1d12 Random Sacred Totem Artifacts & Treasures Table For Your Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

 

Evin Thornkill watched the herd of one horns pass before him. He had no wish to get the giant animal's way. For his tribe these things were sacred animals but there was a strange skull sticking out of the patch of swamp ground. He'd seen in it last night glowing in the marsh land but he had a limited time before Alas Sure Walker the half caste warrior & his blood brother got back to camp. Alas was checking on the latest payment from their client. They had successfully navigated the low lands following the game trails until they found the ruins of the old fort. They had no wish to meet the hyena devil warriors who made their home there. They'd made camp some two miles East & Evin was on a scouting mission. Last night the first of the visions started in Evin's mind but his mother had taught him the way of such things. Now making his way around the herd he found himself staring into the black morass of the muck & slime. His hands grabbed the the painfully white bone instinctively & instantly he was taken elsewhere across the universe. He was something alien & else, he held the three bones skull in his tendrils & whispered the scared chants in the three tongues of the moon.The skull held the power for his brother's & sister's clutch even as the dreaded shoggoths closed in on the halls of power.
Suddenly he was awoken by the violent shaking of Alas, "Ahh your awake again! It is good to not have you screaming for the whole night. I've had to put this leather hide in your teeth to keep you biting off your own tongue"
"How long?!" the voice was alien & weird but it was own. He remembered bits & pieces of his far journey.
'About three days old friend'
'The skull?'

"That thing? Well I threw it back into the swamp. The dogs hated it & it must of smelt of the 'Ancient Things'.
'Don't worry I threw it very deep into the deepest part of the swamp'
"Why is the camp filled with these strange purple lizards?'
'Oh they started showing up about a day ago & always hover around you my friend' 

'What do they want?!'
"I don't know but '
'I do!', the voice was high pitched, excited & belonged to a lizard shaman covered in the purple silks & skins of the scared lizards.
Something tells me we are in for a long day', Alas shrugged & Evin groaned as he felt his head ache return.

Down from the hard winds of the Outer Darkness come artifacts & treasures belonging to the Tribes of Men who lost these during the Great Passing. These items are blessed with mysterious occult powers some say come from the Dark Forces. Others insist these artifacts were things lost in the Chaos Conflicts as Old Terra passed away. In addition to the major powers listed on these totem artifacts there is a 20% chance of these items having 1d6 minor spell like abilities. Those who pick up these items are blessed by the totem animal.
They may 30% chance be sought out by a shaman of the appropriate totem animal or spirit. These beings will have some small favor or boon to ask of the totem object's owner.
1d12 Random Sacred Totem Artifacts
& Treasures Table

 

1. A bronze coated skull belonging to a small dinosaur that once belonged to a member of the Great Race of Yith. The skull has the ability to banish great undead or flying polyps once every new moon. This skull also speaks in prophetic rhyme each week  and those that hear it may be granted a +2 in battle 
2. This beautifully carved bone & jade figure is of a bear spirit. The object will put its owner into a very deep meditative trance once per week. During this trance the owner will wander the lower astral realms & gain the wisdom, strength, & power of the bear. The owner will return in 1d4 days from this trance. 
3. This small round geode has within it millions of crystals of amethyst & is sacred to the butterfly spirit. A being of utter chaos trapped with an amber prison. The owner is a able to obtain the fire of this being once per week. The owner's hand strikes gain +2 to all damage. 
4. This strange brass & tin object is the essence of the warthog spirit. This spirit can once per day can possess the owner  granting them the power of a berserk. The warthog spirit can also heal 1d8 points of damage. 
5. This long stick is holy to the three ice women of La Neara. The thing may be broken and instantly freeze everything within a 40 foot radius. This stick enables the owner to speak with the ice women who can grant several small boons to the owner. 
6. This jade figure of a panther enables those who hold it to commune with the panther god. He is a fickle and difficult god at the best of times. 
7. This is the foot of the conqueror  & it enables the owner to access the deep memory banks of humanity. This foot enables the owner to journey back 1d30 years 
8. The spirit magnet of the Little King - This magnet allows the owner to attract themselves along the lines of the spirits. They can cast as if they were one level higher then what they are. The abilities of the magnet enable the caster to use offense spells at their leisure
9. Twelve needles of the pain goddess enable the owner to determine the best course of her influence on any patient suffering with disease or illness. The needles allow the owner to commune with her once a week. 
10. This totem doll enables the owner to access one of the twelve high spirits once a week. It also enables the owner to cast a sphere like cone of darkness within a 12 foot radius. The doll gives a strange aura about enabling the owner to cross over into the spirit realm for 1d20 turns 
11.  Wise Councilor this strange statue enables the owner to speak in any language and to gain access to the totem bird spirit. The owner can rebuke undead and cast a power word stun as strange signs man was never to see appear. 
12. The horn of the unicorn allows the owner to gain the speed of the unicorn & gain a aura of awe for 1d20 rounds. The  horn will not however perform in any evil act but once per day the horn can be used to cast a cure light wounds as per the spell.

