The Candle That Borrows Tomorrow

by Frazer 👁 22 views

Charges: 3 (regains at dawn)

This short ivory candle is twisted from wax the color of old bone, with a wick of silver thread. Its black flame burns beneath the wick rather than above it, slowly drawing melted wax upward into the candle's body. Tiny numbers are etched around its brass saucer, counting backward from eight to one. In the candlelight, shadows lean toward where their owners will stand rather than where they are.

Backward Flame When lit, the candle sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius. Its flame burns downward into the wick, while the wax rises from the saucer and reforms around the candle. The candle can remain lit for up to 8 hours before going out, and it regains all expended wax at the next dawn.

Borrowed Pain While the candle is lit, a creature within 10 feet of it can use its reaction when it takes damage to reduce that damage by 1d6. The candle has 3 charges and regains all expended charges at dawn. If the candle has no charges, this property cannot be used.

Tomorrow Collects The candle's Borrowed Pain property is cursed. At the next dawn after a creature uses it, that creature takes force damage equal to the total damage reduced by the candle since the previous dawn. This damage cannot be prevented or reduced by resistance, immunity, temporary hit points, or any other feature. If the creature is dead or on another plane at dawn, the debt waits until it next returns to the candle's plane. A remove curse spell cast on the creature ends all unpaid debts from the candle, but does not restore damage already suffered.

Persistent Wick The candle cannot be extinguished by ordinary wind or by being submerged in nonmagical liquid. Its flame can be extinguished as an action by the attuned creature, or by dispel magic targeting the flame.

Curse. The candle's curse is subtle and usually remains hidden until its first debt comes due. A creature attuned to the candle feels unusually fortunate when it prevents harm with Borrowed Pain, often mistaking the delayed consequence for the candle's natural magic. The curse ends for a creature when remove curse is cast on it, but any unpaid damage must still be paid unless the spell specifically targets the candle's Tomorrow Collects property.

Lore

The candle is said to have been invented by a miserly chronomancer who believed that every injury was merely an expense that could be postponed. His apprentices found the workshop empty one morning, with every candle burning backward and every clock displaying the day after his disappearance. Since then, the candles have appeared in the possessions of soldiers, gamblers, and adventurers who are willing to survive the present at tomorrow's price.

History

The first known specimen was recovered from the sealed vault of the Glass Collegium after a duel between two rival time mages. The victor used the candle to survive three fatal spells, then vanished before dawn. The Collegium later found a trail of force-blasted footprints leading from the vault to the city gates, each mark appearing one day after the person who made it had already passed.

Created by Frazer 👁 22 views

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