Whispers Of The Thief

Full Item Description
A simple cylinder of clay glazed a gaudy scarlet, it has strong twine wrapped around both ends that allows its to be slung over the neck of its wearer like a necklace. All in all, its a very mundane looking object that displays no inkling of being anything more than the crude ornament it appears to be. But in the unlikely event that you do find yourself ever handling it, you'll be surprised to discover that its hollow. There's obviously something contained within.

History
Ever since time immemorial, seedy individuals inhabiting the rungs of the criminal class of Haracron, have communicated with one another through numerous ways. There are always clandestine secrets to be communicated to another party, secrets so vital that it would not do to have them fall into the wrong hands.. But scraps of parchment can be seized by overly suspicious law-enforcement officials and messenger pigeons are always liable to be intercepted. Indeed, conveying messages of the utmost importance can be an extremely delicate undertaking.

Well aware of these many risks and determined to neutralize them as best he could, one exceptionally ingenious Harold of The Shelby Counterfiritor's Guild put his boundless imagination to work and soon devised a scheme that continues to be much in use among the Counterfiritors.

Something of an amatuer scholar, Harold looked for inspiration, to certain semi-civilized cultures that existed on the boundaries of the Haracon Empire. Many of them, lacking a true system of writing, chose instead to communicate with the aid of colored strips. Made from the extremely elastic sinews of the hardy Ixyrian ox, these strings could be knotted with each other to form a complicated arrangement and pattern that only the recipient could understand.

A quaint but very effectual design that suited Harold's agenda perfectly. Wasting no time, he soon begun work on adapting this unique medium of communication, devising an elaborate profusion of meanings and messages, each of which had at least two ways of expressing itself, subject to the precise way in which the strips were entwined with each other.

However, being of a rather paranoid temperament, Harold still feared that the strips by themselves might attract unwanted attention. Determined to eliminate this chance all together, he soon hit upon the idea of concealing them in tawdry bits of adornments that only the very deprived might wear. By encasing the all vital strips in hollow receptables of clay pendants, he could succeed in designing the most difficult to discern way of carrying very sensitive information. Thanks to his innovation, the Counterfiritors soon found themselves bringing the flow of leaked tidings to an almost complete stand-still.

So don't be too surprised when your Gild boss thrusts a cheap contraption of twine and clay one of these days, insisting that you wear it around your neck until you reach Mister. so and so. Just remember that the very existence of your Guild might depend on you keeping it secure.

Magic/Cursed Properties