Artifacts in fiction

[BWR]

I like artifacts. The immense power, the unknown element, the story behind them. The main problem about stat'ing them is similar to stat'ing anything - it becomes a mess of mechanics and less of a character. Even worse, in cases like 3.x some artifacts are less powerful and less useful than run of the mill magic items. An artifact should have significant impact on the story and the world when introduced in a game, not just be 'my sword is bigger than your sword'. Artifacts, in many cases, are central to the story, e.g. Lord of the Rings.

So, the purpose of this thread is to share artifacts you like from whatever source. Please list the source (author, name of the story/movie/series/whatever), give some flavor text and a description of what it does. Stats are optional but unadvised, since this is supposed to give ideas for fun artifacts, not be homebrewed mechanics.


The Necklace of Vayi
Bright as diamonds, yet softer; more like pearls, yet clearer than pearls, spangled; rather like opals, yet purer than opals; more like pale sapphires, though not spoiled with color.


Vayi the Drin (a least demon) found the beautiful maid Ferazhin the Flower-Born crying and was enchanted by her tears. Using his craft he captured seven tears and wrought a wondrous necklace of silvery metal, bright as lightning, soft as milk. Azhrarn, night's master, took the necklace and sent it to the sunlit world where it would work its evil. Any mortal being of greater than animal intelligence that sees the necklace is instantly captivated by its unearthly beauty and must possess it at all costs, attempts to purchase it, theft, robbery, even murder of their loved ones if no other option presents itself.
It has left a trail of blood and sorrow across the world as it has changed owners with alarming speed.
Currently, an immense serpent is in possession of the necklace, and has been its guardian for centuries. The serpent has eaten heroes and armies but has over the years forgotten what its treasure is, only that it has a treasure that it jealously guards.
Only the blind are resistant to the lure of the necklace, if they are of pure heart and strong will. So far no one has attempted to destroy the necklace, though some speculate returning it to Azhrarn will remove its influence from the world. Of course, it is unwise to gain the attention of the Prince of Demons.

Source: Tanith Lee's "Night's Master", from her Tales from the Flat Earth series.

[Yora]

The Sword from Shadow of the Colossus comes to mind. However, the game is intentionally left ambitious and since the characters all seem to know what it is, they don't repeat its story while the audience is following the story.
But what is said and done implies that the sword was a cricial element of the ritual that split the spirit of Dormin into sixteen parts and imprisoned them in the collosi, as it is also the only thing that can break the magical seals that keep them bound to the physical bodies.

In the Star Wars Vector comics, there is an ancient Sith Amulet that can turn people into ghouls, which in turn can infect any other humanoid creatures they injure with the same transformation.

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Yes, it's the rakghoul.

Not quite sure what it's original purpose was, but wherever it surfaces and gets taken up by a force user, it leads to utter devastation that depopulates entire planets in relatively short time.

And now that I am thinking of it, obviously the Ashes of Andraste from Dragon Age. After the prophet and chosen champion of the true god was burned at the stake by a heretic sect, her ashes were gathered by her loyal followers and hidden away in a secret shrine in the mountains of a far corner of the continent. Those who are deemed worthy by the shrines guardian spirits are allowed to take a pinch of ash from the urn, and the Ashes have the power to cure every mundane and magical illness. No matter how many people take ash from the urn, it never seems to become less.

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A minor plot hole: If your character was force conscripted into the Grey Wardens and only joined under the threat of death, or because it was the only way to survive darkspawn taint, taking some of the Ashes for yourself should completely cleanse the taint, restoring you back to normal.

Actually it's really just a key-card, but in the heavily mystified storyline of Halo, the Index also pretty much serves as an artifact. It's a little key that unlocks the main controls of the Halos and the Ark, which hands the person the power to unmake all life in the Galaxy and also to repopulate it again. However, it can only be used by a human (or one of the extinct Forerunners who created them).

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, there are the Tears of the Prophets. They are floating, crystaline objects that were created by incorporeal beings from another dimension that exists outside of time and dropped outside one of the portals to their home where they were found by the Bajorans. The Federation officially classifies them as technological devices of unknown properties, but to the Bajorans they are devine artefacts send from their gods. It's unclear what they do exactly, but they can give visions to people, which seemingly include telepathic contact with the prophets. The Bajorans believe the prophets protect their world and send the visions to guide their leaders, but as incorporeal beings that exist outside of time, they don't seem to really understand what the bajorans are either.

