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Santeria 419 of the River Diviners Pendulum

—

by

Dale
in

Lore

  • In the sun-drenched river basins and coastal mangroves of the world of Saṃsāra, reincarnated souls carrying preserved memories of Afro-Cuban Santería sought communion with Oshún, the beloved Orisha of fresh waters, fertility, gold, healing, and divinatory sweetness.
  • Devotees of Oshún on Earth consulted flowing waters, amber beads, river stones, brass implements, and offerings of wildflower honey to discover hidden truths, unveil concealed pathways, and guide travelers safely past stagnant, treacherous swamps.
  • When early settlers in the island chains encountered subterranean freshwater currents running beneath dry limestone shelves and contaminated river networks, priest-dowsers sought a tool to locate pure springs and hidden elemental conduits.
  • Blacksmith-priests and riverside artisans bound polished river brass, yellow silk cords, amber glass, and raw Tier 1 magic crystals to channel Oshún’s natural affinity for detecting pure flowing water and subsurface mineral wealth.
  • The designation 419 marks the sacred divination catalog maintained by riverside water-temples, attuning the implement so a Tier 1 dowser can discern faint underground currents without falling victim to sensory overwhelm or spiritual trance exhaustion.
  • Today, it is an essential implement for frontier pathfinders, well-diggers, prospectors, and wilderness survivalists who must find untainted drinking water and uncover submerged or concealed passageways across Saṃsāra’s untamed biomes.

Description

  • The item is a handheld dowsing pendulum measuring sixteen inches in total length, featuring a teardrop-shaped bob fashioned from heavy, polished yellow river brass.
  • The brass bob is hollowed at its center to seat a coin-sized, coin-weighted Tier 1 pale citrine magic crystal, held securely in place by intricate spiraling brass wires shaped like leaping river currents.
  • The pendulum hangs from an eight-inch braided cord of golden-yellow and warm amber silk threads, punctuated at half-inch intervals by five round, polished river stones collected from sacred sweetwater shallows.
  • At the top of the silk cord sits a small brass ring grip, from which dangle five miniature brass bell-charms shaped like opening sunflower petals; though clapperless, they emit a faint, resonant hum whenever pure water flows nearby.
  • A tiny vial carved from hollowed cowrie shell is affixed just above the crystal bob, containing three dried chamomile buds preserved in golden clover honey.
  • The entire implement smells richly of sweet clover honey, fragrant chamomile tea, sun-warmed river stones, ripe oranges, and cool spring water, vibrating with a gentle, hypnotic pulse when suspended loosely between the fingers.

Detailed Stats

  • Item Tier: Tier 1 (Common)
  • Item Classification: Worn or Carried Magical Gear (Must be held loosely by the finger ring or hung from a staff tip to divine and activate its magical properties)
  • Specific Gear Slot: Held / Off-Hand Slot (Can be wielded in a free off-hand while maintaining a one-handed weapon or walking staff, or worn wrapped around the wrist as a loose bracelet when inactive)
  • Armor Check (AC) Modifier: +1 to total Armor Check (reflecting the divinatory slipstream that subtly guides the avatar’s guard to deflect strikes arriving from blind spots or hidden angles)
  • Item Resilience: 10
  • Item Health Points: Avatar maximum Health Points plus 10 (base avatar max HP plus resilience of 10 multiplied by item tier 1)
  • Structural Integrity: The pendulum becomes cracked and its divination lines scatter if reduced to half its total health points or below; it is utterly destroyed into dented brass foil, frayed silk, and crystal dust if reduced to 0 health points.
  • Item Weight: 1 pound (lightweight handheld tool; counts toward standard carried gear limits, losing all weight if placed inside an extradimensional container)
  • Attunement Requirement: Simple attunement (requires sixty seconds of deliberate breathing while holding the brass bob over open water or resting it against the forehead; unattunes immediately if stowed inside an extradimensional container)
  • Suggested Market Value: Varies by regional climate and freshwater scarcity; baseline recommendation is 25 silver coins in river valleys, rising to 45 silver coins (or 4.5 gold coins) in arid badlands, salt flats, and parched inland settlements.

Passive Magic

  • Whisper of the Living Spring:
    • While the pendulum is held suspended or worn openly around the wrist, the avatar passively senses the presence, general direction, and depth of any natural freshwater source within a 300-foot radius.
    • The brass bells vibrate with a soft, warm hum that intensifies as the avatar draws closer to the pure source, functioning even through solid limestone, packed earth, or timber floors.
  • Dowser’s Discerning Eye:
    • The avatar gains an innate sense for the purity of liquids; glancing at a container or puddle reveals whether the water is tainted by poison, natural rot, disease, or stagnant swamp minerals.
    • The avatar gains advantage on all perception or investigation checks made to detect hidden water traps, sinkholes, flooded hollows, or hollow earthen ceilings weakened by underground erosion.
  • Flowing River Guard:
    • By reading micro-currents in the air and ambient moisture, the dowser senses physical momentum shifts moments before they connect.
    • While held in hand, the pendulum grants a flat +1 Armor Check bonus against melee and ranged attacks originating from concealed, obscured, or flanking opponents.

Activable Magic

  • Diviner’s Current (Oshún’s Beckoning):
    • Action Cost: One standard action.
    • Verbal / Casting Requirement: Somatic focus; requires the avatar to steady the brass ring between thumb and forefinger, allowing the bob to swing freely while whispering a quiet invocation to Oshún.
    • Effect: The citrine crystal flares with warm golden light as the pendulum begins to circle in a steady clockwise arc.
    • The pendulum visibly tugs the dowser’s hand toward the nearest concealed natural aquifer, subterranean cavern stream, or hidden container of liquid within 1,000 feet, ignoring mundane stone and earth barriers up to 30 feet thick.
    • Cooldown: Usable three times per in-game day. Overdrawing this power causes temporary sensory dizziness, imparting a -2 penalty on perception checks for thirty minutes.
  • Sweetwater Purification:
    • Action Cost: One standard action.
    • Verbal / Casting Requirement: Requires the avatar to dip the lower tip of the brass bob into a body or container of liquid for six seconds while speaking a word of cleansing.
    • Effect: Golden light pulses outward from the citrine crystal through the liquid in a five-foot radius.
    • Up to five gallons of contaminated, salty, stagnant, or poisoned water is instantly purified into clean, sweet, drinkable spring water, neutralizing mundane poisons, parasites, and rot.
    • Cooldown: Usable twice per in-game day.
  • Oshún’s Golden Dowsing of the Vein:
    • Action Cost: Ritual action (requires sixty seconds of uninterrupted concentration).
    • Verbal / Casting Requirement: The avatar recites the prayer of the river queen while holding the pendulum level above the ground and tracing five circular passes.
    • Effect: The pendulum aligns its resonance to mineral density for ten minutes.
    • While walking with the pendulum swinging, the avatar detects the exact location and rough value of raw precious metals (such as native gold, river brass, or raw copper) and uncut crystals buried up to 20 feet beneath the surface or hidden behind false stone masonry.
    • Cooldown: Usable once per long rest (requires a full twenty-two-hour day cycle for the citrine crystal to recharge its earthen attunement).