1d10 Random Dungeon Finds Dropped By The Crows Table For Your Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

Three Crows against the Rising Sun,
from the series Three Sheets (Mihira no uchi)

Evin watched the birds with the intensity of a starving man. They picked their way across the hard packed ground flying only when necessary.
'Are you going to watch those damn birds all day?' 'The duke is paying us to find the dungeon  & we don't have time to watch crows Evin'
All that came from Evin was a low sshhhhing sound. His jerkin moved little as he watched the birds from under lidded eyes.
"What in the cold Hells are we waiting for?" Just then a quick glimmer of light flashed off of some weird bauble one of the birds picked up and then it was dropped as two female crows fought over the thing.
"That's what we're waiting for", said Evin as they raced breathlessly to site where the bird had dropped a small silver wrought piece of  jewelry with a red garnet & bright green  jade combination mount. It was very old but still gleamed in the sunlight
The thing smelled of damp algae & dungeon funk. "And now Alas we know where the dungeon is & where the entrance is to the dungeon is."
"Its in the well!" "You've been watching the birds scavenging in the run off creek of the ancient aqueduct"
"Very smart Evin, I'll get the horses & our stuff", Alas the half caste warrior quickly made his way to the shrine's stables.



Crows are both cagey & canny, they are drawn to the occult & supernatural as a starving man is drawn to food. They're intelligence is keen & yet utterly alien to mankind making them perfect conduits for the strange radiations & energies of dungeons & ruin locations. These place of dark forces & weird alien ecologies draw these birds as no other.
Many times crows will pick up baubles, trinkets, & small items only to become infected with the strange energies & occult radiations that infect these items. They become changed somehow by these elemental & dangerous occult forces. These crows gain a strange & almost demonic intelligence about them. Again & again they are drawn to the evil of the dungeon. These birds are sought & summoned by necromancers & other black wizards for their intellects & the strangeness of them.
Each of these 'changed' crows will have a human style intelligence score of three or better.


1d10 Random Dungeon Finds Dropped By The Crows Table

1. The mummified pinky finger of a dwarf with a 20 caret signet ring containing a hidden compartment containing a fabric map. 
2. A small silver holy symbol belonging to a priest of Lemuria a thousand years old. Worth 50 gold pieces because of the acid etched damage on one side. 
3. A silver medallion containing the soul of wizard that once belonged to a notorious lich king. His dungeon is said to be nearby and the crows his eyes . The medallion is curiosity worth 100 gold pieces to the right collector. 
4. A flawed diamond containing a deadly teleporation spell to a dead treasure world of the Eld. This item is cursed with a strange destiny about it.
5. A shiny golden key belonging to the minister of treasure vaults long dead two hundred years. A ghost follows this key throughout eternity. 
6. A small one inch high onyx cat that will animate in the hands of a pig farmer. The cat will lead the party to great dungeon location for a saucer of milk which it will demand telepathically. 
7. A fake wooden eye ball with a map of a nearby area drawn on its surface & circumference.
8. A small dime sized piece of white jade with twenty two sacred characters on it. These are said to be names of the twenty two most powerful fallen ghost kings of the damned. Their cemetery is supposedly nearby or within the region depending upon the rumors that the party listens to. 
9. A small amulet that once belonged to a priestess of Freya. The amulet will magically point to a true heir of a fallen kingdom. This fool can open the door to underground kingdom of the dead. 
10. The artificial nose of a priest of Odin; this item can literally smell gold within a thirty foot radius. It can also smell the blood of terrible warfare up to four miles away. The owner will be drawn into any intrigues of battle and power by this item. This nose can & will lead the owner to trouble every new moon unless a prayer to Odin is uttered.