Oblatum Solacii
Description: a roughly-filed sphere of brass small enough to be comfortably carried in one hand. It always feels almost unpleasantly warm to the touch, but this is a psychological reaction, not a physical one. An Oblatum Solaccii has a minor enchantment on it that prevents it from being casually damaged, but it is not particularly indestructible. Note that these items absolutely will set off any kind of demon-detection magic.
Powers: An Oblatum Solaccii feeds on grief. Holding one for at least one minute will allow the user to effectively overcome feelings of sorrow and bereavement; the emotions are still there, but attenuated and oddly powerful. This effect only lasts as long as the item is being held, but even when the old emotions come back they do so at a noticeably lower level. Regular use can speed the recovery process from a tragic loss. It can also turn the user into a sociopath whose ability to feel connections with others has been permanently burned away, so the artifacts are not often used by the same person regularly.
Strictly speaking, an Oblatum Solaccii is not enchanted so much as it is ‘possessed.’ Each item is actually a trap of sorts for a minor demon, of the kind that feeds on negative emotional energy. Admittedly, it’s not actually that difficult to find demons willing to trade a largely useless physical freedom for a very useful, reliable metaphysical hiding place; the demonic ecosystem is a terrifying place to be at the bottom of, and demons of this type are generally some other, much nastier, demon’s main food supply. As long as there’s a regular supply of pain to drink, the demon is getting a good deal out of it all.
But they are demons, which means that if they can’t get their regular diet of anguish then they’ll just feed on whoever currently holds their Oblatum Solaccii. This is not particularly a problem normally; a healer who possesses one of these artifacts generally knows that it needs to handed around regularly, and there’s almost never a lack of people feeling terrible grief about something, in this fallen world. Things only get complicated when an Oblatum Solaccii gets out into the mundane world; if nobody recognizes one for what it is, well, people have been known to get killed in bad ways while carrying one in their pocket. This has led to all sorts of incorrect legends and superstitions about the Oblatum Solaccii. The worst one? That you can break the effects of its ‘curse’ on a person by breaking the artifact itself.
Yeah. Don’t do that. Really, really, really don’t do that.