Not really sure about the supposed powers, but I think King Arthurs sword Excalibur also is treated pretty much as an artifact.

The God of War games also have tonnes of artifacts. Among the more entertaining ones would be the Heads of Medusa, Euriyale, and Helios, which can be held up to project beams that turn creatures to stone (and I think burn them to ash in the case of Helios). Then there is the Box of Pandora, which apparently turns a mortal who opens it into a god and makes a god much more powerful. Massive in size and very impressive is the Loom of the Fates, where the three spirits of fate wave the fate of all creatures, and which can be used to travel back in time and change events.
The Blades of Chaos are simply incredibly powerful weapons that can shred thousands of enemies to pieces.

[erikun]

In the Shannara books by Terry Brooks, there are several powerful artifacts. One is the Elfstones, which are elven craft and can grant wishes of the user. The Sword of Shannara was apparently an artifact-level item as well, revealing the ultimate truth to the user. There are probably others floating around Shannara, but it's been awhile since I read the books.

God of War took a lot of thinks from Greek mythology, which is filled to the brim with "artifacts" and other unique items with specific powers. The head of Medusa is from, well, the head of Medusa, which retained its petrifying powers even after Medusa was beheaded. The Aegis is what Athena did, crafting Medusa's head (or her likeness) into a shield and paralyzed opponents who gazed at it.

King Arthur's Excalibur was obtained from the Lady of the Lake by Arthur, protected him in battle, and was ultimately returned to the Lady by the end of the stories. Sorry, but I'm not recalling right off hand the fine details of Excalibur; I don't think the other knights had any unique weapons like it, though.

[Amphetryon]

I seem to recall a story from Tolkien about this One Ring that qualified as an artifact.

[illyahr]

King Arthur's Excalibur was obtained from the Lady of the Lake by Arthur, protected him in battle, and was ultimately returned to the Lady by the end of the stories. Sorry, but I'm not recalling right off hand the fine details of Excalibur; I don't think the other knights had any unique weapons like it, though.

The sword itself was basically a +5 Keen Holy Longsword, but that's not the best part. The scabbard made the weilder impossible to defeat in combat. It would basically provide DR 15/+4 or something like that.

[dysprosium]

There are the Twelve Swords from Fred Saberhagen's Books of Swords.

In the homebrew section, douglas statted out these wonderful blades and did a fine job keeping with the feel of the series too.

The Twelve Swords

The series takes place in Earth's far future. Each one of the swords was forged by the god Hephaestus and were spread across the world.

[erikun]

The sword itself was basically a +5 Keen Holy Longsword, but that's not the best part. The scabbard made the weilder impossible to defeat in combat. It would basically provide DR 15/+4 or something like that.

King Arthur was most certainly not undefeatable in combat, even with Excalibur. I seem to recall Lancelot being a better knight than Arthur, and in fact, the main motivation for Arthur locating Lancelot was to aid Arthur with a particularly difficult fight that he could not win. (The Green Knight, if I remember correctly? It's been a long time since I read through the stories.)

King Arthur is frequently claimed to be undefeated in combat, but pretty much every actual story about him seems to be about him being defeated or facing impossible odds. Well, except for the token "King Arthur went about the land, performing great feats of heroics that year" that you read at the beginning of almost every tale. I wonder how many people have actually read and of the stories.

[Alleran]

In the Shannara books by Terry Brooks, there are several powerful artifacts. One is the Elfstones, which are elven craft and can grant wishes of the user. The Sword of Shannara was apparently an artifact-level item as well, revealing the ultimate truth to the user. There are probably others floating around Shannara, but it's been awhile since I read the books.

These have actually been statted (and the Aegis shield was also given stats in Paizo's Mythic Adventures book). It was in Dragon... #286, or somewhere around there. The Blue Elfstones were a minor artifact, the Sword of Shannara was a major artifact. The Black Elfstone was also statted up - it's a major artifact, and on top of that is absurdly game-breaking.

[Freejack451]

So no one brings up Stormbringer or Mournblade? Tisk, tisk....