Specific Gear Slot

  • Held / Off-Hand Slot

Tags

  • dowser, divination, pendulum, freshwater, oshun, brass, citrine, amber, spring, purification, common, tier-1, prospecting, honey, chamomile, aquifer, river-stone, dowsing, subterranean, surveyor, cowrie, well-spring, current, balance

Commerce and Acquisition of the River-Diviner’s Pendulum in Saṃsāra

  • Riverside Water-Temples and Oshún Shrines:
    • Physical Location and Structure: Positioned alongside winding freshwater river bends, delta shallows, and natural waterfalls across the Island Nation of Archaic and lush coastal basins, these open-air shrines feature polished river-stone altars, brass offering bowls filled with honey, and hanging garlands of yellow wildflowers. Maintained by priest-dowsers and spiritual healers, these sanctums double as communal water dispensaries and divination houses.
    • Buying Procedure and Pricing: At an official water-temple, the acquisition of a consecrated divination tool is treated as both a spiritual commission and a certified equipment purchase. The baseline retail price in freshwater river valleys is 25 silver coins (2 gold coins and 5 silver coins).
    • Independent travelers, wandering vagabonds, and unaffiliated adventurers pay the standard 25 silver coins without markups, provided they show respect to the river shrines.
    • Initiates of the River Priesthood, certified well-diggers, or registered members of the Healers’ League who display their holy token or guild insignia receive the standard 10% tier discount per character level; a Tier 1 initiate pays 22 silver and 5 copper coins (a 10% discount), while a Tier 2 initiate pays 20 silver coins (a 20% discount).
    • Transactions are recorded through the World Bank system via the Mind’s Eye, with a mandatory 3% temple tithe going toward the maintenance of communal filtration basins.
    • Selling Procedure and Trade Log: Avatars seeking to surrender or sell a pendulum must immerse the brass bob in a ceremonial basin of sweetwater so the temple keepers can verify that the citrine crystal retains its living resonance and that the cowrie shell vial is intact.
    • The temple offers the standardized institutional buyout of 10% of baseline retail value multiplied by the seller’s tier level; a Tier 1 avatar receives 2 silver and 5 copper coins, while a Tier 2 avatar receives 5 silver coins directly to their World Bank account.
    • The priest logs the specific serial designation 419 into the water-registry parchment to maintain an unbroken record of holy divination instruments.
  • Frontier Outfitter Posts and Prospector Exchanges:
    • Physical Location and Structure: Located on the edge of arid badlands, salt flats, cracked limestone mesas, and dry frontier scrub, these rugged general stores supply well-diggers, mineral miners, and desert caravans. Built of heavy timber or mud-brick with canvas awnings, their shelves are stocked with leather canteens, pickaxes, geological chisels, and specialized dowsing implements.
    • Buying Procedure and Pricing: In regions where water is scarce and locating a subterranean aquifer is a matter of life or death, the price of a functioning dowsing pendulum increases significantly. The local market baseline cost rises to 45 silver coins (4 gold coins and 5 silver coins).
    • Unaffiliated wanderers, desperate miners, and passing mercenaries pay the full 45 silver coins, occasionally subject to an additional 5-to-10-silver surcharge during seasonal droughts.
    • Licensed members of the Prospectors’ Union, Miners’ Guild, or Caravan Navigators’ League who show active credentials receive the 10% tier discount, bringing the price down to 40 silver and 5 copper coins for a Tier 1 buyer, or 36 silver coins for a Tier 2 buyer.
    • Purchases are processed through the World Bank network, subject to local frontier territorial tariffs.
    • Selling Procedure and Trade Log: Outpost masters eagerly buy intact water-dowsing implements to sell to incoming mineral surveyors and excavation teams.
    • The seller negotiates against the elevated 45 silver regional baseline; a Tier 1 avatar receives 4 silver and 5 copper coins, while a Tier 2 avatar receives 9 silver coins in ledger credit.
    • If the outpost’s water reserves are running low, the storekeeper may offer an immediate barter premium in the form of packed food rations, survival climbing kits, or distilled lantern oil.
  • Metropolitan Apothecaries and Curio Guildhalls:
    • Physical Location and Structure: Found within paved commercial boulevards, botanical quarters, and grand markets of fortified provincial capitals, these high-end establishments cater to alchemists, estate physicians, and wealthy collectors. The shops feature polished glass vitrines, cedarwood drawers filled with dried reagents, copper distilling alembics, and brass measuring scales suspended from the ceiling.
    • Buying Procedure and Pricing: In metropolitan centers where water-purity testing and poison detection are coveted by paranoid nobles and elite merchants, the pendulum is sold as an instrument of luxury hygiene and toxicological defense. The boutique retail price ranges from 35 to 40 silver coins.
    • Noble patrons and independent buyers pay the full asking price of 40 silver coins.
    • Guild-certified apothecaries, licensed physicians, and registered members of the Alchemists’ Syndicate who display their formal guild seals receive the standard 10% discount per tier level, paying 36 silver coins at Tier 1 or 32 silver coins at Tier 2.
    • The store issues an authenticated certificate of assay detailing the purity of the citrine node and the grade of the preserved chamomile-honey vial.
    • Selling Procedure and Trade Log: Master apothecaries purchase authentic dowsing pendulums to dismantle for enchanted reagents or to resell to foreign trade ambassadors.
    • The buyout is calculated at 10% of the baseline retail price per tier level of the seller (yielding 4 silver coins to a Tier 1 seller or 8 silver coins to a Tier 2 seller).
    • The shop clerk records the sale in the city’s trade ledger, noting the item’s registration number and inspecting the five river stones for structural fractures.
  • Caravan Black Bazaars and Smuggler Oases:
    • Physical Location and Structure: Concealed within hidden palm oases, limestone sinkhole caverns, or subterranean salt mines beyond the jurisdiction of city watchmen, these shadow markets serve desert raiders, salt smugglers, and unlicensed prospectors who hunt for hidden mineral claims.
    • Buying Procedure and Pricing: Smuggler merchants trade in contraband salvage, uninspected artifacts, and tools taken from lost frontier expeditions.
    • The price in these desert dens fluctuates erratically between 50 and 70 silver coins (5 to 7 gold coins), driven by the vital necessity of finding untracked oasis water outside monitored municipal wells.
    • Official guild badges and holy temple tokens carry no legal weight here and may provoke hostility; haggling depends purely on raw leverage and the buyer’s reputation.
    • Payment must be delivered in physical coinage—such as minted silver bullion, raw gold dust, or electrum nuggets—as oasis brokers refuse all traceable World Bank transactions to avoid taxation and tracking by regional wardens.
    • Selling Procedure and Trade Log: Characters wishing to liquidate a pendulum acquired through unrecorded salvage, tomb excavations, or desert raids rely on black-market fences to avoid salvage tax audits.
    • Fences pay the standard 10% item baseline per seller tier level in unminted silver coin or trade goods.
    • If a smuggler caravan is preparing to cross a notoriously waterless salt desert or evade naval patrols by traveling dry inland tracks, the broker may double the cash offer, providing 5 to 9 silver coins in hand with no questions asked and no recorded audit trail.

Tactical Roleplay of the River-Diviner’s Pendulum Across the Environments of Saṃsāra

