The Wand of Amber
by Brant GuilloryThis magical artifact is a unique piece of amber. It is about 18" long and one inch in diameter, and looks like a piece of swirled wood. It is, in fact, made of amber, and feels perfectly smooth.
The Wand of Amber was Etienne d'Ambrevilles' first attempt at creating a magical item. It was originally a wand of magic detection. Its purpose now has long since been forgotten, and through the years, its exposure to Etienne (both before and after immortality) has mutated it.
The Wand of Amber is capable of detecting anything related to the Radiance within 60'. The person holding the wand will see a faint amber glow around those objects that have been tainted with the Radiance. For this power to work the user must have the wand in contact with his skin.
If there is a large concentration of such objects in an area, and the holder passes within one mile of it, he will feel a slight mental pull toward that direction. This will not force him to head that way, but will instead nag at the back of his mind as if he forgot something over there.
If the holder should concentrate through the wand, and desire Rad's location (not Etienne's), the wand will show a mental picture of Rad at that moment regardless of where he is or what he is doing. If the holder has been to the location before, or he has met Rad (as Rad, not Etienne), then the picture will be much clearer. There will not be much background in the image, but the holder of the wand will clearly see Rad's actions and how they affect those immediately around him.
If the holder of the wand does the same with an image of Etienne in his mind, then the same effect occurs. The wand will not generate the effect for Etienne if one is thinking about Rad, and vice versa, even if the holder knows both personalities and the connection between them.
As Etienne, Rad lost the wand some years ago when a common pickpocket got lucky and lifted it from him. Magical charges exhausted, the wand lay forgotten in a curios shop for many years, until the shop was closed and the owner was forced to sell all of his wares. He managed to convince a naive new adventurer that it was a perfectly good magical wand, and that adventurer met his demise in the foothills of the Broken Lands many years ago.
Lately, several other immortals have
heard rumours of the existence of one of Rad's first artifacts,
and, believing it to be mush more powerful than it really is, have
set their followers looking for it. Rad has heard of their quests,
and would like it returned for purely sentimental reasons - he
knows nothing of its current abilities. Of course, other immortals
heard of Rad's quest for the item and don't believe that it is
merely a sentimental item, and they have redoubled their efforts in
searching for it.