[BWR]

The Mirror of Zorayas

Zorayas was a powerful enchantress. Maimed and disfigured shortly after birth, when she was old and skilled enough she made a bargain with Night's Master, Azhrarn, to gain unearthly beauty. Between her beauty and her magic, no one could look upon her and fail to be utterly ensnared, should she wish it. Wishing for the finest things in life, she would seduce anyone whose possession tickled her fancy, and they would gladly give them anything they possessed, and when she discarded them they would pine for unto death, which followed close behind.

After Zorayas had seduced Jurim, owner of half the cursed diamonds of a wealthy nation (the curse is simple: unless given as a sincere gift, anyone who takes a diamond other than the rightful owners will die, no way around it) and died of a broken heart, his brother Mirrash crafted this magical mirror.
The mirror was given to Zorayas who instantly became entranced by her reflection. The reflection showed herself as others saw her, causing her to fall in love with her reflection. Though of strong will and able to suppress her desire for a time, Zorayas eventually succumbed to the lure of the mirror and tried to join with her reflected image. Neither Zorayas nor the mirror were ever seen after that night.

Despite being created for Zorayas, the mirror will likely work its magic on anyone who looks into it. They will become enchanted with their own image, obsessed with the perfection they view therein. Trying to join with the image will result in death.

From Tanith Lee's "Night's Master"

[Doorhandle]

Soul edge/calibur too, while we're here.

I'd like to note that realgar magic items should get histories as well. Sting was only orcbane sword, and even then it still has a unique name.

[Starmage21]

King Arthur was most certainly not undefeatable in combat, even with Excalibur. I seem to recall Lancelot being a better knight than Arthur, and in fact, the main motivation for Arthur locating Lancelot was to aid Arthur with a particularly difficult fight that he could not win. (The Green Knight, if I remember correctly? It's been a long time since I read through the stories.)

King Arthur is frequently claimed to be undefeated in combat, but pretty much every actual story about him seems to be about him being defeated or facing impossible odds. Well, except for the token "King Arthur went about the land, performing great feats of heroics that year" that you read at the beginning of almost every tale. I wonder how many people have actually read and of the stories.

Depending on the story, the scabbard for Excalibur was what made him undefeatable in combat, or impossible to wound. The problem is, again depending on the story, he lost it.

Also Excalibur is NOT the sword he pulled from the stone. That was a magic sword too, but he received Excalibur afterwards from The Lady of the Lake.

[comicshorse]

So no one brings up Stormbringer or Mournblade? Tisk, tisk....

STORMBRINGER and MOURNBLADE (From Michael Moorcock's 'Elric' novels)
Two large, black rune carved broadwsords of unknown origin.The blades devour the souls of those they wound (sometimes requiring the merest nick to do so) and pass on some of the power to their weilder in the form of superhuman strength and stamina.
Much less is seen of MOURNBLADE so the following can only definitely be said to apply to STORMBRINGER.STORMBRINGER has been shown to be able to leech the very souls stuff of the gods, though this required a good blow not just a nick. The gods themselves seemed wary of these weapons.
STORMBRINGER possess a malign intelligence of its own and the loved ones of its weilder always seem to somehow end up being soul sucked by the blade.

THE SWORD OF THE DAWN (From Moorcock's 'Hawkmoon' novels)
When drawn the Sword produces a rosy light reminiscent of the arrival of dawn. When the user holds the blade aloft and calls for the Legion of the Dawn he summons a hundred savage warriors clad only in paint and loinclothes armed with spears and spiked clubs.
The Legion of the Dawn fight with great skill and savagery at the command of the weilder of the Sword and when one is slain, is instantly replaced by another warrior appearing from nowhere.
There does seem to be some limit to the supply of warriors as in the final battle at Londra its noted that at some point slain warriors were not always replaced by a new warrior.


KANAJANA (From Moorcock's 'Erekose' novels)
When draw the sword produces a dark light. It is said that this radiance is dangerous to all but Erekose who is fated to weild the sword. While the light alone never seems to kill anyone the smallest cut from the blade is fatal.


As all the heroes are aspects of the multiverse's Eternal Champion so its believed all the swords are aspects of Stormbringer

[lytokk]

The Master Sword from legend of zelda. At minimum, a +2 Holy Demonbane Bastard Sword with the ability to reflect spells back at the caster. I think its a bastard at least, looks a little too big for a longsword.