  • Arid Salt Flats and Sun-Scorched Badlands:
    • Environmental Context: The parched plateaus and blistering salt basins of Saṃsāra are barren landscapes defined by baking heat, mirages, crumbling caliche soil, and dry riverbeds where surface water is nonexistent and dehydration kills rapidly.
    • Defensive Roleplay:
      • While guiding a depleted caravan across a cracked limestone plain under the midday glare, the avatar suspends the pendulum by its brass ring, letting the brass teardrop swing gently over the baking crust.
      • The avatar relies on Whisper of the Living Spring to track moisture deep below the surface; when a sudden subterranean collapse threatens to swallow the lead wagon into a hidden, dry sinkhole, the brass bells hum a sharp warning, alerting the dowser to steer the beasts away from the hollow earth.
      • Later, when a desperate pack of desert coyotes attempts an ambush from behind blinding salt dunes, the avatar’s Flowing River Guard registers the subtle shift in hot air currents, granting an instinctive sidestep that deflects the lunging alpha’s bite off the avatar’s reinforced bracer.
    • Offensive Roleplay:
      • Needing to flush out desert raiders entrenched within a dried-out gully, the avatar holds the citrine crystal steady and activates Diviner’s Current (Oshún’s Beckoning).
      • Rather than searching for drinking water, the pendulum’s tug reveals a pressurized artesian pocket sealed beneath a thin layer of shale directly beneath the raiders’ barricade.
      • The avatar directs the team’s vanguard to strike the exact fracture line; the pressurized aquifer bursts upward, flooding the enemy’s trench with mud and blowing their timber breastworks apart to leave them exposed.
  • Subterranean Karst Caves and Flooded Limestone Caverns:
    • Environmental Context: Deep underground waterways, dripping stalactite vaults, and blind sumps present disorienting darkness, toxic stagnant pools, slick wet stone ledges, and submerged chambers where getting lost means drowning.
    • Defensive Roleplay:
      • Moving through pitch-black, partially flooded cavern passages, the avatar wraps the yellow silk cord loosely around the off-hand, allowing the brass bob to hang clear of the murky knee-deep water.
      • Using the passive Dowser’s Discerning Eye, the avatar inspects a seemingly clear underground spring, immediately identifying that the pool is choked with dissolved mineral arsenic and flesh-eating water rot before thirsty companions can drink.
      • When a subterranean tentacle-horror lashes out from the deep murky water in a surprise grapple, the Flowing River Guard provides the split-second awareness needed to read the displaced ripples, allowing the avatar to twist aside and parry the strike with a defensive staff.
    • Offensive Roleplay:
      • While trapped in a dead-end cavern by pursue-beasts, the avatar activates Diviner’s Current, whispering a swift prayer to Oshún to trace the nearest flowing egress.
      • The golden citrine pulses, pulling the brass bob decisively toward a blank limestone wall that hides a submerged siphon tunnel connecting to an adjacent river system.
      • The avatar guides the party through the hidden underwater flue, evading the enemy completely and surfacing safely in a sunlit upper cavern.
  • Fever Swamps and Contaminated Mangrove Deltas:
    • Environmental Context: Lowland river mouths and humid bayous feature black stagnant mire, venomous water vipers, suffocating humidity, and water supplies contaminated by rotting organic matter and alchemical runoff.
    • Defensive Roleplay:
      • Trapped for days in a malaria-ridden mangrove swamp where clean water is depleted, the avatar collects foul, brackish marsh water into a five-gallon wooden keg.
      • The avatar submerges the brass bob and activates Sweetwater Purification; golden light washes through the foul fluid, instantly neutralizing the mud, parasites, and swamp toxins into sweet, revitalizing drinking water that keeps the expedition alive and uninfected.
      • While resting on a wet hammock between cypress knees, the brass sunflower bells vibrate softly as an aquatic stalker glides beneath the surface, warning the avatar to draw steel before the beast can drag someone under.
    • Offensive Roleplay:
      • Tracking a fugitive smuggler crew through a maze of shifting delta channels, the avatar employs Dowser’s Discerning Eye to read the subtle current breaks and water turbidity.
      • By identifying where the natural flow has been disturbed by passing skiffs, the avatar tracks the fugitives directly to their camouflaged reed hideout.
      • When cornering the sentries along a slippery wooden pier, the avatar uses the golden light of the pendulum to momentarily dazzle their dark-adjusted eyes while reading their balance on the wet wood, throwing them off the dock into the mud with a sweeping leg-hook.
  • Ruin-Strewn River Valleys and Forgotten City Canals:
    • Environmental Context: Sunken urban ruins, overgrown masonry canals, collapsed aqueducts, and ancient silted plazas filled with hidden treasure vaults, drowned catacombs, and rival scavenger patrols.
    • Defensive Roleplay:
      • Navigating the slippery flagstones of a drowned plaza covered in slick river moss, the avatar maintains an off-hand grip on the pendulum, letting its rhythmic swing establish physical balance.
      • When a rival scavenger fires a hidden blowgun dart from a crumbling canal archway, the Flowing River Guard senses the micro-draft across the five river stones, allowing the dowser to duck just as the poisoned dart clips the stone wall behind their ear.
      • Confronted with a chest of water pulled from a flooded vault that has been laced with contact venom by ancient wardens, Dowser’s Discerning Eye spots the subtle oily sheen, preventing party members from touching the lethal liquid.
    • Offensive Roleplay:
      • During a pause in combat inside a dilapidated stone temple, the avatar initiates Oshún’s Golden Dowsing of the Vein, performing five slow, circular passes above the flagstones for sixty seconds.
      • The pendulum shifts its resonance from water to mineral density, spinning rapidly toward a hollow pillar where ancient priests concealed a cache of unrefined native gold nuggets and raw cut gems behind false mortar.
      • The avatar quickly points out the hollow seam, allowing the team to chisel out the treasure and secure the objective before patrolling guards close in.

Perception of Activation:

  • User’s Perspective:
    • Sight:
      • The pale citrine crystal nested within the brass teardrop flares with a warm, liquid golden luminescence, casting rippling, water-caustic light reflections against surrounding surfaces.
      • The brass wire spirals wrapping the crystal seem to turn fluid, appearing as miniature golden eddies swirling inside the bob.
      • Thin, glowing lines of amber light trace upward along the braided yellow silk cord, illuminating each of the five polished river stones in sequence from bottom to top.
    • Sound:
      • The five clapperless brass sunflower bells emit a high, harmonic chime that resembles crystal glasses rubbing together or singing bowls ringing in water.
      • A gentle, rhythmic sound of rushing sweetwater springs and babbling brooks fills the inner ear, even when standing on arid bedrock.
      • A subtle, vibrating hum reverberates through the brass finger-ring directly into the user’s hand and wrist bones.
    • Touch:
      • A cool, soothing sensation washes up the fingers and forearm, akin to dipping bare hands into a crisp mountain creek on a midsummer afternoon.
      • The silk cord tightens slightly under an invisible kinetic pull, tugging the user’s hand in a distinct circular or directional path toward the target source.
      • The brass bob feels smooth, weighted, and almost weightless at once as it begins its self-sustaining rhythmic orbit.
    • Smell:
      • A fragrant wave of sweet wild clover honey, steeped chamomile blossoms, and sun-warmed river mud envelops the breathing passages.
      • Faint undertones of freshly peeled citrus oranges and clean, crisp spring air cut through whatever ambient dust or swamp stench is present.
    • Taste:
      • A light, lingering sweetness of clover honey and cooled herbal tea coats the tongue and back of the throat.
      • A crisp, thirst-quenching sensation fills the mouth, relieving parched dryness immediately upon channeling.
    • Extra-Sensory Perception:
      • Hydro-Spatial Intuition: The dowser’s Mind’s Eye perceives the density, flow rate, and depth of subterranean aquifers and hidden water veins as glowing golden ribbons running through the strata.
      • Sweetness of the River Queen: An overwhelming sense of maternal comfort, abundance, and emotional calm descends over the psyche, dispelling claustrophobia, panic, and parching thirst.
      • Purity Assay Sense: Contaminants, rot, poisons, and venom register in the mind’s eye as sharp, brackish grey fractures in an otherwise serene liquid tapestry.
  • Observer’s Perspective:
    • Sight:
      • The teardrop brass bob glows with an intense golden radiance, projecting dancing water caustics onto the dowser’s face, clothes, and nearby walls.
      • The pendulum lifts and begins orbiting in a perfectly horizontal, rhythmic circle without any mechanical wrist movement from the bearer.
      • The surrounding air glimmers with floating specks of golden pollen-like light that drift outward before vanishing.
    • Sound:
      • Observers hear a melodic, resonant hum vibrating from the brass petals, layered with the soft auditory illusion of distant waterfalls or gentle rain.
      • The dowser’s quiet chanting carries a strange, multi-tonal echo that sounds like two voices speaking in harmony.
    • Touch:
      • Those standing within arm’s reach feel an immediate cooling of the ambient temperature, along with a crisp, refreshing humidity that relieves dry skin.
    • Smell:
      • The sudden, unmistakable fragrance of clover honey, sweet orange peel, and river stones wafts through the area, masking unpleasant environmental odors.
    • Taste:
      • Observers notice their lips taste faintly sweet, accompanied by an involuntary urge to swallow and quench their thirst.
    • Extra-Sensory Perception:
      • Spiritually sensitive beings and elementals sense the benevolent presence of a sweetwater deity, experiencing a subtle gravitational pull toward the dowser’s outstretched hand.
  • Positives:
    • Unfailing Subterranean Tracking:
      • Accurately pinpoints hidden freshwater reserves, buried aquifers, and concealed passages through up to thirty feet of solid rock without false readings.
    • Instant Toxin and Hazard Detection:
      • Passively alerts the user to poisoned drafts, tainted water basins, unstable sinkholes, and eroded cave floors before a step is taken.
    • Complete Liquid Purification:
      • Neutralizes mud, salt, natural rot, and toxic compounds in up to five gallons of liquid, turning lethal swamp broth into revitalizing drinking water.
    • Enhanced Blind-Spot Defense:
      • Translates ambient moisture and air displacement into intuitive early warnings, improving defense against flanking or obscured attackers.
  • Negatives:
    • Sensory Dizziness from Overuse:
      • Channeling the dowsing current beyond its daily threshold causes severe inner-ear disorientation, imparting a lingering penalty on perception and balance.
    • Pronounced Stealth Compromise:
      • The brilliant golden caustics, floating motes of light, singing brass bells, and potent honey aroma make covert operation in darkness virtually impossible.
    • Requires an Occupied Hand:
      • The dowser must dedicate an off-hand to holding the ring and steadying the cord, preventing the use of two-handed weapons, heavy shields, or climbing gear during active divination.
    • Vulnerability to High-Salinity Ground:
      • Dense salt pans or concentrated brine beds can cause the brass bells to vibrate erratically, requiring focused concentration to filter out mineral static from genuine sweetwater veins.

