's collapse made some men immensely wealthy for the remainder of their short lives. Nursery rhymes in the Allir Reach allude to a queen who drank from a golden cup and drowned in an ever-deeper lake of gold when she couldn't spend it or give it away fast enough. A folktale in eastern Liadain tells a similar tale.
There are very quiet rumours that the Chalice has been found again, though where and by whom is anyone's guess.
Some believe that King Grichen's devout knights quested for the Chalice in the final days of the Age of Expansion. Certainly his great kingdom's collapse made some men immensely wealthy for the remainder of their short lives. Nursery rhymes in the Allir Reach allude to a queen who drank from a golden cup and drowned in an ever-deeper lake of gold when she couldn't spend it or give it away fast enough. A folktale in eastern Liadain tells a similar tale.
There are very quiet rumours that the Chalice has been found again, though where and by whom is anyone's guess.