IN> May 28, 2001

[Moe Lane]

Shavuot Ink

So-called because it is prepared every hundred years at a very private
ceremony during the Jewish holiday, Shavuot Ink is a moderately minor
artifact.  In appearance it is a distinctive brownish ink that is
resistant to smudging; it dries quickly and fades slowly.  Shavuot Ink
is not so much created as recycled: it is made from parchment and
papers that have had been previously marked by the last iteration of
Shavuot Ink.  The link stretches back uninterrupted for over three
thousand years: it is known that the first set of the ink was made
from the actual cowhide that Moses used to transcribe the Torah.
Tradition indicates that every hundred years a new copy of the Torah
is to be written using the ink; this copy is kept for a century, then
ritually burned and the ashes used to make more ink.  There is always
a decent amount left over, allowing it to be used for other purposes.
The keepers of the Ink tend not to use it frivolously, but can be
persuaded to give a bottle or two to a worthy supplicant - which tends
to include most angels.

This item is definitely supernatural - the methods and ingredients
used in making the ink should not work, but do - but not exceptionally
powerful.  It gives a +1 to all Enchantment rolls involving
Constructs: a pen filled with the ink will blot if someone attempts to
use it to write a lie; and a successful Enchantment roll at -2 will
allow it to be transported to the celestial plane (the user must still
find an artifact suitable for actually writing on).  This is all
useful, but not particularly earthshaking.  Of course, the keepers of
the Ink have their own opinion.  After all, when they write out their
Covenant with their Lord each century, the ink never blots...


-- 
Liber Licentae Moeticae
http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html
Last Updated 01/16/06 - now with non-IN material