Crafting Recipe: Santeria Diviner of the Living Spring

  • Materials Needed:
    • 1 pound of unalloyed yellow river brass casting stock or recovered bell-metal.
    • 1 Tier 1 magic crystal (coin-sized and coin-weighted pale citrine, harvested from a riverbed geode or purchased from an alchemical mineralist).
    • 6 feet of fine-spun yellow and amber raw silk thread.
    • 5 smooth, naturally tumbled dark river stones (pea-sized, drilled longitudinally with a micro-bore).
    • 1 hollow cowrie shell (clean, intact, with a bored suspension eyelet).
    • 3 dried whole chamomile blossoms.
    • 1 spool of ductile, high-purity yellow brass jeweler’s wire.
    • 1 small cast brass finger-ring (one-inch inner diameter).
    • 5 miniature clapperless brass sunflower-petal bell charms.
    • 1 dram of amber tree sap resin, collected with a fluid collector to serve as an alchemical sealant.
    • 3 drams of sweet wildflower clover honey and the fresh peel of 1 sun-ripened orange (sacrificial offerings to open the sweetwater conduits).
  • Tools Required:
    • 1 Fluid Collector (for measuring and dispensing warm tree sap resin).
    • 1 Jeweler’s micro-crucible, charcoal furnace, and open-flame torch.
    • 1 Two-part sand-casting mold shaped for a hollowed teardrop bob.
    • 1 Set of needle-nose jeweler’s pliers, wire snips, and round-nose shaping mandrels.
    • 1 Fine bead-drilling hand auger and jeweler’s reamer.
    • 1 Agate burnisher, rouge cloth, and fine polishing paste.
    • 1 Small ceramic or glass offering basin.
  • Skill Requirements:
    • Jewelry Crafting / Metal Casting: Minimum skill rank of 5.
    • Alchemical Preparation / Brewing: Minimum skill rank of 3.
    • Mind’s Eye Focusing / Scrying: Minimum skill rank of 2 (required to trace the hydro-magnetic circuits through the brass wire without rupturing the harmonic alignment).
  • Crafting Steps:
    • Casting and Polishing the Teardrop Brass Bob:
      • Melt the yellow river brass stock in the jeweler’s crucible using the charcoal furnace until it flows clear and golden.
      • Pour the molten brass into the two-part sand mold to form the hollowed, teardrop-shaped pendulum bob, ensuring an open central aperture and a pierced top suspension collar.
      • Once cooled, de-burr the casting using fine needle files.
      • Use the agate burnisher and rouge cloth to polish the exterior of the brass bob to a mirror finish that catches light like flowing water.
    • Mounting the Citrine Crystal Conduit:
      • Take the Tier 1 pale citrine magic crystal and align its internal facets vertically.
      • Using the brass jeweler’s wire, wrap the crystal in an interlocking, five-turn spiral lattice that mimics the swirling eddies of a river whirlpool.
      • Insert the wire-wrapped citrine into the hollow core of the teardrop bob, tensioning the wire tails through the pierced brass collar to suspend the crystal floating in the bob’s center.
      • Secure the wire anchor points with fine crimps using the needle-nose pliers.
    • Fashioning the Cowrie Honey-Vial:
      • Take the dried whole chamomile blossoms and gently place them inside the hollow interior of the bored cowrie shell.
      • Warm 1 dram of the sweet wildflower clover honey to a fluid consistency and pour it into the shell until the blossoms are fully submerged.
      • Heat 1 dram of amber tree sap resin over the open flame and use the fluid collector to seal the cowrie shell’s aperture, forming a waterproof, airtight amber plug.
      • Wire the sealed cowrie charm flush against the upper suspension loop of the brass teardrop bob.
    • Braiding the Cord and Stringing the River Stones:
      • Separate the yellow and amber raw silk threads into five equal strands and secure them to the brass finger-ring.
      • Braid the silk cord into a tight, eight-inch round spiral weave.
      • At even intervals along the braid, thread the five drilled dark river stones onto the cord, anchoring each stone in place with double-knot ties to preserve fluid motion.
      • Mount the five clapperless brass sunflower-petal bell charms symmetrically just below the brass finger-ring using loops of brass wire, ensuring they hang free to resonate against one another.
      • Attach the lower end of the braided silk cord to the upper collar loop of the brass teardrop bob with a reinforced fisherman’s hitch, singeing and tucking the fiber ends.
    • Consecration, Cleansing, and River Alignment:
      • Fill the ceramic basin with fresh, pure river water taken from a living sweetwater stream.
      • Submerge the fresh orange peel in the water, expressing its oils until the surface shimmers with fragrant citrus caustics.
      • Stir the remaining 2 drams of clover honey into the water until completely dissolved.
      • Lower the pendulum into the scented bath, allowing the brass bob, river stones, and silk cord to steep for ten minutes.
      • Remove the pendulum, hold it suspended over the basin by the brass finger-ring, and project thought energy through the Mind’s Eye into the citrine crystal.
      • Maintain steady mental focus, attuning your awareness to the water beneath the bob until the citrine crystal flares with liquid golden light, the sunflower bells produce a high-pitched acoustic hum, and the pendulum begins tracing slow, rhythmic clockwise circles without physical input.

Golden Plummet of Sweet Water and Five Stones from Mother’s Belly

In the ancient season when the salt of the sea had not yet learned to bite the tongue of cattle, and the great fire in the sky walked so close to the reeds that the mud smoked like a tanner’s kettle, there was a girl of the riverbank whose name upon the wet shale was pressed with three curved scratches. Some stone-hewers call her The Maiden Who Counted the Frogs, but in the dialect of the dry sand she is called She Who Had Only One Earthen Pitcher. She owned no copper kettle with three feet, nor had she two fat oxen to draw the water-cart. She possessed only two thin knees, a pitcher that was cracked in its belly, and a little basket of woven sedge wherein she preserved five yellow squash flowers to perfume her mother’s burial-dirt.

The old men who chew bitter roots under the tamarisk tell that a great dry sorrow fell upon the towns of the white lime. For nine turnings of the moon, no rain fell from the grey cloth of the sky. The great river, which had formerly carried forty rafts of grain upon its back, became like a dry bone lying in the dust. The fish died in the black slime, their bellies turning white like dried beans, and the swine of the village ate dirt until their lungs burst with grit.

The chief of that ditch, whose name was The King Whose Throat Is Like A Hot Brick, sat upon his seat of river-chalk. He had thirty spearmen with shields of boiled hide, and he spoke through a beard that smelled of dry tallow and dead sheep: “If any slave does not bring into my courtyard three jars of sweet water before the yellow star sits upon the mountain’s hip, I will cause his heels to be beaten with thorn-branches, and his children shall be sold to the boatmen of the bitter salt-marsh.”

