The sudden spike of Gang activity in the Slums resulted in never seen before archeological digging in the sewers, notably in the now open sections that were exposed after Freya Lo's bombardment of the main sections caused massive re-structuring of the tunnels. Obviously these archeological diggings were not of the reputable kind, but the gangs desperately digging for any artifact that would bring them an advantage on the battlefield of the slums. Before long, each gang found their artifact and quickly scurried back to their base to secure it and analyse it. The Beggar Ring The Telikios Beggars dug their way into a tunnel underneath the Imperial Palace. While they could not find any way into the actual Imperial Palace's lower crypts, they did dig their way into one of the previous Empress Julia de Lobo of Lusits's private stash. Most items were too badly damaged and unusable, but the group of diggers did find and break open a small jewelbox. Inside they found something of somewhat simple design, but with immense value: A signet ring of the Hivre Haute Puisse in Ithania. While Ithanian signet rings looked relatively plain and contained only simple studding, the intricate inscriptions implied a great value. It would come to no surprise that when returned to their base, the items was nothing less than the Grand Sovereign's signet ring, an item of great value to those wishing to carry favor from the Ithanian Court at the Emperor's Court, as whoever would return the ring would gain great political power projection. The Circle of Dark Ink The Circle meanwhile stumbled into a collapsed section of the old Graygate Castle, revealing a collapsed tunnel with a lone archive desk balancing dangerously on the edge of a crevice. When carefully extracting the papers, it appeared that while the majority of the papers were badly water damaged, a single document remained that just happened to be an Imperial denunciation signed by the Emperor Justinian II. While this original document was intended against a family that had long disappeared, the marking area was no longer legible, but permitted enough space for any Noble Family to create a forgery against another noble family to bring them into extreme embarassment with the Imperial Court. Purity of the Creeds The Creed Thumpers meanwhile dug further and deeper than the other gangs, uncovering part of the Elven second layer of sewer tunnels. These tunnels were infested with all manner of horrible villitatei and vampire creatures, rabid and often undead to the bone from not having seen any living beings in years. Eventually, the Creed Thumpers stumbled into the Necklace of the Supreme Aleia, a somewhat plain looking necklace. When wearing the necklace however, it appeared to turn the voice of whomever wore it to the purest most beautiful melodic voice heard, extremely beautiful even when used to sing, even for those who could previously not sing at all. The Circlet of Devotion The Devout Few spent most of their time near the sewer exits leading into the countryside, stumbling into a circlet with small ruby encrusted hands that all seemed to interlock one another. The Vampire Mages of the Gang were able to identify this as a Circlet of Dorkarth, the mysterious Vampire state north west of Ellador. While these items were not uncommon in Dortkarth, they were extremely rare in Regalia, to the point where this was likely the first encountered in nearly twenty years. Those wearing a Circlet of Dorkarth gained a hypnotic ability, anyone with the circlet on was able to project a hypnotic control over another person from up to 30 feet away, and draw them into a drowsy stance to where the wearer wanted them to go. These are the Artifact Items of the first Artifact Rotation, here are the rules: Item knowledge is reserved to gangs and slum owners only for the 1st week (thus 9th until the 16th), meaning that even if someone in the slum tells a noble about these items, the nobles are not allowed to know and will be chastised for metagaming if they start acting towards these items. From the 16th onwards, outsiders outside the slums may learn or know about the items, but may not yet gain them. These items may not leave the confines of the slums until the 2nd of March, which is when the next Artifact Rotation Starts. Outsiders may however (from the 16th onwards) intervene in the slums and affect ownership and transfer of the items, as long as they do not leave the slums until the 2nd. The gang Owners must deposit a diamond block somewhere in their base. This is where the chest will be placed and the item put into. The Item may only be in the hands of the owner while IC, or inside the chest IC, and the items may only be transferred between the two done IC. These rules exist to emulate how these items are currently "hot" items that the government is tracking. Before they can leave the slums, those who want to gain them outside the slums will be spending their time working to ensure the government loses track of the items so they can gain them. That being said, the items don't need to
Nathanial would have been walking through the slums, looking for someone to feast upon, when he saw a group of people walking by an alley. Immediately he would hide in a separate alley, afraid that these were one of the gangs taking on the first phase of the Court's challenge.
Jochund Gottieu glanced at his hand, turned palm out with his fingers splayed wide, admiring the ring with a wide grin. The way it glinted in the candle light. And it gave him, so many ideas. So, so many. He turned back to the paperwork littering the table, scattered notes from the past King's reign. One page, in particular. And he chuckled.
