Soulstealer Stopwatch

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The result of a poorly worded wish is a stopwatch with the ability to, from the perspective of the user, halt the flow of time. It's likely that in reality it simply plucks its user from the timestream and runs a new parallel timestream for them alone at a much faster rate, while also protecting them from aging. Each time the watch is used a price must be paid, however. How much depends on how long it's used, but it always takes the form of a time debt. It is known that some users simply crumble to dust upon returning to true time. Others may age only a few years, and still others may pay the price unevenly, having an appendage age, wrinkle, and even rot while the rest of them is unaffected. When the final price is paid, the watch fulfills its purpose and steals the user's soul. Once it has done so, it effectively enters the queue for becoming the Soulstealer Stopwatch. It retains its ability to "stop time" though now at a much reduced and more predictable price, but it also gains abilities to "travel" short distances, moving its individual timestream relative to true time during any of its stops before depositing its user at their new destination. The cost of this trip is always another soul, but it has been observed that, if prepared carefully, it needn't be the user's.

History

The most commonly accepted theory about the origins of the timepiece involve paying a heavy price for hubris when enacting a wish. It's thought that the specific wish is probably something like "more time" or something to that effect.

Item type

Unique Artifact

Rarity

There is only ever one Soulstealer Stopwatch, but close examination has revealed that it is not always the same artifact, it is somewhat more susceptible to destruction than other unique artifacts and significantly easier to reproduce. It is generally thought that there are likely several, even as many as a dozen items that could fit the bill in existence at any one time, but only one which functions. Once one is destroyed, one of the others "activates" and takes its place.

Weight

5 lbs

Dimensions

4x4x1 in

Base Price

Incalculable