The maiden took her cracked pitcher. Her two feet were like dry wood, and the cracks in the red earth were wide like the mouths of hungry dogs. She walked three leagues into the white gravel where the water had fled into the belly of the ground. She fell upon her belly among the hot stones, and she wept five salty drops into the mouth of her empty jar.

“Why do you wet the dry pebbles with the brine of your head?” asked a voice that was soft, sounding not like an old woman, nor like a reed-bird, but like honey when it is poured from a height into a broad bowl of river-water.

The maiden lifted her eyebrows. In the dried bed of the mud there stood not an ox, nor a priest, but a high skirt of yellow silk that had five golden folds. Above the silk was a face smooth like yellow river-brass that had been polished with sand, and around her wrists were ten hundred small bells of river-gold. She smelled of wild clover honey, the peel of sweet oranges burned upon an altar of river-silt, and the fresh chamomile that grows where the ducks build their nests.

“The king of the chalk-seat will break my thin ribs with ash-poles,” cried the girl, pressing her forehead into the dust. “The great mother of the waters has turned her belly from us, and the ditch holds only the dry shells of river-snails.”

The yellow skirt made a sound like the shaking of five hundred wheat-sheaves in a gentle gale. From her arm of brass, the mother of the river took a heavy plummet shaped like a falling drop of oil. It was hammered from yellow brass that had no iron in its skin, and in its middle was bound a small sun-stone that had the color of cold honey. The thread that held the plummet was yellow silk taken from the belly of the water-worm, and upon it were strung five round stones that had been smoothed in the mouth of the sweet spring, together with a white sea-bug shell filled with honey and bitter flowers.

“Take this weight of sweet yellow metal,” said the river-woman, whose tongue tasted in the girl’s mind like cold spring water taken from under a wild fig tree. “Do not swing it as a boy swings a sling of cow-hair to kill crows. Take the little ring between the two fingers of the right hand. Walk with a soft step, and let the yellow drop hear the singing of the veins that sleep beneath the white lime. Where the drop turns in the circle of the sun, dig with your five fingers, for the water of life does not die; she only hides her face from the men of blood.”

The maiden took the ring of brass. Immediately, her thin throat felt as though she had drunk a great bowl of goat’s milk mixed with the juice of crushed melons. Her feet became light, and the five dark stones upon the silk began to smell of cold well-springs.

She walked across the dry gravel of the dead riverbed. When she passed the dried skeletons of the river-pikes, the three small sunflower bells beneath the ring did not remain still; they began to hum with a voice like seven bees imprisoned within an earthen pot. The yellow brass drop lifted itself without wind. It did not hang toward the earth like a stone dropped from a tower, but it pulled the maiden’s wrist toward the north, turning in a slow, wide circle like an eagle looking for a field-mouse.

She came to a high shelf of white limestone that was as dry as a baked tile. The brass plummet circled five times, and the yellow honey-stone in its belly shone with the light of the morning sun upon a clean pool.

The maiden fell upon her knees. She had no pick of iron, nor spade of ash-wood, but she scraped the white gravel with her fingers. When she had scratched the depth of three hand-spans, the lime-rock became cool like the nose of a calf. A small bubble of water, clear like an eye and sweet like river-melon, rose through the gravel. In three breaths, the hollow became a pool; in twelve breaths, the pool became a stream; and in the space of half a morning, a cold river of sweetwater broke through the limestone shelf, roaring down into the dead ditches of the town with the sound of ten thousand laughing children.

The people of the town ran into the ditch with their earthenware pots, shouting that the gods of the rain had poured their cisterns from above. The swine drank until their skins were tight like drums, and the green reeds sprang out of the mud as tall as spears.

Yet when The King Whose Throat Is Like A Hot Brick saw that the water came not from his own rain-altar, but from the hand of a beggar-girl who held a yellow thread, his throat burned with the dry heat of envy.

“This is no water of the gods,” shouted the king, brandishing his bronze axe before his spearmen. “This girl is a witch of the deep mud. She has stolen the key of the earth’s cellar. Take from her that yellow plum of brass, so that I may find the great golden jar that sleeps under the rock and make all the kings of the salt-coasts buy my water for three baskets of silver each.”

The thirty spearmen ran upon the maiden with clubs and ropes of horsehair. But the girl held the brass ring before her eyes, and she whispered the sweet name of the river-mother.

The five clapperless sunflower bells, having no tongues within them, did not strike the brass with a sharp noise; yet there came from their hollows a great humming sound like the singing of a thousand brass bowls struck with green reeds. The water that ran at her feet rose up in a curtain four cubits high, clear like glass, yet hard like cold tallow. The spears of the king’s men struck the water-sheet and were turned aside, splashing into the sand without scratching the maiden’s skin.

The king ran forward, his face black with rage, and with his own hands he snatched the yellow cord from her fingers, tearing the silk from the brass ring.

“The yellow water-drop is mine!” cried the king, and his laughter was like the barking of a dog that has choked upon a bone. “I will find the well of gold that has no bottom!”

The king bound the cord around his fat wrist. He walked into the dry gorge where the deep caves go down into the black heart of the world, where neither bird flies nor spider weaves. He held the plummet above a dark crack that had no floor.

The yellow stone did not flare with the golden light of the honey-comb. It turned green like the scum that sits upon a stagnant horse-pond. The five small bells did not hum the sweet song of the bees; they began to hiss with the sound of forty adders whose tails have been trodden by a heavy boot.

The brass drop began to spin. It did not spin in the gentle circle of the sweet sun, but it spun backward with the speed of a sling-stone. The yellow silk cord, which was soft as the down under a duck’s wing, turned into a cord of biting briars that cut through the skin of the king’s wrist down to the white bone.

The weight of the plummet became as heavy as the millstone of a baker. It dragged the king’s arm down into the crack. The king cried out with the voice of a slaughtered calf, shouting for his captains to bring axes and cut the yellow thread.

Yet before an axe could be brought, a great black flood of foul water, filled with salt, yellow sulfur, and the black rot of drowned beasts, came roaring out of the deep crack. It was not the sweet water of the spring, but the bitter gall of the deep dirt that had slept in darkness since the making of the stones.

The black flood took the king by his fat throat. It dragged him down into the bottomless crack, beating his crown of pig-bone against the sharp flints until his breath ceased. The foul water covered his house of lime and his thirty spearmen, and then it sank back down into the black intestines of the earth, leaving behind only five mounds of bitter salt and the bones of his fat swine.

When the sun sat upon the mountain horn, the maiden walked into the empty gorge. The black rot was gone, and upon a clean bed of white sand lay the brass plummet. The silk cord was not torn, nor was the honey within the cowrie shell spoiled by the bitter mud. She gathered the brass ring with two fingers, and she carried it across the great salt plains, showing the thirsty sheep where the clean springs lay hidden under the flat stones.

And the travelers who followed the green grass across that wilderness found these markings upon a tablet of baked river-silt, which have been deciphered with much sweat and many errors by those whose throats know only the dry dust of old papyrus.

