One of the oldest wonders and mysteries to surface from the mists of time is the group of artifacts designated "The Talismans of the Orb."
The earliest mentions of the term is in records dating beck to just after the great movement. Eldren records speak in passing of a group called the Judges of Change who were tasked with stabilizing the world in the chaotic aftermath of the Great Journey. The passage speaks of the Judges making decisions as to certain items of power that were brought to them (at their bidding?). Many of the items were set aside and spared due to "deep purposes vital to existence." Collectively these were referred to as Talismans of the Orb.
Strangely no further mention is made of the Judges nor any mention of what the Orb was or its significance.
Over time a number of other artifacts have been added to the list of know Talismans. How they were designated is unclear, but each item signified as such has demonstrated powers at key times that have proved pivotal and not within the recorded abilities otherwise demonstrated by the items.
The best known example of this phenomenon would be the Lords of Lightning. These weapons are known to be forged from the shards of a greater blade known as Georgemael that was created sometime before the movement by a Ya-Wen archmage. The blade was one of the items brought before the Judges who judged it too powerful and dangerous to be allowed in its original form. It was divined that the blade had, however, a vital role to play and thus could not be destroyed. The Judges thus shattered the blade into 5 parts and rewove its enchantments so that it could be reforged when the time was right. From the shards 5 blades were forged and scattered to the winds.From time to time the blades have reappeared in the hands of various heroes and villains of legend, but rarely have more than two of them seemed to reside in mortal hands at any one point. In the 550th year of the Council the War of Three descended upon Ar-Live and in command of one of the three invading armies was a demonic creature known only as The DarkLord. At a point when this creature was thought to be unstoppable heroes bearing all five of the Lords appeared upon the battlefield. The close proximity of the Lords in one place woke the enchantment placed upon them and Georgemael reformed with the heroes likewise fused into one and took up the ancient weapon to defeat the Darklord and banish him back to the dark plane he had been summoned from. Once finished the blade once again shattered and laid waste to everything within a league of the battle destroying much of the army that had followed the creature. When survivors of the defenders armies investigated the battleground all that remained of the Hero was a single Lord of Lightning grasped in the hand of his blasted skeleton.
All the Talismans have similar tales and destinies woven into their substance. To hold one is to literally become an instrument of Fate itself. But those are the tales of another night and another fire. Both this fire and its storyteller fade in equal measure and thus bid you a good night.
