Sha Em-Tenu

Letting the Dead Talk

Saleh'Alire » Arcane Items Relics Semi-Religious Human Ileri

  The Sha Em-Tenu is a relic that the Ilerian Oracle Kheper-Nebt Ha Shir had crafted while he was alive. It allowed him to commune with the dead, a fact for which many Ileri sought him out- particularly during holidays celebrated in honor of the ancestors as a result. Kheper-Nebt's services were also frequently sought by authorities to commune with victims of violent crimes as well... How the box works, or who crafted it for him, however, remains a mystery to this day.

Description

A square box made of dark Mimuso wood. The lid is hinged with cold-forged iron and heavily gem encrusted. Every unadorned surface is engraved with Ilerian Patterns. The interior is lined with rich blue velvet, and it easily fits the bones of most fully grown Humans.  

Function

At a minimum, a skull needs to be placed inside the box. Doing so, the spirit of the person to whom the bones belong is trapped in the box for 1d4 days. The box then acts as if the depositor had cast the 3rd level Cleric spell Speak with Dead- which allows one question to be answered. The more bones placed within the box, the more questions can be asked, up to a maximum of five. This functions perfectly once per day until the spirit is either naturally released, or is banished by removing the bones from the box- at which point the box doesn’t function again for another 1d4 days.
Item type
Magic Item, Ilerian
Rarity
Priceless
Material
Wood   Weight
5 lb / 2.26796 kg   Diameter
2 ft by 2 ft
60.96 cm x 60.96 cm


Cover image: Leather Bag by Dan Meyers

Comments

Author's Notes

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I absolutely love getting feedback on my setting and its worldbuilding. I love it even more when people poke and prod at it, and ask questions about the things I've built within it. I want both. I actively encourage both. And it makes me incredibly giddy whenever I get either. However, there's a time and a place for critique in particular- mostly when I've actually asked for it (which usually happens in World Anvil's discord server). And when I do ask for critique, there are two major things I politely request that you do not include in your commentary:   ➤ The first is any sort of critique on the way I've chosen to organize or format something; Saleh'Alire is not a narrative world written for reader enjoyment... It's is a living campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons. To that end, it's written and organized for my players and I, specifically for ease of use during gameplay- and our organization needs are sometimes very different than others'. They are especially diferent, often-times, from how things "should be organized" for reader enjoyment.   ➤ Secondly, is any critique about sentence phrasing and structure, word choice, and so on; unless you've specifically found a typo, or you know for a provable fact I've blatantly misued a word, or something is legitimately unclear explicitly because I've worded it too strangely? Then respectfully: Don't comment on it; as a native English speaker of the SAE dialect, language critique in particular will almost always be unwelcome unless it's absolutely necessary. This is especially true if English is not you first language to begin with. My native dialect is criticized enough as it is for being "wrong", even by fellow native English speakers ... I really don't want to deal with the additional linguistic elitism of "formal english" from Second-Language speakers (no offense intended).   That being said: If you want to ask questions, speculate, or just ramble? Go for it! I love talking about my setting and I'm always happy to answer any questions you have, or entertain any thoughts about it. Praise, of course, is always welcome too (even if it's just a casual "this is great", it still means a lot to authors)- and if you love it, please don't forget to actually show that love by liking it and sharing it around. Because I genuinely do enjoy watching people explore and interact with my setting, and ask questions about it, and I'd definitely love to hear from you... Just be respectful about it, yeah?


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