Moral of the Story

The hidden fountain opens its sweet mouth to the humble hand that seeks only to cool the tongue of the thirsty, but the greedy hand that reaches to lock up the water of life for the buying and selling of men will be dragged down into the darkness by the very torrent it sought to enslave.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons

Pendulum of the Living Well Wondrous Item, Common (Requires Attunement)

  • Item Profile:
    • Worn/Held: Held or Off-Hand (finger-ring suspension or wrist wrap)
    • Weight: 1 lb.
    • Description: A teardrop-shaped bob of polished river brass holding a Tier 1 pale citrine crystal in wire currents. It hangs from an eight-inch braided yellow-and-amber silk cord strung with five polished river stones, a small cowrie shell honey-vial, and five clapperless brass sunflower bells. It radiates the scent of clover honey, chamomile, ripe orange peel, and fresh spring water.
  • Traits and Passive Properties:
    • Whisper of the Living Spring: While holding the pendulum suspended or wearing it openly around your wrist, you passively sense the direction and approximate depth of any natural freshwater source within 300 feet, penetrating up to 30 feet of solid earth or stone.
    • Dowser’s Eye: You gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to detect sinkholes, unstable eroded stone floors, submerged hazards, or poisoned and tainted liquids.
    • Flowing River Guard: While held in a free hand, you gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class against melee and ranged weapon attacks made by creatures that are flanking, unseen, or obscured from you.
  • Active Features:
    • Diviner’s Current (3/Day): As an action, you suspend the brass ring and whisper an invocation to Oshún. The pendulum circles clockwise and tugs your hand toward the nearest concealed natural aquifer, subterranean cavern stream, or hidden container of liquid within 1,000 feet for up to 10 minutes.
    • Sweetwater Cleansing (2/Day): As an action, you submerge the tip of the brass bob into a container of liquid. Up to 5 gallons of stagnant, brackish, salty, or poisoned water is instantly purified, neutralizing nonmagical poisons, parasites, and disease.
    • Dowsing the Vein (1/Day): As an action, you begin a 1-minute ritual concentration. For 10 minutes, the pendulum detects the presence, depth, and approximate value of unrefined precious metals (such as gold, brass, or copper) and uncut gemstone geodes within 20 feet of you. Once used, this property cannot be used again until you finish a long rest.

Call of Cthulhu

The Brass Plummet of Oshún Minor Mythos/Folk Magic Artifact

  • Item Profile:
    • Usage: Held in hand or wrapped around the wrist
    • Arcane Reservoir: Holds 6 Magic Points. Regenerates 1 Magic Point each dawn when dipped in running fresh water.
    • Sanity Cost: 0 for passive awareness; 1 Sanity Point when actively forcing the dowsing bond through subterranean depths.
    • Description: A teardrop brass bob housing a pale citrine crystal, strung on yellow silk with five smooth river pebbles, a sealed cowrie shell containing honey and chamomile, and five silent sunflower-petal charms.
  • Mechanics and Powers:
    • Passive Water-Sense: The investigator automatically knows the direction of the closest potable water source within 100 yards. The bells vibrate against the skin if subterranean erosion or a sinkhole poses an immediate structural collapse danger.
    • Defensive Slipstream: When held in hand, the subtle guidance of air and moisture grants a +10% bonus (or one Bonus Die) on Dodge rolls against ambushes, flank attacks, or strikes from obscured attackers.
    • Diviner’s Current:
      • Cost: 2 Magic Points and 1 Sanity Point.
      • Duration: 10 minutes.
      • Mechanic: The investigator enters a light trance. The bob pulls their hand directly toward hidden subterranean water veins, hidden drainage channels, or concealed cellar cisterns within 300 yards.
    • Sweetwater Purification:
      • Cost: 2 Magic Points.
      • Mechanic: Submerging the brass tip into up to 5 gallons of contaminated, salty, or foul water purifies it entirely, neutralizing mundane toxins, cholera, and swamp rot.
    • Dowsing the Vein:
      • Cost: 3 Magic Points.
      • Casting Time: 1 round.
      • Duration: 10 minutes.
      • Mechanic: The pendulum aligns with mineral mass, granting a Bonus Die on Spot Hidden or Geology checks made to detect buried gold, raw copper veins, or concealed masonry caches within 20 feet.

Blades in the Dark

The River-Diviner’s Cord Arcane Implement, 1 Load

  • Item Profile:
    • Visual: A polished brass teardrop plummet with a luminous pale citrine core, braided yellow silk with river stones, a sealed cowrie charm, and five silent brass bells.
    • Nature: A consecrated dowser’s talisman aligned with freshwater spirits, hidden subterranean currents, and the benevolent aspects of the ghost field.
  • Passive Effects:
    • Aquifer Sense: When navigating flooded catacombs, sewers, canal tunnels, or unstable subterranean ruins, you operate with +1 Effect level on Survey and Study rolls related to water flow, structural collapse, or waterborne toxins.
    • Current Guard: You cannot be completely blindsided by lurking threats in murky water or flanking enemies; the humming bells ensure your Position is never worse than Risky when reacting to sudden ambushes.
  • Active Arcane Abilities:
    • Oshún’s Beckoning:
      • Cost: 1 Stress.
      • Action: Attune or Survey.
      • Outcome: You let the bob swing freely. On a 6, the pendulum decisively tugs your hand toward the closest hidden drain, subterranean exit, dry pocket, or clean water cache within the district. On a 4/5, you find the route or source, but the harmonic resonance draws unwanted attention or alerts nearby canal patrols.
    • Purifying Touch:
      • Cost: 1 Stress.
      • Action: Tinker or Attune.
      • Outcome: Dipping the bob into a tainted cistern, barrel, or pool purges all mundane poisons, industrial bile, and natural rot from up to five gallons of liquid, turning it sweet and safe.
    • Scent of the Golden Vein:
      • Cost: 2 Stress.
      • Action: Attune.
      • Outcome: For the duration of an infiltration or survey, the pendulum shifts resonance to metal and precious stones. You immediately pinpoint the location of concealed wall safes, hidden gold caches, or buried ore seams within arm’s reach behind false masonry.

Knave

The River-Diviner’s Pendulum Item (1 Slot, Hands: 1)

  • Item Profile:
    • Inventory: Takes up 1 gear slot. Must be held in one hand (or wrapped around an off-hand wrist) to function.
    • Durability: 3 Quality. Loses 1 Quality if dropped on stone from a great height or targeted by sunder attacks.
    • Appearance: A teardrop-shaped brass bob enclosing a pale citrine crystal, suspended from eight inches of yellow braided silk with five smooth river stones, a sealed cowrie shell, and five clapperless brass bell charms. Smells of clover honey, chamomile, and river silt.
  • Item Rules:
    • Spring-Sense: Passively detects the presence and direction of fresh, drinkable water within 300 feet. The wielder gains Advantage on Wisdom and Intelligence saves against pit traps, sinkholes, and collapsing cave ceilings.
    • River Guard: While held in a free hand, the bearer gains a +1 bonus to Armor defense against attacks from flanking or concealed enemies.
    • Diviner’s Pull (3/Day):
      • As an action, the bearer holds the brass ring and allows the bob to swing.
      • For 10 exploration rounds (1 turn), the pendulum tugs the bearer toward the nearest hidden subterranean aquifer, clean spring, or concealed underwater passage within 1,000 feet.
    • Sweetwater Cleansing (2/Day):
      • Dipping the brass bob into up to 5 gallons of stagnant, salty, or poisoned water purifies it in 1 minute, neutralizing all mundane poisons, rot, and disease.
    • Dowsing the Vein (1/Day):
      • The bearer spends 1 exploration turn walking with the swinging bob.
      • The pendulum detects the exact location of raw precious metals (gold, copper, silver) or cut gemstone caches buried up to 20 feet deep or hidden behind secret masonry doors.

Fate

The Golden Plummet of Oshún Extra (Aspect and Stunts)

  • Item Profile:
    • Aspect: Consecrated Brass Pendulum of the Living Well
    • Description: A teardrop-shaped pendulum bob of polished river brass holding a pale citrine crystal, strung on eight inches of braided yellow silk cord set with five dark river pebbles, a sealed cowrie shell containing honey and chamomile, and five clapperless brass sunflower bells. It radiates the aroma of clover honey, sweet orange peel, and fresh spring water.
  • Stunts and Mechanical Rules:
    • Sense of the Living Well: The pendulum passively tracks hidden moisture and subtle balance shifts. You gain a +2 bonus to Notice when detecting subterranean water sources, hidden sinkholes, tainted liquids, or ambushing foes attacking from concealment or flanks.
    • Oshún’s Beckoning Current: Once per scene, you may spend 1 Fate Point to allow the brass bob to swing freely. The pendulum creates the situational aspect Guided by the River’s Flow with two free invokes, which can be used on any Overcome or Create an Advantage roll to navigate flooded ruins, find concealed aquifers, or locate subterranean escape routes.
    • Sweetwater Cleansing: Twice per session, you may spend an action dipping the brass bob into a container of liquid to instantly remove any situational aspects representing contamination, poison, or rot (such as Foul Swamp Mire or Arsenic-Tainted Cistern) from up to five gallons of liquid, rendering it pure and refreshing.
    • Vein of the River Queen: Once per session, you may spend 1 Fate Point and undertake a minute of focused concentration to trace precious metals and buried gemstones. For the remainder of the scene, you gain a +2 bonus to Notice or Investigate when searching for concealed masonry caches, raw gold veins, or buried jewelry within your zone.

