The Ring of Regeneration:



Like most pieces of jewelry, this small brass ring was created with a forge and smith, and lightly hammered into a loop to decorate a finger. This ring however was made before the dawn of the world, something which slipped past the veil of darkness from the lower pits of the abyss, and having passed the threshold of creation, found its way into the world of existence.



In this world the fountain of life flows with the forces of the arcane and mystical, forces both real and powerful. One of the methods of understanding the artifacts of magical design is to commune with them, to engage in their internal momentum and reveal the source of their creation. To date, 3 wizards have been able to glimpse of creation of the Ring of Regeneration.



The first wizard was Fizzlestack, a gnome arch-sorcerer who has lived long enough forget parts of his name. As a gnome, his lineage touched the edges of Fey and Fairy, so his mind was set to see the creation as a child would; wide-eyed with wonder and curiosity.



The glimpse of the ring’s creation was one of utter confusion. The very sky moved with an animal motion and the skies dripped in heated songs. Fizzlestack could not orient himself in the strange world, and his horizon tumbled into a spiral of muttering forms. After some time, his head stilled, and he saw the ring in its alien forge, hammered with tools of geometric vagueness. He could not tell which direction they swung or with the hammer blows made sound, such things were smeared in a bubbling frenzy of molten turbulence.



Before being expelled from the vision, Fizzlestack noted the source of the Ring’s power; a blue star of such size, it eclipsed the sky and blotted out any points of alien constellations. The star was on the verge of collapse and was near becoming a blackhole; a pit of endless hunger. At the moment of supernovae, at the point of collapse, the hunger and power were transferred to the small brass ring. Of course, Fizzlestack knew nothing of blackholes or stellar maturity, he saw only the monstrous maw of a star at the point of its death, howling out a breath of photons and gamma radiation.



The small gnome was so moved by such a vison he exited from humanity and found hermetic solace in a small tower capable of traveling subterranean rock like a boat travels water. He used the regenerative powers of the ring to reconstruct a crystal power source. The ring however, seeped some of its power into the earth around Fizzlestack and crushed his tower between 2 tectonic plates.



The ring’s hunger and power were added to the stone and earth and caused a great volcano to rise. The ring was flung back into the Land of the Living for others to use. Two other wizards who glimpsed the creation of the ring were burned; their minds were set ablaze by a small fraction of the alien star power. They were consumed by a blue and black flame from a world from before existence was created.



 When worn the ring is eager to heal any wounds or repair and equipment. A warrior can enter into battle and sustain countless wounds, and the ring will simply repair them. The pain however remains, providing an opportunity for creatures to experience things usually fatal to their mortal condition. Being burned alive for example would take about 20 minutes to completely regenerate. Sword wounds and missing limbs could be regenerated in a matter of minutes. Even completely disintegrated people could reconstitute from seemingly nothing in a matter of hours. In the Kingdom of Romale the ring was often called the Ring of Resurrection or the Loop of Theron, named after a deity of light and life.



However, stories are often exaggerated for the sake of a meaningful tale. What was less known, was the cost the ring extracted; with each healing the hunger of the creature would increase. A small sword cut or burn may only require the consumption of a large meal, perhaps a whole pie or chicken would suffice. With the loss of an arm or leg, the hunger with require a large animal, like a horse or entire cow, compelling the user to consume it raw until the hunger was sated. Complete resurrection requires frequent cannibalism or descent into vampirism.



Seemingly pure and virtuous heroes would regress into bestial monsters, consumed by their hunger. Tyrants began to rise, eager to hold the ring and become invincible in battle. The longest duration any creature held the ring was 3 centuries by the 2-headed troll shaman queen Saja Bloodfist.



Saja was a pyromancer and used the ring in concert with her natural trollish regeneration to defeat her adversaries. Trolls are vulnerable to fire, and application of flame stops them regenerating, Saja used the ring to cover her weakness, and often used the ring to protect herself from her own pyromancy. Sher preferred method of casting fireballs and flaming globes upon herself and then sent screaming into battle with claws of ravenous hunger. Her ambitious temperament and willingness made an excellent partner for the ring, until the hero Malcolm the Blue cut the ring from her seven fingered hand.



Malcolm kept the ring safe in a temple of Theron during his lifetime, and refused to use it, regardless of the rumors being a ring of Theron. When he died, the dust reclaimed the ring and its location fell from knowledge.



