Old nanna's yarn (magic item)

Young Billobi never understood why anyone would live in Badgerbrough. Despite being one of the larger towns on a large trade route that went straight through the country, nothing exciting seemed to happen. Yes, travellers from far away came to the taverns and told stories of bravery and fighting and underground cities inhabited by squid-like men - but, that was just the point: all things exciting happened far away from Badgerbrough. Although he suspected his head master to be a monster in disguise, that didn't really qualify. He needed to explore the country, not just his father's bakery or the school's detention room.

One particular cold winter, Billobi was sent out to buy some yarn for his mother because by some strange divine intervention, Billobi's mittens always seemed to be "somewhere else"...

"If you lose this new pair I'm about to make you", she told her son, "I'll tell your father to bake you a pair of gloves so you'll never lose them! Now go!"

Halfway to the general store, he met his friend Tristan "Hum" Beadle. Or, Tristan hit him actually - with a snowball. They spent some time declaring war on each other, tossing snow back and forth, until Billobi finally remembered his mother's words. He told Tristan about how his father would make gloves out of bread, with his hands inside. They agreed that it would be much better to head on to the general store instead.

After a couple of minutes they turned a corner and found themselves standing in front of an old building they'd never seen before. A wooden sign above the entrance had a rough drawing of a ball of yarn, with two crossed knitting needles underneath. Since the boys were tired of walking, they decided to enter.

The store felt much smaller on the inside. The walls carried loads of yarn in different colours and thickness, all stapled on primitive shelves that seemed to be an inch from collapsing. Next to the window - the sole light source in the room - an old lady in a rocking chair greeted them with a nod. She knitted intensively.

"Hello boys", she said kindly with a voice that sounded like an old hinge. "Did you walk into the wrong store, 'haps?"

"No madame", Billobi said and took off his hat. "Mum told me to buy some yarn."

"Did she now?"

"For my new mittens. Or else father will make loafs of bread of my hands."

The old lady laughed with a high pitched sound, until she had to cough.

"This is what you need", she said and tossed him a ball of yarn. "Don't want your little hands to become scones, do we now?"

"Thanks madame, how mu-", but Billobi was cut short when a tall man stormed in through the door.

"Cursed hag!" he cried, with his clenched fists up in the air. "Rid me of these cursed gloves, now! I demand you to!"

"Ah, I remember you. The prizefighter! Did you know, a long time ago I had a customer just like you. Dear mister Culver his name was, a promising prizefighter too. Disappeared into the woods, did he, but that was a long time ago... Handsome fellow, he was!"

"I don't care about your stories, witch! Remove these cursed gloves or I'll..."

"Who won the fight, young prizefighter?" she said with a mellow voice, without looking him in the eyes. "Who?"

"Me, of course! But-"

"I did what you asked for, did I not? Young man" - she turned to Billobi and smiled - "tell mum that's a gift from old nanna. Now, off you go! All three of you!"

Billobi thanked the old lady, grabbed Tristan by the arm and got out of the store under wild cursing from the tall man.

When he got home he told his mother all about the store, the free ball of yarn and old nanna. After hearing this, mother Rustfoot took the ball of yarn and threw it in the fire as quickly as possible. She made Billobi promise never to return to that store, and never accept anything from anyone calling themselves "old nanna".

Yarn sold by old spirits that call themselves "old nanna" can be found in any major city. They take over empty buildings, set up a store and sell knitted caps, gloves, and so on, or just simple balls of yarn. After some time, they disappear for a couple of years - or even centuries - only to suddenly reappear and start all over again.

Old nannas are never hostile.

The things they produce are cursed, and the most famous thing of them all is the Prizefighter Mittens. These knitted gloves look and feel just like regular gloves, with the distinct difference that they will grant a vast combat advantage to its wearer (both on to-hit and damage dealt).

The downside is that they will force the wearer to tie his fists, making him unable to pick up or grab anything at all as long as the gloves are on (which they will be until someone dispels the curse). This is how the gloves got their name; anyone seen with these kind of gloves looks like they're ready to pick a fight.

Short rope (magic item)

The small, treeless island of Skiff-in-Loch was somewhat of a mystery to Billobi. He always got the same feeling, one that slowly crept up on him as old Badsey's ferry got closer to the small bridge. Maybe it had something to do with the scenery? The sharp cliffs, almost glowing in yellow and red; the bane of many ships. Or the twisting and leaning lighthouse at the south tip; a single talon reaching out for preys? Or the fact that it was inhabited by a single person, who also looked after the island's only pub?

Old Badsey's small ferry gently brushed the old bridge by the side. Badsey was always the first one off the boat.

"ALL OVERBOARD! Just kiddin', no need to jump in, lad!"

A young boy, pale like an egg shell, responded with a nervous smile and got out of the boat. Just as Billobi was about to do the same, Badsey stopped him and said: "Hold on, fetch me that rope. I need to secure the old lady to the bridge."

Billobi turned around and found a piece of rope tied to the boat. He grabbed the other end and handed it to Badsey, who immediately threw it around one of the short poles on the bridge.

"Sheesh, come on", Badsey said irritated while fumbling with the rope. "Bloody 'ell! Get around already!"

Billobi offered his help, to no prevail.

"Happens every bloody time", Badsey cried while trying to stretch the rope a little bit longer. "It's like there are some kind of hemp gods that wants me to suffer! Come ON, you no-good fibres!"

