Shavuot Ink
So-called because it is prepared every hundred years
at a very private ceremony during the Jewish holiday, Shavuot Ink is a
moderately minor artifact. In appearance
it is a distinctive brownish ink that is resistant to smudging; it dries quickly
and fades slowly. Shavuot Ink is not so
much created as recycled: it is made from parchment and papers that have had
been previously marked by the last iteration of Shavuot Ink. The link stretches back uninterrupted for
over three thousand years: it is known that the first set of the ink was made
from the actual cowhide that Moses used to transcribe the Torah. Tradition indicates that every hundred years
a new copy of the Torah is to be written using the ink; this copy is kept for a
century, then ritually burned and the ashes used to make more ink. There is always a decent amount left over,
allowing it to be used for other purposes.
The keepers of the Ink tend not to use it frivolously, but can be
persuaded to give a bottle or two to a worthy supplicant - which tends to
include most angels.
This item is definitely supernatural - the methods
and ingredients used in making the ink should not work, but do - but not
exceptionally powerful. It gives a +1 to
all Enchantment rolls involving Constructs: a pen filled with the ink will blot
if someone attempts to use it to write a lie; and a successful Enchantment roll
at -2 will allow it to be transported to the celestial plane (the user must
still find an artifact suitable for actually writing on). This is all useful, but not particularly
earthshaking. Of course, the keepers of
the Ink have their own opinion. After
all, when they write out their Covenant with their Lord each century, the ink
never blots...
Cost: 1 pt per bottle