Treasure Chests
Finding a treasure chest is a magical moment that most of us, as players, look forward to with great anticipation and extreme excitement—but we tend to gloss over the chest itself in our rush get at what is inside. I think that’s a shame, because the chest is an important part of the treasure equation: it is the last obstacle to enjoying your hard-earned stuff. Today’s chests all come with a little flavor, so that you can celebrate the devices that hold your carefully thought-out treasure.
1. A Solid Block of Translucent Quartz. This unusual treasure chest is about 3 feet to a side and comprised of a single solid block of quartz crystal, with no apparent opening. The chest is translucent, allowing a hazy view of the glittering pile of gold coins and gemstones that appear to be trapped inside the chest. Created by xorns to hide their goods from other greedy earth-dwellers, the contents of these chests are theoretically only accessible to those who can move through solid stone, though a determined miner could shatter the chest with a conventional pick.
2. A Black Iron Sphere Suspended by Chains from the Ceiling. While appearing to be merely another grim piece of dungeon art, these black iron spheres are actually designed to contain the wealth of mad necromancers, deviant rogues and other dwellers in dark and spooky places. Offering a discreet place to keep one’s treasure out of the hands of novice adventurers, these spherical chests feature hidden latches and often employ complex locks, allowing the paranoid and dramatic to hide their valuables with confidence.
3. A Massive Frog with Gems for Eyes. The invention of a mad planes-traveling wizard who swears he encountered something like this in his adventuring days, these unique chests take the form of giant frogs which have been magically stiffened and can be filled with gems, coins, and other loot. The wizard even built in a special command word which, when spoken, causes the frog to vomit up all that is stored within it, negating the need to cut open the adorable chest.
4. A Large Iron Box Wrapped in Chains, with a False Bottom. These formidable looking chests clearly indicate that they keep something precious stored inside: the massive iron chests, about 3 feet tall, two feet wide, and six feet long, can hold an impressive array of goods, from the usual valuables to even whole suits of armor. The heavy chains and high quality locks are enough to deter most would-be thieves, but the chests further come with a false bottom, sealed by a very good quality lock, to ensure that the things most precious to the owner will stay safe from snatching hands.
5. The Useful Mimic. This deceptively named magical chest is not actually a mimic, though the differences are largely immaterial. Appearing as a giant silver chest with spikes, wings, and similar decorations, the useful mimic possesses a potent magic which causes it to animate as a medium animated object and attack anyone which attempts to open it without the proper key. Similar chests, sold at a slight premium, are also programmed to destroy the contents of the chest before attacking invaders.
6. The Empty Box. This large crate of plain wood appears completely empty, not because it isn’t filled with fantastic treasure, but because a powerful invisibility effect causes anything placed within the chest to be impossible to see, though the items can still be felt and still make noise when jostled. These crates are particularly useful for those concerned that their storehouses or business are about to be robbed, or by those who figure to hide their treasure in plain sight, hoping that potential thieves simply ignore it.
7. The Arcane Vault of Kernessor. While these treasure containers don’t appear to be much, taking the form of desk drawers, foot lockers, or other innocuous containers, and often protected by innocent-looking illusion, each leads those who step within the object to a great extradimensional vault. The location of the vault is unknown, as is who originally built it, though it has long been used by the wizards of Kernessor, a secret organization devoted to the amassing of arcane and material wealth. Each container leads to a sealed room, 100 feet by 100 feet by 100 feet, with a door standing in the middle of the floor which can be used to return from whence you came. The contents of these rooms vary, but usually contain extreme wealth or ancient secrets amassed by their former owners.
8. Thervor Marlin’s Chest. A plain enough wooden treasure chest, this box once belonged to Thervor Marlin, a mighty adventurer cursed by a witch, who was enraged that he chose his wealth over her. She caused his collected wealth, contained within the large chest, to vanish, transporting it far away from Thervor where he would never find it. She placed further magic to prevent him from reacquiring his horde, a goal that Thervor has devoted the last 40 years to pursuing. Each time a piece of treasure is removed from the chest, it vanishes and appears somewhere else in the world.
9. Treasure Isle. This chest is often thought to be more of a rumor than anything else, a legend told by sailors of a treasure so great that it is contained in a chest the size of an island that floats out at sea. Though typically dismissed as a tall tale, if true, the treasure mentioned in the legend would be great beyond imagining. A determined party might even find the floating island overgrown with vegetation and playing home to dragon turtles and other marine life. Then they might have to try to open a chest approximately a mile to a side in order to get at the immense wealth that must surely be kept inside. They might even be forced to wonder who built such a large chest, and for what purpose...
10. The Black Chest of Wonder. This heavy chest is made from dark wood carved with Sylvan scripts which read, “A gift is given, a gift is accepted, and a price is paid.” The chest always arrives in the night at the food of the bed of a mortal while he is sleeping. The chest appears without explanation, but always contains a fantastic gift, said to be what the receiver desires most. Even so, rumors about the chest and its ominous script often leads those that come across it to leave it closed. The chest disappears again without explanation if it is not opened within 24 hours. While no one is sure what happens to those who accept the gift, they are rarely seen long after having opened the chest.