The Scraper of Small Debts

by Frazer 👁 11 views

This squat boot scraper is fashioned from blackened iron, its four curved teeth polished bright by generations of use. A narrow brass plate beneath the teeth bears a worn inscription in Common: "Leave what you carry, and carry what you owe." Its base is a block of dark oak banded in green copper, with tiny silver nails arranged in the shape of an open eye. Though it is heavy enough to remain fixed beside a door, it is strangely easy for its attuned owner to carry. When used, it produces a soft sound like a latch clicking shut.

Cleansing Iron When a creature scrapes a shoe, boot, hoof, or other foot covering across the iron teeth of the scraper, the item removes ordinary dirt and mud, as well as one nonmagical substance clinging to the creature's feet or footwear. It can also remove one of the following from the creature: the poisoned condition, the frightened condition, or one nonmagical disease. Once a creature benefits from this property, it cannot do so again until the next dawn.

Scrape Away the Stain Once per dawn, when a creature uses the scraper, it may remove one curse affecting it, provided the curse was placed by a spell of 5th level or lower or by a magic item of rare rarity or lower. The curse returns if the creature fails to fulfill its obligation to the scraper.

The House Always Collects When you attune to the scraper, you inherit a small obligation chosen by the Dungeon Master. The obligation must be inconvenient but not ordinarily dangerous, such as leaving a copper coin at every crossroads, opening the door for the next stranger who knocks, returning borrowed objects before sunset, or speaking one sincere compliment each day. You must fulfill the obligation at least once every seven days. If you knowingly fail to do so, you cannot benefit from Cleansing Iron or Scrape Away the Stain, and you have disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed until you fulfill the obligation.

A Clean Entrance While attuned to the scraper and carrying it or standing within 10 feet of it, you have advantage on ability checks made to detect hidden dirt, blood, footprints, or other physical traces left within the last 24 hours. In addition, you always know whether a creature entering a building has willingly fulfilled its current obligation to the scraper.

Polite Refusal The scraper cannot remove a curse, condition, or disease from a creature that refuses to state aloud one obligation it currently owes to another creature, organization, deity, or principle. The statement need not reveal the obligation's details, but it must be truthful.

Lore

The Scraper of Small Debts is said to have been made by Meret Bellweather, a planar innkeeper who believed that no guest should cross a threshold while carrying filth, malice, or an unpaid promise. Her inn vanished during a night of heavy rain, but boot scrapers bearing her mark began appearing outside temples, guildhalls, and private homes. Each one cleans more than mud, yet each demands only a modest courtesy in return. Old travelers claim the scrapers are connected: a coin left at one may be found beneath another, and a promise made in one city can be collected in a distant land.

History

The oldest known scraper stood outside the House of Open Doors, a refuge for debtors and exiles in the city of Vey. During a plague, its keeper used the scraper to cleanse hundreds of refugees, accepting only their promise to aid one stranger after the danger passed. When the refuge was destroyed, the scraper disappeared beneath the rubble. It was recovered centuries later by an adventuring party searching the ruins, and each member soon found that the item had assigned them a different, embarrassingly minor duty. The party survived a powerful curse because every member continued paying those small debts.

Created by Frazer 👁 11 views