Heck most of the zelda items would be considered artifacts.

[Re'ozul]

Any of the Objects from "The Lost Room".

Comb of Timelessness
There is always time to look good.
When drawn through someone's hair, time seems to stops for anything other than the affected for 10 seconds. But beware, time dislikes shenanigans.
D&D Mechanicals: move action activated 2 round time stop. If used more than once per minute DC 15 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1 minute, if already sickened become nauseated for 1 minute. DC increases by 5 for each use after 2 that happens less than one minute after the previous use.
Limitation: Does not work on Bald people or hair other than Head-Hair.

Flask of Breathlessness
A container so fine, it will take your breath away.
The user of this Flask may point it at any creature they can see. Said creature will not have the pleasure of breathing.
D&D Mechanicals: Automatic single target suffocation effect. Only way to evade is removing LoS or LoE between flask and target, or removing the flask from the user's grasp.

Eye of the Flesh
Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder, Life and Death are now in yours.
If a being reaplaces one of their eyes with this glass eye, they gain untold powers over beings made of flesh. They may either restore them to their pinnacle or utterly destroy them.
D&D Mechanics: All beings considered to be made of flesh within a 30ft cone of the user may be subject to one of two effects with a standard action.
Benign: The beings are healed similar to the Heal spell. However, this effect is not based on positive energy and may be used to heal flash based undead.
Malevolent: The beings are damaged similar to the Harm spell. However, this effect is not based upon negative energy and may be used to harm flesh-based undead.
Either effect's strenght is based on a Caster level equal to the user's hitdice and has no upper limit.

A Tapper's Dream-Pencil
Nervous Habits CAN pay off
Each time a user taps the pencil's back end onto a solid surface, a true instance of the smallest indigenous currency is created.
D&D Mechanics: Tap pencil, recieve copper piece.



will do more later.

[illyahr]

Depending on the story, the scabbard for Excalibur was what made him undefeatable in combat, or impossible to wound. The problem is, again depending on the story, he lost it.

Also Excalibur is NOT the sword he pulled from the stone. That was a magic sword too, but he received Excalibur afterwards from The Lady of the Lake.

Exactly. Arthur lost the scabbard and was confused when Merlin facepalmed. No one ever found the scabbard because it only worked when it was paired with Excalibur so when it was returned to the Lady of the Lake, it was returned alone and incomplete.

Even before that, Arthur was defeated a couple of times. Just not in combat. Arthur would still fall back if his men were in too much danger or there were other circumstances that made a direct confrontation impractical.

[Darkpaladin109]

Fire Emblem has a lot of weapons that come mind, though the most powerful ones are the holy weapons used by the 12 crusaders and some of their descendants from Fire Emblem 4. I'l only list one or two.

Tyrfing

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Wielded by the Crusader of Light, Baldur and his descendants in the Chalphy's royal family, Lord Vylon , his son Sigurd and later, Sigurd's son Seliph, the Tyrfing is a powerful sword that gives it's wielders many abilities such as making them better at both dodging and hitting attacks, having better critical hit chance than normal swords, and significantly reducing the effect magic has on them. Additionally, if it's wielders are damaged below 10% health, they also become capable of resisting all forms of damage for one turn.

Mystletainn

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Also known as the Demon Sword for reasons unkown, the Mystletainn is used by Hezul the Black Knight and his descendants Eldigan the Lord of Nordion and Eldigan's son Ares. Alongside the strength of the blade itself, it possesses magic properties that bestow it's users with better reflexes that make them better at landing both normal and critical hits often. Like the Tyrfing, it also creates a shield that protects it's users against magic, although it is weaker than the one the Tyrfing creates.

Source: Nintendo's Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the holy war (Seisen No Kenfu in japanese since it wasn't actually released overseas).

Like the other holy weapons, the Tyrfing and the Mystletainn are limited in that they may only be used to their full extent in the hands of fully blooded descendants of their original wielder.

[FabulousFizban]

The Kender Spoon of Turning - nuff said

[BWR]

The Kender Spoon of Turning - nuff said

Actually, if you read the OP, not enough said. For the sake of those who are possibly not familiar with the works mentioned, would you (pl.) please add a description of the item and what it does. Just a name and comment doesn't really make for an interesting artifact.

