Gemstones of absorption (magic item)

In the middle of the town of Horsehead lies an old antique shop, one which Billobi frequently visited throughout his lifetime. It was owned by one of his old friends from school, that - just like himself - never paid much attention to what the teachers said. His name was Thomas Althorp, and the only thing he was worse at than casting spells, was selling old things. "It's a wonder", Billobi wrote in one of his many journals, "that my dear friend Thomas hasn't a) blown something up, b) had to sell his shop, or - which is more likely - c) blown his shop up".

Thomas Althorp had a keen eye for strange and magical items, and always seemed to get his hands on the most spectacular things. Unfortunately, he never got a hang on putting the right price tag on these rare objects. One of his more famous quotes is: "I mean, it's just a rod. It's like a fancy stick! You can find them everywhere in the woods. Except, those aren't magical, and can't bring you back to life with just a touch of its tip. But otherwise, they're the same! I mean, who'd pay for that?"

One of the more strange objects in his antique shop was a small, transparent gemstone.

"Look at this strange fellow", Thomas said and threw the gemstone carelessly to Billobi. "Looks ordinary, yes? A clear gemstone, probably worth a lot, judging from what other's had to say about it. Thing is, nobody buys it."

"Overpriced?" Billobi asked ironic.

"Watch it, or I'll make you buy something! No, the thing is, I'm most certain it's magical."

"Magical? How?"

"I have no idea. All I know is that when I bought it, it was blue as the sky on a sunny day. A young fellow sold it to me, out-of-towner I suspect. Said he needed the money to buy a book for his magic studies, or something. Anyway, it was a beautiful piece, and I sold it the next day to one of them fancy ladies up the street."

"So...what is it doing here?"

"Well, she came back the day after, in tears and completely devastated. She told me that she'd awaken in the middle of night to the sound of all her finest porcelain crashing into the floor. According to her, small rays of light - or missiles, as she called them - shot out from the small gemstone, and hit whatever it pleased. She had to take cover behind the kitchen door - what a sight!"

"I guess she returned it then?"

"Not only that, I had to buy it back! She was convinced the stone was cursed, since not only had it wrecked her home - the colour was gone too! Of course, by now everybody in town knows of Thomas Althorp's cursed gemstone, and avoids it like the plague."

Billobi inspected the small gemstone, and threw it back to Thomas. He said: "Do you think you'll be able to sell it?"

"I don't know. I'm still waiting for the colour to come back..."

Gemstones of absorption are small gemstones, in various sizes, that will absorb one spell from the nearest magic-user during sleeping hours. They aren't restricted by spell level, and can contain an infinite number of spells. Since the spell is absorbed, the magic-user will feel as if he or she never prepared it (e.g. it disappears).

It's impossible to determine the number of spells contained in a gemstone, other from when it's empty. A gemstone of absorption that hasn't absorbed any spells are transparent. Brightly coloured gemstones may contain one or a hundred spells.

It's futile to try to extract the contained spells, since it will just release all of them (equivalent to rolling a 1 or a 2 on the table below).

The colour of the stones doesn't seem to reflect the nature of the spells.

During sleeping hours, the gemstone (if close to a magic-user or any other caster of spells) will do one of the following:

Die roll (1d10)	Action
1-2	Release all contained spells at random
3-8	Absorb one spell of any level
9-10	Do nothing