There are those who currently seek the Ring of Regeneration and have found some manner to sense its use and presence. They are the priests of Jubilex, and they are set on using the ring for its properties of growth. Like all followers of Jubilex, they seek to negate existence; to return all that lives to a state of silence or holy stillness. If they can acquire the ring, they would use it to grow giant slimes and oozes, great beasts of aberrant nature, abominations of putrid and malignant darkness, things with great hungers capable or perhaps holding whole stars in their mouths.



It is also spoken, but barely over a whisper; Saja Bloodfist was not entirely killed by Malcom, and she seeks the ring as a haunt in order to reform her body.



For now, the ring purrs, still sleeping from the feast of Saja Bloodfist’s reign, savoring her tyrannical rule; a small taste of the power it once held as an ancient star of alien darkness.

A Head of the Times:



Holly-9 didn’t need to eat, but tonight, she ate by herself, scrapping her teeth across almost warm spaghetti. She watched the world for an hour from her window, until the night darkened her windows and turned her dinner cold. The winter holidays were coming, and this meant the family gathering.



Holly was one of 200 identical clones, all with the exact same body, brain layout, conditioning, and augmentation. Their personality was pleasant and kind, neither too assertive, nor too passive. In groups of 5 or 6 they harmonized any task. In groups of 100 or more, they would go through a familiar ritual, processing updates with each other. Due to similarities, updates sounded like echoes.



While the 200 Holly clones appeared identical, they had subtle ways of distinguishing themselves. Small choices, recurring names of friends, biases of appetite, and distortions of certain spoken words. One Holly wore a red sash, another pinned her hair a particular way, and others developed their own methods of expression. Some dressed in certain colors and called themselves Blue or Green. When they showed up at the big house, their vehicles provided another opportunity to express their differences.



Holly was kind to herself and greeted each clone as they greeted each other; polite and sincere.



They all brought a food dish for the potluck, and a small gift for one other clone. There was a table piled up gifts, all wrapped slightly differently. This was the 3^rd gathering of this kind, and while other families celebrated holidays and gifts, Holly only saw her face reflected in the visitors.



The gathering provided a chance to see where each of their paths led. Lessons and trials were shared, problems discussed, advice, and warm voices filled the big house. Their different experiences allowed them a reflection; a mirror rarely afforded by single entities.  



This year they discovered there were 199 rather than 200 of the clones, one had died in a solar storm. Until recently a Holly-9 was part of an orbiting Sun-station. An eruption from the Sun annihilated the entire station and the crew. Holly with the purple shoes replayed a video of the eruption, and the clones watched the small screen depicting a brilliant resolution of the lethal plume.



Holly was unperturbed by death. A small part of her brain had been augmented to not suffer grief or the senseless pain of the unpredictability. The curiosity of the solar activity was a method for interpersonal connection with other Hollys, rather than a reason for sorrow.



Similar conversations echoed in waves around the family reunion. They were a choir with the same voice, like a large magnet with all the Hollys spinning the same direction. However, despite the social magnetism, they lacked poles; there was no single direction in which they flowed.



About halfway through the reunion, a few more Holly-9s showed up.



There was a pronounced difference in one of the Hollys arriving late. Their body was enlarged, engorged, swollen with corded muscles. The body looked unnatural and was missing all of the common attributes of the other Hollys. This Holly called herself VeeVee.



She seemed to expect the confused reception, and after a few moments of hushed speculation, Veevee took the center of the crowd and described herself:



“Hello other selves, other minds who were made in the same image as I was made. I have come to tell you about my new body, my new vehicle in this world. I have found a way to remove my head and attached to other cloned bodies, bodies without brains or heads, bodies ready to be driven by us.”



The Hollys looked around and began a quiet murmuring. The peace held until the voice rose into angry questions. They wanted to know how, and what sort of complications VeeVee suffered. She answered patiently and completely, she brought medical documents, videos of the procedure and recovery, everything she knew they would ask about, since she would ask the same questions.



Veevee waited until they settled down, and the anger of generic confusion simmered, then she sat down on a chair and invited them to watch carefully. Veevee then removed her head by unlocking a button and switch behind her ears. With a soft hiss her head was placed next to her very muscular body.



“You see, my personality and cognitive abilities remain intact even when separated. However, speaking is limited to 17 words or so….”



Veevee lost what remaining air she possessed, and her words turned into a voiceless mouth. With a frustrated grimace Holly initiated the command for the obedient body to return the head to the shoulders. The crowd of Holly-9, looked equally frustrated, but the emotion ebbed, and the peaceful and tranquil faces returned as they began discussing other types of bodies to drive around.



The rest of the family reunion was filled with the sharing of food, delicious food everyone liked.