Item Seed: The Heart of Cincinnati.

The Heart of Cincinnati

Description: a chain necklace.  The pendant is a small hunk of concrete that’s shaped roughly like a Valentine’s heart.  The Heart of Cincinnati is perfectly safe to wear; it never catches on skin or clothing, and is always slightly warm to the touch.

Powers: “Whosoever wears this Token is the Hidden Ruler of Cincinnati.”

…Yes, but what does that mean?  Well, complete power over any city official, to start with.  Cops don’t write tickets, judges won’t convict, bureaucrats fall all over themselves to aid the bearer of the Heart of Cincinnati.  And none of them will ever think that it’s weird that they’re treating the bearer as if he or she was the absolute monarch of the city, either.  For that matter, the bearer of the Heart can command most of the non-government organizations in Cincinnati, too. That’s why none of this ever makes the papers, radio, or TV.  Typically, the bearers of the Heart of Cincinnati like their privacy.

But that’s not all.  There’s also the city itself, which seems almost sapient when it comes to honoring the Heart of Cincinnati.  This manifests as remarkably good luck and absurd coincidences: if the bearer needs to cross the street, the light turns green.  If he or she needs money, a wallet appears on the sidewalk. If somebody tries to mug the bearer, the mugger gets hit with a falling piano.  That last one is not rhetorical, either; to raise a hand against the Heart of Cincinnati is to actively court death.

Well: if you’re in Cincinnati, at least.  Outside of city limits the Heart is just a weird necklace.  And the bearer of the Heart has no mystical power over state and federal authorities, either. Still: this is a very powerful (and very weird) form of civic magic.  Practically unique, in fact. And nobody knows why it’s manifesting in Cincinnati, either.  

There are many research magicians who would like to know, though.