[The Fury]

The Master Sword from legend of zelda. At minimum, a +2 Holy Demonbane Bastard Sword with the ability to reflect spells back at the caster. I think its a bastard at least, looks a little too big for a longsword.

Heck most of the zelda items would be considered artifacts.

Indeed! Not the least of which is the fabled Glass Jar! ...It's a jar. Made of glass.
Naw, they're probably not artifacts but they are curiously rare.

On a slightly more serious note, a friend of mine suggested having an artifact in a game called The Book of Eternity. The Book of Eternity has the entire story of all of existence written in its pages, all that has happened or will happen to anyone and everyone in in the book. If someone is able to possess The Book of Eternity they can not only see their destiny but they can rewrite it.
I thought it was a really cool idea when my friend described it to me, and I still do. Though now I can't shake the feeling that it's like a device that could impart the powers of Chief Circle Marty. Basically.

[endoperez]

The Warlock's Wheel:
It's from Niven's The Magic Goes Away.

Once upon a time, a warlock noticed that staying long enough in a single area caused his magical powers to slowly diminish. He started thinking that magic might be a limited resource, and to test this hypothesis he created a magical artifact - a small wheel that spins quickly around its axle. His hypothesis turned out to be correct, but he also found out that magic is NOT a renewable resource! The wheel kept spinning until magic started running out, spinning slower and slower until it finally stopped... and the area had been drained out of any and all magical power. Moving the Wheel to a non-depleted area starts the process anew.

Game rules:
Creates permanent Anti-Magic Auras centered on the area where the Wheel has been for at least a month. Each Anti-Magic Aura has a radius of several hundred meters.
In a setting where magic is a renewable resource, The Warlock's Wheel merely creates an anti-magic aura that slowly dissipates when the wheel has been taken out.



The Orange And Green Bottle,
from Lord Demon, by Roger Zelazny and Jane Lindskold

It was orange. It was green. It was one of my best. Kai Wren bottles are of course priceless — going back over fourteen centuries. I don't know how many of them I've made over all that time. Virtually indestructible, they will keep any wine decanted into them fresh for a span greater than two normal human lifetimes. They will do the same with cut flowers. And even if nothing is placed within them, they are said to bring their owners considerable good luck — by way of wealth, good health, happiness, long life.
Sorcerers have sought for them and conjured with them, for they do tend themselves to magical usage. It is an entire world unto itself, its interior noncontinuous with human time and space. Any of those bottles of which I had spoken contained their worlds.

Game mechanics:
An indestructible bottle that doubles as an access point to a personal plane, similar to the epic spell Genesis in D&D. Inside it, there's a whole world - the one described in the book had mountains, an ocean, several dragons, an army of ogres and so on.

There are two exits to each bottle - you can enter or exit from where the physical bottle is situated, or use the magic portal. If you're inside the demiplane, you can change where the two-way magic portal opens - it can open into any plane and any location.

Humans inside the bottle's demiplane age at a much slower pace, and can live for hundreds of years without aging more than a few years.

Possessing the bottle gives its wielder luck in all of his or her endeavours. In D&D terms, it'd probably have the effects of half-a-dozen Ioun stones on a truly slotless magic item. Being the rightful and designated owner of the bottle is enough to convey the bonus, and it works across all planes and distances. A bottle that has been stolen, lost or given away will cause the benefit to be lost.

The green and orange bottle has magical powers BEYOND those of an ordinary bottle:

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it has the power to grant three perfect, unlimited wishes.
And by perfect and unlimited, I mean just that.
One of the wishes was something like "I wish that all gods and all their servants would forever be banned from entering this plane or using magic upon or in this plane, and that as this wish is completed, all the gods, their servants and their magics be removed from this plane. This is my wish. Make it so."
The second wish changed and rewrote the magical genetics of all demonkind.

The Bowstring of Parka
from Knight and Wizard, a duology by Gene Wolfe.

When strung to a bow, this bowstring makes sure that all arrows shot from the bow fly true and unerringly, hit any target that the archer can see and with enough force to penetrate metal and stone and cause small landslides.

The string is unbreakable and can be stretched to any distance. It can be used to strangulate any and all creatures regardless of size, and when used in this manner it (in D&D terms) gives a grapple bonus.

