Golden Gourd

The gourd takes the soul of whoever drinks it, unless you speak the incantation while doing so. When it fills with power the gourd turns completely gold. Giving the drinker of the gourd the power of the souls trapped inside, bestowing upon them unbelievable magical abilities.

According to myth, this object was created by ancient queen in western Africa. Her husband had many concubines, and many children but none were hers. She saw all the other women and children as a threat, and she wanted to eliminate them from usurping her position. So she weaved together powerful and vile magics, imbuing them onto a simple gourd. She then would feign weakness for days in front the concubines and children.

  They finally asked the queen what was wrong, she told them her special drinking gourd was dropped somewhere not far from there, and that it kept her strong. The kids then ran and found the conveniently placed gourd, and returned it to her. They watched as she whispered into the almost empty gourd, and then drank, standing a little taller than she did before. The kids told their mothers, and they all watched as the queen got better each day, whispering then drinking, until she was as fit as a fiddle. Then the queen became insufferable, bragging about how the gourd made and kept her queen. About how it would make her future children strong enough to banish all of the unwanted guests.

  This worried the concubines who did not want to leave. So when the queen was busy and far away from the lands, they ran to find the gourd. They and their children found the gourd in a cave. Each taking turns at the gourd, child then mother, trying to secure their place in their homeland. As they drank their mouths became dry, and gourd seemed to fill instead of drain.

  One by one they each would just drop, they tried to run but none could make it. All that drank would never awake, only one woman remained, seconds away from drinking when everyone else starting dying. Cradling her daughter as she faded away in her arms, weeping her way back home. The king and queen arrived to all his concubines and children missing, both expressing shock and confusion. The lone survivor waiting for her chance to strike at the queen. But when she saw the pain in the kings face, she knew she could expose the queen instead.

  Posing as a servant, she let slip to the queen that rumors got around of the concubines alive and strong in a cave. The queen took off quickly, and the concubine informed the king the truth. The queen arrived to see all the dead, relieved at the thought of her plan gone awry. She began laughing as she walked on top the bodies, loudly speaking the incantation she usually whispered before. As she walked up to gourd, which was now glimmering gold and full of a bright lavender, smoky liquid.

  She bent down to drink as she suddenly was encased in a bright white light. The concubine, the king and a regiment of his guard stood at the cave entrance. Holding her in magical chains, the king having witnessed his wife disregard for the lives of his children, judged her immediately. He had her tongue cut out, her mouth sewn shut ten times, her arms and legs wrapped and bound so tightly to the gourd that she couldn't move a muscle. She wanted the gourd, so he gave it to her, placed right in her hands where she would never be able to drink it. He also cursed the gourd, so that anyone who drank from that gourd would lose their soul and their heart in the process. Whatever power that came from the gourd, would cause the drinker to destroy anything they loved. The king then sealed the cave, leaving the queen to be the alone, just like she wanted.