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Peregrine
2007-02-14, 12:59 PM
Come one, come all, to the County Craft Fair! Has it really been five years since the last one? It seems like just yesterday! But it's here again, so come one, come all! See the finest crafts the county has to offer, glassware, woodwork, pottery, leathergoods, tack and harness, clothes and fabrics, it's all here at the County Craft Fair! Come see the county's finest craftsmen ply their trade and vie for title of County Craft Fair Champion! Old Master Runerock is back and still looking a safe bet, but don't count your chickens too soon! We have new challengers this year, folks, names like Beor Lathspell, that I'm sure will give the reigning Champion a run for his money! Come see the contest, come one, come all!

The Rivals
The County Craft Fair seems like an unlikely event to draw the attention of any adventurers, but this year, the five-yearly event is shaping up to be something special. This year, there might actually be some competition. The reigning champion from the last two Fairs is one Master Runerock, a legend in his own locality. But in between Fair years, Master Runerock himself hosts smaller competitions where up-and-coming craftspeople can come to show their stuff, and these exhibitions have been dominated by a younger master named Beor Lathspell. He is now mounting a serious challenge to Master Runerock at the upcoming Fair.

This in itself, of course, is still nothing to warrant great interest. But there are rumours... rumours of something interesting. Rumours that Beor Lathspell has discovered the secret of Master Runerock's success, and now seeks to take that secret for himself.

In actual fact, there is a secret, and Beor Lathspell has discovered it. Master Runerock is the possessor of the Crafter's Heart, a marvellous item of power that has made him all but unbeatable for some ten years. Beor Lathspell has himself obtained the Crafter's Mind, a related item of lesser power. A third item, the Crafter's Hand, was obtained by Master Runerock but lost in the river during a struggle between himself and Beor Lathspell.

Master Runerock
Dwarf Expert 6

Beor Lathspell
Gnome Expert 6

Both rivals have Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Craft, Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge, Profession, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device as their class skills.

The Items

The Crafter's Heart
This unassuming, coppery-red lump is suspended from a leather thong. When worn about the neck, the wearer can feel it pulse slightly, rather slower than any normal humanoid heartbeat. The Crafter's Heart lets the wearer almost literally pour their heart and soul into their work.

The wearer of the Crafter's Heart can spend XP to improve their Craft check results, at a rate of 20XP per +1 to the weekly check (or 2XP per +1 to the daily check). However, as long as you continue to wear the heart, the effects of XP loss, including level loss, do not affect the wearer. You can even reduce yourself to 0XP (but not below) in this manner.

The Crafter's Heart has a limit of 400XP drawn into the work per week.

Strong necromancy; CL 18th; Weight 1lb.

The Crafter's Mind
This thin silvery headband grants its wearer the ability to focus entirely on a crafting task at hand. Its wearer gains a +4 bonus to Intelligence (that is, a +2 bonus to Int modifier) for all Int-based skill checks related to the crafting task at hand (primarily the Craft skill, but Appraise, Knowledge, and sometimes even Decipher Script are also possible candidates). However, it gives a -4 penalty to Intelligence for all other purposes.

Relative to the Crafter's Heart, the Crafter's Mind is a much less powerful item on its own, but it is said to be the key to unlocking the full powers of the other artifacts.

Strong transmutation; CL 16th; Weight --

The Crafter's Hand
The tales are unclear about what the Crafter's Hand does -- some say it makes the wielder's hands more deft and precise, others that it does the crafting work for them. In any case, most of the stories agree that the Crafter's Hand is intended to be controlled with the Crafter's Mind, and that if all three artifacts are brought together, the bearer will receive some phenomenal power.

This entry is being posted after the deadline and so I'm not bothering with making it really good and thorough with things like stats. But I was still determined to finish it and post it in the hopes that someone, somewhere, would get it and get a laugh out of it. :smalltongue:

Again, so we're clear, this is not being entered. If I'd had time, maybe I would have taken a shot at Funniest... but probably not, there's been some awesomely funny ones already.