Numenera & Cypher System

Hydro-Resonant Dowsing Pendulum Artifact (Level 2)

  • Item Profile:
    • Level: 2
    • Form: A teardrop brass bob housing an energized citrine crystal node, suspended from a braided bio-fiber cord threaded with five resonant stone beads, a sealed organic shell vial, and five micro-acoustic brass pods.
    • Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (checked upon triggering directional dowsing, sweetwater purification, or mineral detection).
  • Passive Effects:
    • Sub-Aquifer Acoustic Array: While held in hand or worn loosely on the wrist, tasks to identify natural freshwater sources, detect waterborne toxins, or notice hidden sinkholes and unstable eroded floors are eased by one step.
    • Current Guard: The micro-acoustic pods emit a high-frequency vibration against the wrist when unseen entities approach, easing Speed defense tasks against concealed or flanking attackers by one step.
  • Active Powers:
    • Diviner’s Current (Action): The citrine node pulses with liquid golden light, tugging the user’s hand toward the nearest concealed aquifer, subterranean cavern channel, or hidden reservoir within immediate to long range. Tasks to navigate underground waterways or locate buried exits are eased by two steps for 10 minutes. The user makes a depletion roll (1 in 1d20).
    • Sweetwater Cleansing (Action): Dipping the brass bob into up to five gallons of stagnant, saline, or poisoned liquid purifies it instantly, neutralizing biological toxins, parasites, and non-technological contaminants. The user makes a depletion roll (1 in 1d20).
    • Mineral Resonance Scan (Action): The user attunes the crystal to mineral density for ten minutes. All tasks to discover hidden seams of precious conductive metals (gold, copper, brass) or raw crystals hidden behind solid barriers within immediate range are eased by two steps. The user makes a depletion roll (1 in 1d20).

Pathfinder

Pendulum of the Living Well Item 2 Divination, Magical, Water

  • Item Profile:
    • Price: 35 gp
    • Usage: Held in 1 hand
    • Bulk: L
    • Description: A teardrop-shaped bob of polished river brass holding a pale citrine crystal encased in wire coils, hung from an eight-inch braided yellow-and-amber silk cord strung with five polished river stones, a sealed cowrie shell honey-vial, and five clapperless brass sunflower bells. It gives off the fragrance of sweet clover honey, chamomile blossoms, ripe citrus, and damp river shale.
  • Passive Effects:
    • Living Spring Intuition: While held in your off-hand or wrapped around your wrist, you passively sense the direction and approximate depth of any natural body of fresh water within 300 feet.
    • Dowser’s Perception: You gain a +1 item bonus to Perception checks to notice concealed pits, sinkholes, weakened cavern ceilings, and tainted or poisoned liquids.
    • River Slipstream Guard: You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to AC against melee and ranged weapon Strikes originating from creatures that are concealed from you or flanking you.
  • Active Abilities:
    • Diviner’s Current (Single Action):
      • Frequency: Three times per day.
      • Traits: Concentrate, Divination, Water.
      • Effect: You steady the brass ring and whisper a prayer to Oshún. The pendulum begins a smooth clockwise rotation, pulling your hand toward the nearest concealed natural aquifer, subterranean stream, or hidden container of liquid within 1,000 feet. The pull lasts for 10 minutes or until you release the ring.
    • Sweetwater Cleansing (Single Action):
      • Frequency: Twice per day.
      • Traits: Manipulate, Transmutation, Water.
      • Effect: You dip the brass tip into up to 5 gallons of stagnant, saline, or poisoned water. The liquid is instantly purified, neutralizing all nonmagical poisons, parasites, and natural diseases, converting it into fresh, sweet drinking water.
    • Dowsing the Vein (Two Actions):
      • Frequency: Once per day.
      • Duration: 10 minutes.
      • Traits: Concentrate, Divination.
      • Effect: You hold the pendulum level and recite the prayer of the river queen. For the duration, you sense the presence, depth, and general value of raw precious metal veins (such as gold, silver, or copper) and uncut gemstone clusters within 20 feet of you, penetrating up to 5 feet of solid stone.

Savage Worlds

The River-Diviner’s Pendulum Minor Arcane Relic

  • Item Profile:
    • Trappings: Polished river-brass teardrop bob enclosing a pale citrine crystal, braided yellow silk cord, five dark river pebbles, a sealed cowrie charm, and five silent sunflower bell charms. Emits the aroma of clover honey, chamomile, orange peel, and fresh river water.
    • Weight: 1 lb.
  • Passive Abilities:
    • Dowsing Stride: While held in a free hand or worn around the wrist, the relic grants a +2 bonus on Notice rolls made to detect freshwater springs, sinkholes, unstable eroded cave terrain, or poisoned liquids.
    • Water-Slip Parry: The subtle guidance of displaced air currents grants a +1 bonus to Parry against physical attacks made by flanking opponents or foes attacking from concealment.
  • Active Powers:
    • Diviner’s Current:
      • Cost: Action.
      • Frequency: 3 times per day.
      • Trapping: Golden caustic light reflections and an acoustic humming vibration.
      • Effect: The character makes an Occult or Survival roll. On a Success, the pendulum rotates and pulls the bearer toward the nearest concealed freshwater aquifer, subterranean river, or hidden liquid cache within 500 yards (1,000 yards on a Raise) for 10 minutes.
    • Sweetwater Cleansing:
      • Cost: Action.
      • Frequency: 2 times per day.
      • Trapping: Submerging the brass bob into liquid as a warm golden ripple spreads.
      • Effect: Purifies up to five gallons of stagnant, brackish, or tainted liquid, neutralizing all mundane poisons, pathogens, and swamp rot into clear, refreshing water.
    • Golden Vein Dowsing:
      • Cost: Action (requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration).
      • Frequency: Once per day.
      • Trapping: Tracing five circular sweeps across the ground.
      • Effect: The character makes a Notice or Occult roll. On a Success, the bearer senses the location and rough size of raw precious metal veins (such as gold or copper) and gemstone clusters buried up to 4 inches (8 yards) beneath the ground or hidden behind false masonry walls for the next 10 minutes.

Shadowrun

The Oshún River-Plummet Enchanted Qi / Divination Focus (Force 2)

  • Item Profile:
    • Type: Enchanted Focus (Divination / Water Elemental Affinity)
    • Force: 2
    • Weight: 0.5 kg
    • Form: A sixteen-inch handheld pendulum featuring a teardrop-shaped bob of polished river brass seating a Force 2 citrine crystal, strung on braided yellow silk with five smooth river pebbles, a sealed cowrie shell honey-vial, and five clapperless brass sunflower charms.
    • Scent Profile: Clover honey, steeped chamomile blossoms, ripe citrus peel, sun-warmed river stones, and fresh sweetwater.
    • Astral Signature: Bright, undulating golden aura with fluid hydro-elemental currents and benevolent syncretic Santería spiritual traces.
  • Passive Traits:
    • Hydro-Spatial Awareness: When bonded and held in an off-hand or worn around the wrist, the magician gains a +2 dice pool modifier on Perception Tests to detect subterranean water reservoirs, concealed drainage conduits, structural sinkholes, or waterborne toxins and chemical contaminants.
    • Current Guard: The micro-vibrations of the brass charms alert the wielder to displaced air currents, granting a +1 dice pool modifier on Defense Tests against physical melee or projectile attacks made by unseen, concealed, or flanking assailants.
  • Active Features:
    • Oshún’s Beckoning Current:
      • Action: Simple Action
      • Cost: 1 Drain (Stun)
      • Duration: Force x 5 minutes (10 minutes)
      • Mechanics: The runner whispers an invocation to Oshún. The pendulum enters a rhythmic clockwise orbit, pulling the wielder’s hand toward the nearest concealed natural aquifer, sewer conduit, subterranean drain, or water cache within 300 meters, penetrating up to 10 meters of concrete, soil, or rock.
    • Sweetwater Cleansing:
      • Action: Complex Action
      • Cost: 2 Drain (Stun)
      • Mechanics: Dipping the brass bob into up to 20 liters of stagnant, polluted, or poisoned liquid purifies it instantly. Biological pathogens, natural rot, and non-magical toxins are neutralized, rendering the liquid clean and potable.
    • Dowsing the Vein:
      • Action: Complex Action
      • Cost: 2 Drain (Stun)
      • Duration: 10 minutes
      • Mechanics: The pendulum shifts to mineral-density resonance. The wielder gains a +2 dice pool modifier on Perception or Assensing Tests to locate unrefined precious metals (raw gold, native copper) or hidden corporate credstick/precious metal caches buried up to 6 meters deep or concealed behind false masonry walls.