Short ropes are known to be found all around the known world. They're regular ropes of hemp, bestowed with a curse that actually makes them somewhat intelligent.

These short ropes works as a regular ropes, until their length is considered important. When a short rope finds out it's needed, it will adjust its length so it will be just a bit too short. There have been many attempts through the years to outwit these ropes, although it's unclear whether anyone actually succeeded.

Any attempts to dispel this curse will make the rope crumble to dust.

Bag of Spending (magic item)

Billobi often thought of his childhood friend Tristan "Hum" Beadle. After graduation, Billobi set out to see the rest of the country while Tristan signed on to the Acorn Afloat, a large sailing vessel that carried both goods and passengers to numerous ports across the eastern sea. His mother worried sick, begging him not to travel with such a large and unreliable construction. "It's against the will of the gods!" she cried, "Man wasn't made to walk upon waters!". Tales of piracy and monsters lurking in the dark blue depths didn't help either, but Tristan had already made up his mind - one week after graduation he left port for the great unknown.

Billobi never met his friend again, but often got letters from him from various places across the sea. He often came across strange items, of one Billobi clearly remembered. It started with Tristan writing home about his new work as an errand boy for a wealthy and powerful old lady in the town he currently lived in. The old lady, apparently too busy for doing her own purchases, hired Tristan to buy new interesting and exotic things every day. At the start of the day, he was given a certain amount of money to spend on anything he thought would make her life happier.

"This is easy", Tristan wrote, "since the old raisin lives in a large, mostly empty, marble palace, with spaces to fill everywhere!"

But, after only four days of commissions, the old lady declared that it was a nuisance to give him gold on an daily basis. From now on, he'd be given gold for the whole week, starting that day. Tristan agreed, and was given an awful lot of coins he didn't have anywhere to stash. So he went to the market to purchase him a sturdy bag to hold all of this wealth.

"It took a while", Tristan wrote, "but finally I found one that could hold the coins easily. It looked like a regular leather bag, only tougher. I paid the merchant, filled it up with the raisin's money, and went home to rest for the night."

The next morning, Tristan woke up to a room filled with things from the floor and up. Forks, knives, birds, colourful carpets, furnitures, wagons, even an elephant! He got up from his bed faster than ever before, just in time for the old lady to open his door and ask about the commotion. Instead, she stood silent and just stared at the pile of things, her jaw at the floor. Tristan hid behind the elephant, trying to come up with some sort of excuse and explanation that could save his face and job.

"She loved it", Tristan wrote. "She'd never seen so many marvellous things in one room, and never in her own home. I didn't lose the job, but the problem now is that she expects the same thing tomorrow, and the day after that - and there's no money left in the bag!"

A Bag of Spending looks and functions as any regular cloth sack, with the difference that it will spend any items of value that is put inside it. It will do this preferable when it's left alone (not under any supervision); most noticeable during sleeping hours.

All things bought by the bag will somehow end up in the same room as its owner. How this delivery works is still a mystery.

It will spend up till 80 percent of the coins and gems inside it, although rumour has it that there exists bags that will spend all of its coins.

The bag will buy things of its own liking, unaffected by its current owner's taste.

Faithful cart (magic item)

It wasn't until his later travels that Billobi met old Pimbleman, the legendary brewer from his home village of Badgerbrough. And what a sight! You could spot him miles away, pushing his cart over the hills, gathering whatever he found along the way. When he came closer, you could almost read the adventures in his rugged face.

Billobi met old Pimbleman by mere accident while strolling along the road between Horsehead and Woostershire; a strange bird caught his eye for a second, just enough to get hit by Pimbleman's cart.

"Sheesh! Wacha step, young fellow! Thisch cart ain't stoppin' for no one!"

He helped Billobi to his feet without letting go of the cart, and offered him anything from the carriage as compensation. But when Mr. Rustfoot approached the cart, a deep snarl echoed from the very same.

Billobi quickly backed away, and looked at old Pimbleman for an explanation.

"No need to panic, young man", Pimbleman said with a sigh, "'tis cursed you see. Stupid piece of wood, schould never have touched it, I tell you!"

Pimbleman told Billobi about how he found the cart in a ditch, many years ago, on his way home from the brewery. He was overburden with things that he needed to repair at home, and took the finding of the old cart as a sign from whatever deity that could've watched over him. So, he dropped all of his things, got into the ditch and pulled up the cart, only to discover that he couldn't release it.

When he released the grip on his left hand, the right hand wouldn't budge. But if he grabbed the shaft with the left hand, the right hand would come off as expected - but now the other was stuck.

"You schee... I'm tied to this schtupid cart. At least I can pick up things with one hand..."

Billobi asked him if it wasn't possible to remove this curse, and rid him of the cart. To this old Pimbleman answered: "It might very well be scho, but over the years I guess I've just...grown accustom to it. 'Tis my only friend alive, you schee."

With that he said farewell and continued on his journey, with cursed cart and all.

The Faithful cart works like a normal cart and can be loaded as such, but is bestowed with a special curse. The first person touching its shafts gets stuck, and may only use one of his hands at any time. To switch hands, he must first grab the shafts with both hands, and then release the hand he wish to use.

It's safe to touch the cart after it has attached itself to someone, although it is known to snarl at anyone not under the curse.

The curse also works on another, not too obvious, plane: it slows down the ageing of the person currently attached to it. Apparently, the cart wants its new owner (or "friend") to live as long as possible. Exact how much seems to vary from person to person. The curse is lifted upon death.