Gruer Orbs

Gruer Orbs are glowing spheres, roughly the size of a human head, with a kind, somewhat featureless face floating inside it. The face is always toward the viewer, even when multiple people are observing the orb. The Orb hovers above the ground, at head height, and eagerly absorbs whatever information it can. The most common usage is for the scholars accompanying it to narrate their discoveries, reportedly so they can be sent back to Aton and preserved in more permanent form. The Gruer Orbs are also capable of observing things on their own, making records of both sounds and sights, beyond the description given them by scholars.
Isabel Gruer created the Gruer Orbs generations ago and they have been a stable among the Atonian scholars ever since. Isabel tried to create sentient servants for nearly a decade when she finally stumbled upon an ancient ritual that allowed her to bind the spirits of living beings. She experimented with various formats, and eventually created an elaborate ritual to create the Gruer Orbs. 
Drawing on the power of several ancient artifacts as well as a lunar eclipse that allowed for unrestricted flow of magic, Isabel and her companions performed the ritual, intending to bind the spirits of a number of criminals. The ritual was a success, but the effect proved greater than expected and not only were the spirits of the criminals bound into Gruer Orbs, but Isabel and her companions ended up sharing their fate. The result was a single cluster of functional Gruer Orbs, but the knowledge of their creation was lost. Isabel left behind some notes, but no scholar has been able to piece together the missing pieces since then.
While the Atonian Scholars are known for trading in all kinds of knowledge and secrets, the Gruer Orbs are the only secret that they refuse to share. Attempts to capture and examine Gruer Orbs have only led to failure. The Orbs simply fade out, becoming untouchable, and they refuse to follow anyone but the scholars it has been assigned to. Traitor scholars have tried to steal Orbs, but the Orbs seem to know their intention and simply begin treating them as non-scholars.

Item type

Magical