Starfinder

Hydro-Acoustic Dowsing Plummet Hybrid Tech/Magic Tool, Level 2

  • Item Profile:
    • Item Level: 2
    • Price: 750 credits
    • Bulk: L
    • Hands: 1
    • Capacity: 20 charges (Usage: 1 to 4 charges per activation)
    • Description: A teardrop bob of polished yellow conductive brass housing a pale citrine crystal matrix, suspended from an eight-inch braided yellow polymer-silk tether. The cord is mounted with five mineral damping beads, a bio-sealed cowrie capsule containing chamomile honey, and five miniature acoustic sunflower petals.
    • Chemical Signature: Micro-particulate traces of chamomile tea, wildflower honey, sweet orange oil, and distilled spring water.
  • Passive Abilities:
    • Aquifer Sonar: While held or worn as a wrist-tether, the user gains a +2 insight bonus on Perception and Survival checks to detect potable water sources, subterranean reservoirs, toxic liquids, and eroded or hollow flooring hazards.
    • Slipstream Deflection: The subtle acoustic resonance provides early trajectory telemetry, granting a +1 insight bonus to Kinetic Armor Class (KAC) and Energy Armor Class (EAC) against attacks made by flanking foes or enemies possessing partial concealment.
  • Active Systems:
    • Diviner’s Current:
      • Activation: Standard Action
      • Battery Cost: 2 charges
      • Duration: 10 minutes
      • Mechanics: The citrine matrix hums and exerts a directional gyroscopic pull toward the closest subterranean water source, fluid conduit, or concealed environmental drainage channel within 1,000 feet, bypassing up to 30 feet of solid unshielded rock or composite plating.
    • Sweetwater Decontamination:
      • Activation: Standard Action
      • Battery Cost: 3 charges
      • Mechanics: Submerging the brass bob into up to 5 gallons of stagnant, saline, or poisoned liquid neutralizes all non-technological biological toxins, bacterial hazards, and mundane contaminants, converting it into fresh, drinkable water.
    • Mineral Resonance Scan:
      • Activation: Full Action (1 minute scan)
      • Battery Cost: 4 charges
      • Duration: 10 minutes
      • Mechanics: The pendulum sweeps through mineral frequencies. The operative gains a +2 insight bonus on Physical Science or Perception checks to locate deposits of raw precious conductive metals (gold, copper, brass) or unrefined gemstone nodes buried within 20 feet.

Traveller

Hydro-Resonant Dowsing Pendulum TL 11 Psionic / Micro-Gravimetric Survey Implement

  • Item Profile:
    • Tech Level: TL 11 (Special / Frontier Relic)
    • Mass: 0.5 kg (Held in 1 Hand / Worn as Wrist Lanyard)
    • Skill: Recon, Survival, or Physical Sciences
    • Description: A precision-balanced teardrop plummet of non-ferrous river brass housing an energized citrine crystal node, hung from a yellow silk cord carrying five dense mineral weights, an organic cowrie reservoir of honey-chamomile resin, and five micro-acoustic brass vanes.
    • Sensor Profile: Passive gravimetric fluid-displacement sensor and trace-chemical emitter producing scents of honey, citrus, and spring damp.
  • Passive Traits:
    • Hydrological Survey Array: When held in hand or worn around the wrist, the traveler gains DM+1 on all Recon and Survival checks to locate potable water reserves, detect tainted or poisoned reservoirs, and spot hollow limestone sinkholes or eroded tunnel ceilings.
    • Slipstream Warning: The micro-acoustic vanes register shifts in ambient air pressure, granting DM+1 to Melee or Gun Combat parries/defenses against ambushes or attacks originating from concealment or flanking vectors.
  • Active Features:
    • Aquifer Vector Lock:
      • Time: Significant Action
      • Duration: 10 minutes
      • Mechanics: The internal crystal node aligns with subterranean fluid mass. The pendulum rotates and exerts a perceptible physical pull toward the nearest concealed natural aquifer, subterranean conduit, or liquid cache within 300 meters, penetrating up to 10 meters of soil or bedrock.
    • Fluid Decontamination Field:
      • Time: Minor Action
      • Mechanics: Dipping the brass bob into up to 20 liters of stagnant, contaminated, or saline liquid activates a catalytic harmonic field that precipitates out toxins, organic bacteria, and heavy salts, rendering the fluid potable.
    • Subsurface Mineral Ping:
      • Time: Significant Action (requires 1 minute of steady calibration)
      • Duration: 10 minutes
      • Mechanics: The implement aligns to dense mineral deposits, granting DM+2 on Prospecting or Physical Science checks to pinpoint hidden veins of conductive metals (gold, copper) or concealed masonry vaults within 6 meters.

Warhammer

The Golden Plummet of the River Maiden Arcane Dowser’s Implement / Minor Relic

  • Item Profile:
    • Item Type: Handheld Arcane Tool (Held in 1 Hand or Wrist-Bound)
    • Availability: Rare
    • Encumbrance: 0 (Negligible)
    • Description: A teardrop bob of polished yellow river brass holding an energized citrine crystal in spiraled wire, hung from an eight-inch braided yellow-and-amber silk cord set with five dark river pebbles, a sealed cowrie shell containing sweet honey and chamomile, and five clapperless sunflower bells. It gives off the fragrance of sweet clover honey, chamomile blossoms, orange peel, and fresh river water.
  • Passive Traits:
    • Diviner’s Senses: While held in a free hand or worn around the wrist, the bearer gains a +10% bonus on Perception and Survival Tests to locate fresh water sources, identify tainted or poisoned drinks, and detect hidden sinkholes, treacherous bogs, or unstable cavern flooring.
    • Fluid Slipstream Guard: The subtle displacement of air around the hanging stones guides the bearer’s reactions, granting a +10% bonus on Dodge Tests against attacks made by flanking opponents or foes striking from concealment.
  • Active Abilities:
    • Oshún’s Beckoning Current:
      • Action: Half Action
      • Test: Challenging (+0%) Channelling or Survival Test
      • Duration: 10 minutes
      • Mechanics: The bearer speaks a quiet invocation to the river queen. The brass bob circles in a smooth clockwise motion, physically pulling the bearer toward the nearest concealed aquifer, underground stream, or hidden container of liquid within 300 yards, penetrating up to 10 yards of solid earth or masonry.
    • Sweetwater Cleansing:
      • Action: Half Action
      • Mechanics: Dipping the brass bob into up to 20 pints of foul, stagnant, salty, or poisoned water instantly purifies the fluid, removing all mundane toxins, rot, and swamp sickness to leave it fresh and sweet.
    • Scent of the Golden Vein:
      • Action: Full Action (requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration)
      • Duration: 10 minutes
      • Mechanics: The pendulum attunes to subterranean mineral mass. The wielder gains a +20% bonus on Trade (Prospector) or Perception Tests to locate veins of unrefined gold, copper, or buried treasure caches hidden up to 6 yards beneath the ground or behind false stone walls.