Pipes of the Kur-Authba

Steel Realms

The Pipes of the Kur-Authba are a set of large magical pipes known to be sacred to the Tribesfolk in The Wyldes of the Northern Heartlands. These are played to imbue some of their warriors with supernatural power when fell times fall upon the region.

Chronicle/Facts of the Item

Item Powers (common and Attuned) can be found under Common Knowledge tab.

Knowledge is broken down by ease of discovery/availability & Meticulous Record Keeping may improve usability; Any attempt to know more than what's Pervasive will require a reference, source, knowledge, check, or access to someone who can get or provide either of these. Specific Lores may increase the chance of knowing specific elements.

Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty

Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore

For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.

The Pipes of the Kur-Authba are a set of large magical pipes known to be sacred to the Tribesfolk in The Wyldes of the Northern Heartlands. These are played to imbue some of their warriors with supernatural power when fell times fall upon the region.

This is the common understanding of the items and their reputed powers.

Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty

For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.

Playing the pipes requires a single massive breath to be taken and expelled while doing it. To this is added the Essence life force of the player, willingly given to awake the dead giant’s enmity. In exchange for the life force, the player of the pipes would be able to give name to the life of the hag they sought. That hag would know that life had been given for life and that theirs was soon to end. Kur-Authba’s spirit would guide the hunter to them eventually. This was meant to instill fear and dread in the evil creature.

Item Purpose:

Lesser Attunement (1 Essence total )

i20™ Item Details

Sacrifice of 10 Essence; The effect triggers three things.

  1. Commune with Nature > Locates the target
  2. Locate Person > Leads the hunter
  3. Augury > Defines the best moment to strike

iCore iCore™ Item Details

Estimated Value: ? (Silver Crowns)

Item Source: i20™ OR iCore™ #YYYY

Destroying the Item: As an item with inherent mystic nature, it is deeply bound to The Pattern – mere mundane efforts cannot destroy it. It must be melted, disintegrated, or shattered – not merely made Useless.

Uncommon Knowledge / Average Difficulty

The Pipes of the Kur-Authba are a set of giant’s bones carved into pipes and played only by those willing to awaken the hatred of the giant Kur-Authba. The giant Kur-Authba was one of the Giants/Colossi of the Steel Realms who served as a guardian and guide of his people in the retreat to the The Sky Stair Peaks and eventually to founding their community of Skyhollow (giant-home) in the north.

Scarce Knowledge / Hard Difficulty

Coming through the Giants Steps hills in CY 4055, a hag (part of the Plague of Hags) stole a giant baby! Kur-Authba hunted the bold hag down and killed her, though she poisoned him. He knew he might survive if only he lay and let the poison takes its course over a week.

Instead, he chose to save the rescued baby and return it to his kin. His increased heart rate and activity brought about his demise in the end. Initially one of the Dryads of the Wyld discovered his wheezing near-dead form. She said she could use the children of the wind to change his wheezing to a pleasant whistling and draw help, but that she was afraid of the tribesfolk. He was found by tribesfolk of The Wyldes as he lay dying, drawn by his death-whistling. With his last breath granted by the children of the wind, he told his tale. The tribesfolk were moved, and ensured the baby was returned to his kin. The giants told the tribesfolk that his bones held deep enmity for the hags that sometimes plagued them, and what to do with the bones to ensure that there would always be a guardian against the worst fo their kind.

Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty

Wylden Hag Hunters use bone needles made from left over splinters of giant bones from the sacred grove where the Pipes of the Kur-Authba are stored to push pieces of cold iron under the skin while breathing the fumes of burning Witchwood.

The Dryad watched all of this from afar, and given the tribesfolk’s actions with the giants, came forward and offered to assist the tribesfolk, and that she and her daughters would forever keep them safe and bring them forth when needed – for her folk were especially viciously preyed upon by the hags. The agreement was struck.

Warning
Obscure/Hidden Knowledge is not generally available in known references; It is not necessarily Forbidden.
DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT unless a character has the capability to gain such knowledge [through association, organization, or relation] if they do not possess it themselves or the reader intends to participate in scenarios using this material as a PLAYER! GM Narration will typically provide relevant information by check or story.

Realm's Aptitude Powers: Divine, Occult, and Psychic