If one sleeps while having the bowstring next to oneself, normal sleep will be replaced by prophetic dreams and visions of the people whose lives form the bowstring. The bowstring was created by Parka, the over-goddess who weaves the lives of men, and who is worshipped by the gods of mortals.

[Jormengand]

While this already has stats, just from a different system, it would be fun to make it in D&D:

The Fellblade (WHFB)

The Fellblade was the product of the Skaven's vile sorceries, the use of another artifact (The Cauldron of A Thousand Poxes) and an alloy of the manifestation of magic and the strongest metal known to man. It was used by the swordsman Alcadizaar to slay Nagash, the most powerful necromancer ever (though, being Nagash, he managed to resurrect himself) but the blade drove him to insanity and death.

The skaven recovered their sword, and it is used by their warlords to this day. A skaven carries the weapon with a sense of pride - the blade's victims will inevitably include the bearer, but also many of their foes.

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This Vicious Ghost Touch +7 longsword is anathema to almost everything. First, it ignores magical defenses, ignores DR and hardness, and targets the foe's touch AC. Second, it doubles the damage dealt by the wielder's attacks, in a similar manner to a critical hit (i.e. precision damage is not multiplied). Third, it does 2d6 acid and 2d6 vile damage on a successful hit - this is not multiplied, but is multiplied on a critical hit.

Finally, anyone who holds it in their hands takes 2d6 damage per round - this damage ignores DR, hardness, regeneration or any other way of preventing or converting the damage (There are exceptions, such as the regeneration of Achaekek the Mantis God), and hit points lost in this manner are not regained through fast healing - healing spells and sleep will heal the damage as normal.

The Fellblade does not have hit points, but is still susceptible to anything else which destroys magic items. However, it has +30 to all its saves.

[Calen]

The Ter'angreal from Wheel of Time series, objects of power from the last age.

To many to list and some are only described as feelings of what they do.

Angreal and Sa'angreal from the same series would be powerful implements.

[TuggyNE]

The Ter'angreal from Wheel of Time series, objects of power from the last age.

To many to list and some are only described as feelings of what they do.

Angreal and Sa'angreal from the same series would be powerful implements.

Yeah, all the *angreal are artifacts. Most are minor, some are major.

[Telok]

The Warlock's Wheel:
It's from Niven's The Magic Goes Away.

Actually the disk (it wasn't a wheel) wasn't an artifact, it was a duplicate of a one-shot magic item than ran a simple magical experiment.

The disk was made of copper and about six inches in circumference, it was enchanted with three spells that would last about fifteen or twenty minutes before they ran out. The first spell simply levitated the disk at chest height, the second spell made the disk indestructable while the spell was active. The third spell caused the disk to rotate at a speed of one revolution per second and to double the speed of rotation every subsequent second. After 12 seconds the disk rotates 2,048 times per second, most table saws rotate at around 3,500 times per minute. In order to power the continually increasing rotation speed the spell drain magical power from the surrounding area. When the local area is completely drained (in the story it consumed the magical essence of a major demon) the disk is forced to consume it's own magic.

When the disk consumes it's own magic the spell that keeps it indestructable ends. This usually seems to happen after about two minutes at most. By that time the disk is revolving 1.329*10^36 times a second, the edge is moving at about... twelve times the speed of light... Ok, so someone else can do the calculations as to when the edge hits light speed and needs an infinite amount of power to accelerate if they want to.

Suffice it to say that in less than two minutes the edge of the disk hits the lightspeed barrier and the local magical field had been converted to kinetic energy in the disk. Of which is the edge is moving at light speed, the center isn't moving, and the whole thing is no longer indestructable. Once the radioactive crater cools down you're left with, not an anti-magic field, but a dead magic zone.

[No brains]

While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact? Some artifacts in stories are just like a really sharp stick, or an infinite spool of plot bandages. What qualities really elevate artifacts to being well above my +2 Holy Healer's war hammer that could be called an artifact from the deeds it helped me to do?

I can see The One Ring as a real artifact because it has powers that could fill a page from a book, another page's worth of effects from long term exposure, a dozen hundred pages of related lore, a small sentience and will, and a unique force of nature required to destroy it. That is a well-defined, run-on sentence of criteria that makes this magic item above others. The thing that makes all those work as something more than deus ex machina for the author is that they are all united by a consistent theme. The ring is like a still-living transplant organ severed from a god- anyone can take it, and be taken by it.

