Hycathic Artifacts
Hycathic Artifacts
Notable artifacts:
Phoenix Stones (Reckoning Holds)
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Hycathic Artifacts are a range of physical objects that possess some form of Hycathic magic. This magic can be preserved, but it can also be used by people, even those who do not have magical abilities themselves. The two classes of Hycathic Artifacts are Hycath Relics and Reckoning Holds.
Relics
Hycath Relics are objects containing the magic of a Hycatha who has died without issue. When a Relic is wielded, it grants its user the ability to channel the power contained within it.
A Hycath Relic can be any physical object located near the Hycatha at the time of their death, which will encase and store their magic. Though the process is generally held to be irreversible, some have speculated that blood relatives of the deceased might be able to retrieve this magic too. However, there is no evidence of this ever being successful.
If the dying Hycatha is a Baethla, her Relic will contain Baethla magic, and so on. As a result, Hycathae will only be interested in using Relics containing magic that is a level or two above theirs. For example, Baethlae could gain from using a Cyntha’s or Nyridia’s Relic. A Baethla using another Baethla’s Relic will not affect their already existing powers or skills. Hycathae can sense the presence of magic in these objects by touching them, but humans lack this ability.
Non-magical users of these objects are known as Andrathae. For them, harnessing the magic of a Hycath Relic can be extremely dangerous. Without a lifetime of adapting to the effects of the magic, human bodies can suffer immense amounts of stress, often driving them into madness or even death when using Hycath Relics. One such example in early Hycathic history is Ranulf le Meschin, third husband of Lucy of Bolingbroke, Countess of Chester and a pivotal player in the First Hycath War.
Reckoning Holds
Reckoning Holds are objects that contain the eternally trapped soul of a Hycatha who has been Reckoned. These, too, can be any physical object but are not to be confused with Hycath Relics as they are decidedly more dangerous. While Hycath Relics remain in the control of the person who wields them, touching a Reckoning Hold will lead to a person’s body being taken over and controlled by the still-conscious Hycatha trapped inside, who will then wield her own magic through them.
Among Reckoning Holds of historical importance, the most notable are the Phoenix Stones, which have held the soul and magic of the three most infamous Blomgren sisters since their Reckoning in YE 755 at the end of the Second Hycath War. The Hold of Lucy of Bolingbroke, whose exact whereabouts remain unknown, has become a semi-mythical object in Hycathic folklore.
