Open use for artifact documentations:
This is the artifact in Sanaya’s possession.
_
Eardrop of Astina
Appearance: A gold looped earring, that pierces through the ear and has no end so it can be slid in and out with ease. There is an inlaid black mark that courses with an ever so slight glow as it leads into an array of runic symbols, each standing for something different. There is an odd aura around this earring, but it doesn’t feel malevolent.
Legend: "There was was a family of nobles, rich with wealth, love and pride. ‘Twas a day for celebration, a day for cherishing what they had, and the birth of an heir was to come. Another would from a bloodline of magic, and a dynasty of wonder and excitement. The duchess of the land screamed and with love brought into the world a baby boy. The father was not present, however, and had only just arrived home as his wife had gone into labor. As the maids rushed to his side and told him the news, he beamed with pride and ran up the grand staircase to embrace his wife and hold his child. But, when he had arrived, he found that his wife had gone cold, and her heart had stopped. "Dear Lord…" He breathed and found himself crying. "What a day is this that I gain a son but lose my love…" As he neared the cradle, the man was startled by what he had seen. The child was dark skinned and vastly deformed; wrinkles of an old man surrounded his entire body, his left arm was half the size of his right, which had only grown longer. The baby’s spine seemed horrendously disfigured. The broken and prideful noble feared that this child was in fact a spawn of the devil himself, and took him. He rushed out of his home, and into a meadow. "You take my wife from me, and you hold the body of a demon. Of one who was born from the devil himself. You will exist no more!" As he raised his hands to toss the baby into a nearby pond, someone took his hand. It was none other than the lumberjack, who sold his wood to those in town.
"Hold, milord…What has you in such a fit this day?" The noble panicked and held the baby close to him. What was he to do in such a situation? "Dear friend, you know not what it is you intrude on." But then the noble had an idea; the lumberjack’s uncle had just lost his own wife and child, and had retreated into the mines of the mountains. "I came to bring you this baby. It is of a friend of mine who has since passed away, and I was just going into town to find it a home." The lumberjack eyed him suspiciously and released his arm. "Aye? Tha’ so? Well, give him to me then, milord. I can find a place for him." The Lord happily accepted the man’s offer and watched as he walked away. "My conscience is clear my Lord." And thus he walked back home to his estate. The baby stayed with the lumberjack until he grew too old to live in his home on the money he had made. The child also had fits of rage when he was around others, which worried the churchgoers and the citizens he sold to alike. But yet, the boy’s mind seemed to calm when around tools. Anything metallic, leather, or even remotely loose that he found in the streets seemed to come into his possession almost immediately.
"This poor child…the Devil must have taken part of his mind in the womb." The man had saved up enough money for an escorted trip to the mountains to be with his uncle. Maybe the boy could do some good there, as his fingers had wrought marvelous things. A tree made of bent and torn metal, bits of jewelry, and even furniture made of the spare wood the lumberjack had left over. It was comforting to know such a child held such a talent. And so the child stayed with his uncle in the mines, well into his twenty-second year. As time had gone by, the uncle had found the child had a marvelous talent for enchantment. Much of the things he had made were imbued with strong and powerful magic. It was strange to watch him work, as he refused to sleep despite all protests as project after project enveloped his attention.
Then came the second month of his twenty second year, when he walked down the mountain trail while his uncle lay in bed with drink in hand. There lay a grand library in a small little town, and on its steps stood a creature more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. She had golden blonde hair, with gentle green eyes, and high cheekbones. Her skin was pale, but seemed to glisten and shine under the moonlight. This girl was ghastly pale, seemingly stricken with some sort of illness. As he gazed upon her, he saw her nose was in a book, but she smiled so beautifully as she turned its pages. The child, ever the silent one, shambled back into the mine, into a place where gold glittered brightly in abundance, and began to mind in a mad fury; in his heart, it was love at first sight. Each day that passed since he had laid his eyes upon her, he had used the uncle’s forge to smelt ore and refine the gold into liquid. Every gem he could find was fitted and placed into the piece, and every hour of each day he spent toiling away at this labor of love. Then came the boys true talent: Enchantment. Raising his great hands, he shout to the heavens and pounded his fists onto the ground where he had laid the finished product. With every pound, it seemed to shock the earring and sear markings into it. Pound by pound, he put etchings of protection and spiritual growth. Truly, it was a marvel to see him there day by day, simply shouting and pounding.
Then came the fourth month of his twenty second year, under a moonlit night. The child had descended the dangerous and rocky path to go down to the creature he had seen. She sat there again that night, reading thus by candle light. The boy hesitated and looked at her once more…what about her soothed his mind and heart so? But he had to go and give her this gift. The girl looked up from her reading and opened her mouth in shock at the deformed man in front of her. Giving a yelp of terror, she jumped to her feet and scared her approacher back a couple feet. The child then began to cry almost uncontrollably, and the girl slowly approached him. "I am sorry…" Her gentle hand touched his shoulder, and her voice swayed into his ears with a melodic tone. "You startled me…" It was a slow and deliberate effort, but the child reached both arms out and held a brown box. "For me?" Opening it, she gasped and covered her mouth at the sight. "Its beautiful…thank you…" The child bowed his head and opened his mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. The girl…seemed to know what he wanted to say. "…I…this is such a gift…" She sat him down and introduced herself to him. Then the sun began to rise, and the child rose as if to leave. "Can I see you again tonight?" The child smiled for the first time in his life, and shambled away quickly into what remained of the night.
And so came the third month of his twenty third year. The two had made a regular pact to see each other once a night since they had first met, and the two were becoming increasingly attached to her. The earring glittered in her ear, and seemed to give her strength with each passing day. Her tone became happier, and her body healthier. Again and again he came, the pair falling deeper and deeper into love. But then came the jealous man who sought the heart of the sickly girl. He had always spied on them since they had met; his heart growing blacker and more envious over the course of time. "That laugh and that smile will be mine." So he went to the town guard. "Sir! Sir! Please listen to me! There is a monster attacking a girl on the library steps!" The guards rushed to the couple, and apprehended the child, despite his raging attempts to break free. The girl screamed and begged for them to let him go, but the face of the child had begun to take its toll. "This is no man, nor does this seem human. You will be brought before the public tonight to decide your punishment." The next day passed, and the child was tied to a post in the middle of the square. The envious man raised his torch and asked the people what to do with him, whilst the girl nearby was screaming and begging for his life.
"Burn him!"
"Crucify him!"
And then the stones came. They struck against the deformed child as he wailed. Minutes and hours passed of this, the mob growing angrier and the envious man becoming more satisfied. By the time they had let up, the thing had been beaten to where his very skin seemed to hang off his body and blood flowed freely off of him. The girl wrestled the guards, the earring strengthening her body and spirit. "Let go me go to him!" As she kneeled next to the child in front of the mob, she embraced him and sobbed apologies. "Please do not be angry…they do not understand…" Then to her surprise, the child raised his hand and touched her cheek, leaving blood all over her beautiful face. Then he touched the earring. With a smile, he breathed his last, knowing the illness that was inside her was no more as long as she held onto that. The girl left the town behind, holding onto the earring and passed it down. "This, my children…" She would say, "Is something someone very special made me. It has made me strong enough to face the world, and so too shall it help you." As she turned her eyes to the heavens, she thanked the child for what he meant to her, and the gift he left to the family she brought into the world.
History: In reality, not much is known about how this artefact came to be. It was first seen in the hands of a female magician, and in passing glances of portraits throughout the ages. Interestingly, all the ones who obtained said earrings were very in tune with the spiritual realm, and wrought amazing things into existence. For now, the legend may due, due to lack of physical proof.
