The Grimoire Basement Tapes, 1967-1972
Description: a double-thickness jewel case containing five CDs. The CDs are labeled 1 through 5, but have no other identification. The jewel case is light green, with the title “The Grimoire Basement Tapes, 1967-1972” on the front. No other information about the CDs are available. The jewel case and CDs positively radiate supernatural power, to the point where it is noticeable for even non-magical entities.
Effects: each CD features thirty minutes of odd, strangely complex music that incorporates both classic and modern musical instruments, plus extensive vocals in no easily recognizable language. It became clear, very quickly, that listening to each CD all the way through gave a temporary ability to the listener (only one at a time, and the choice is apparently random).
Cautious experimentation has determined the following:
- Listening to CD #1 gives a magical practitioner the temporary ability to transfer illness and injury from one living thing to another. Regular listening improves the healing process in terms of severity and speed, but also makes the practitioner ever hungrier. One poor soul eventually ate herself to death.
- Listening to CD #2 gives resistance to fire damage, while taking more harm from water-based attacks. One regular listener got to the point where he could stand in a blast furnace without harm – and had to, because without that heat, he would have been poisoned by his own blood.
- Listening to CD #3 gives the ability to teleport (up to twenty feet away). The more someone listens, the easier it is for them to teleport; regular use will get the practitioner to the point where any sudden surprise will trigger a teleportation incident.
- Listening to CD #4 teaches the universal language, the one spoken by every person. Regular use seems to do nothing, although there is no record that anyone has ever actually abused the use of CD #4 to the extent that has been done to the other CDs.
- Listening to CD #5 allows the listener to steal other people’s luck. Both good, and bad. By unspoken agreement, this CD is generally not experimented with much.
Naturally, Those In The Know would love to know where this artifact came from, who made it, and what other occult time bombs besides the obvious ones are hidden inside of it. That’s why they still experiment with the Grimoire Tapes. Or, rather, have other people experiment with them. After all, one does not become Those In The Know by taking stupid chances.