[TuggyNE]

While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact? Some artifacts in stories are just like a really sharp stick, or an infinite spool of plot bandages. What qualities really elevate artifacts to being well above my +2 Holy Healer's war hammer that could be called an artifact from the deeds it helped me to do?

Let's use D&D definition: a magic item that breaks the usual "rules" of what magic items can do, although it may not be more powerful than a really really powerful standard magic item. Basically, an artifact has some effect that is unique to itself, and a defined number of copies of that (often only the one).

[Mnemnosyne]

While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact? Some artifacts in stories are just like a really sharp stick, or an infinite spool of plot bandages. What qualities really elevate artifacts to being well above my +2 Holy Healer's war hammer that could be called an artifact from the deeds it helped me to do?

Well, the Book of Artifacts had this to say (among other things; I'm tossing out a few quotes from several pages of description):

A common assumption is that an artifact is any ultra-powerful magical device. A staff of the magi is considered by many to be an ultra-powerful magical device, but it is not an artifact. Indeed, many artifacts have fewer powers than this staff. While most artifacts are potent (because the DM wants them to be memorable), sheer power is not a defining quality. An artifact must have three properties: it must be unique, it must have a history, and it must be important to the adventure.

History. One of the most important features of every artifact is that it has baggage. Someone or something made it, used it, and eventually managed to lose it. The history should explain or at least hint at the reason the artifact exists and what it was originally used for. The tale may also tell what has happened to the artifact since it was made, particularly the great or wondrous fates of successive owners. Histories are important. They provide something for the player characters to research and a means for the DM to give clues about the item's vast powers. A colorful if not wholly accurate description of the terrible fate that met the last owner of the Crystal of the Ebon Flame is certain to make the player characters cautious, should they ever find the same device.

Artifacts are about wonder—not power like many players think. Artifacts are the highest of all magic in a normal campaign, so they have to be surprising, awe-inspiring, and unpredictable; in other words, all the things that make the world wondrous. Artifacts can't be ho-hum devices bound by the standard rules of magical devices—the dreary realities of charges, command words, and the like. Artifacts exist to break the rules.

The old maxim "with great power comes great responsibility" couldn't be more true in the case of artifacts. Nothing is free or easy about these devices. There are always costs, drawbacks, or outright curses tied to their use.

Artifacts are immune to physical or magical harm, except by a few specific means. If placed in a situation where a magical item would be utterly destroyed (such as crushed under an immense slab) the artifact simply disappears. This immunity extends even to the powers of the gods.

As far as artifacts I personally like...well. The Autobot Matrix of Leadership basically hits most of the requirements except perhaps having a curse. Obviously a straight-up transplant of it into most other settings would be silly, but the concept can certainly prove an inspiration for a similar artifact.

[The Fury]

While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact?

Going by the funniest definition, it's a magic item that will cause some divine retibution against you if you break it. Either if on purpose or accident.
That's why you put multiple One Rings throughout a room-- so when the party mage decides to Disjunction some enemy with a crazy number of buffs on it he'll have several gods smiting him for his trouble.

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Congratulations to that mage by the way, for winning the "Falling for the Most Improbable Trap I've Ever Heard of Award."

Going by what I find a more sensible definition, if a magic item is unusually powerful, rare and unique then it can be an artifact.

[Yora]

They are also unique items that generally can not be reproduced by regular spellcasters with their ordinary powers.

So far, I've come up with one artifact for my homebrew setting, which I want to use in an upcomming campaign.

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It's a small box made from a green stone that is used by aboleths to build their underwater cities, as it has the property of preventing anything from growing on it, like algae, mosses, lichens, and so on. The box itself is a completely ordinary block of that material, but inside of it is a chunk of flesh that was ripped off the body of a Great Old One in the ancient past. As such, it is still not dead and constantly trying to reattach itself to the rest of the body. Even though it has no mind, it still is in permanent terrible pain, which causes psionic disruption even when the box is closed. When the box is opened, it tries to reach out to the spirit of the original creature to locate it and rejoin it, and in the process creates a telepathic connection with the next person within reach.
If that person has superior mental abilities, he can get incredible powers and create large number of psionic thralls, but the flesh tries to take over the person and get him to attach it to himself.