The Magic Chest

Coffer of Compounding

By Dragonslayer Rick Emerich



XP value: 3,000
gp value: 40,000+

This device was created by the royal scribe of the gnome clan of Zarl'nin in order to make beautiful gemstones for jewelry, general ornamentation, and for use in spell casting on behalf of the royal family. The box is a powerful magic item similar to the operation of the infamous Bucknard's Everfull Purse, in that it creates material goods of worth, but the mechanics of the operation is somewhat different.

A gemstone placed into the box will be magically enhanced in steps depending on the quality of the starting gemstone. The gem is enhanced only if the box is left unopened with the gem inside for a minimum of 24 hours; each uninterrupted 24 hour period thereafter continues to enhance it until the gemstone is of the highest and purest quality listed on the table in the DMG 2nd-edition (p. 134). Only one gemstone can be altered at one time; the box will not function if one attempts to change more than one gemstone at one time.

A special ability of the box is that, at anytime during this alteration, the box user may order the box to change the color of the gemstone (such a change is permanent, unless the coffer is used again to change it), assuming the other requirements for the box's operation are met.

Upon announcing a desired color using descriptive phrases, the box's outer surface actually change to that color to indicate what the gemstone's final color will be; the user can specify "darker" or "lighter" to vary the brightness of the color, or order the hue subtly changed, or even increase or decrease the gray content (tone) of the stone by verbal command, and with each ordered change the box's outer surface changes accordingly to indicate the final color. Once the process is complete and the user is satisfied with the color of the gemstone to be, the user need simply state "proceed," making the color change permanent, and thereafter the box returns to its normal, jet black, shiny appearance.

The box can accept identifiers for the final color types chosen, such as "green number 34," "Rick's color alpha-zed-zed-one," whatever, and can keep up to 200 such standard color descriptives in memory, so that stones of the same exact color can be manufactured in the future to create exact matches, such as might be required for complimentary pieces of jewelry. Upon command the box will display its standard color descriptives with an accompanying disembodied voice speaking, in gnomish, what the verbal descriptive for each color is.

The Magic Chest


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