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By Hal Maclean
By Kyle Hunter

In a world of magic, treasure maps come in all shapes and sizes. Items with their own intrinsic worth can also point the way to even greater riches, making them doubly valuable. Each of the items detailed below may appear in a treasure hoard as a valuable object in its own right. However, each one also serves as a guide to even more fabulous loot, although this may not be obvious at first glance.

TALAXA, THE GUIDING BLADE

This finely balanced +1 longsword bears its name in Elven runes snaking across the upper portion of the blade. Three thumbnail-sized chunks of irregularly shaped crystal adorn its copper hilt. Sometime in the distant past the sword was enchanted with six permanent magic mouth spells. The first activates whenever anyone holds the sword and speaks its name aloud. Speaking in Elven, the magic sword offers a cryptic riddle that (if deciphered) leads to a landmark such as a waterfall or a mountainous ravine. At this landmark the second magic mouth activates, offering up a clue to yet another location. The sixth and final clue, found only after deciphering all the other magic mouth spells and locating the landmarks they point to, leads to a carefully hidden dungeon filled with the treasure of an ancient elven king.

Faint illusion; CL 10th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor; Price 6,300 gp; Weight 4 lb.

SCARAB OF ORIENTEERING

This tiny, exquisitely fashioned obsidian statue of a beetle animates whenever it is placed upon a map or any other two-dimensional representation of an area. After crawling over every inch of the map’s surface (covering about one square foot each minute), it immediately settles upon the spot that exactly corresponds with the tomb of a long-dead theocrat. If the map does not include this spot the scarab crawls off it and, following the scale of the map precisely, makes its way to where the tomb would be if the map were large enough. The scarab moves in a perfectly straight line, ignoring water, fire, and similar hazards. It may even burrow through solid objects at the rate of 6 inches per round. Once it reaches this spot, or if picked up before it completes its task, the scarab becomes inert until once again placed upon a map.

Faint divination; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, locate object; Price 10,800 gp; Weight 1 lb.

JOTUR THE IMPRINT MAKER

This +1 war hammer was fashioned as a crude depiction of a dragon’s head and made from jagged granite fixed to a stout wooden shaft tightly wrapped in leather cords. When the hammer scores a critical hit, it inflicts a very unusual wound. In addition to the damage caused by the impact of the hammer, the dragon’s head briefly animates, leaving a strange bite mark on its victim as it shouts out its name in an archaic dialect of Giant. While not doing any additional damage, this wound, which covers exactly one square inch, displays a single square from a larger map. By carefully cutting these squares from the flesh of his enemies the wielder of Jotur the Imprint Maker may piece together a treasure map leading to the burial chamber of what the map calls “the grandfather of earthshakers.” When fully assembled the map is a perfect square. Depending upon the amount of time you want it to take to assemble the map, it could range from a 4×4-inch square (requiring 16 successful critical hits) to an 8×8-inch square (requiring 64 successful critical hits) or even larger. Each time the hammer passes to a new owner it starts over with the first square in the map.

Faint illusion; CL 3rd; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, minor image; Price 5,900 gp; Weight 4 lb.

HORN OF FOOTSTEPS

This beautiful horn has been carved from the gleaming ivory tusk of some great beast. Sounding this brass-bound war horn emits a mournful howl that echoes across the landscape. Audible for miles, and possibly attracting the curious or perhaps simply the hungry, the horn also creates the outline of strange green glowing footprints with each note. Clearly visible to anyone nearby, these footprints stretch off into the distance at about the pace of a running man, winding their way around natural obstacles, skipping across river stones, always providing the most direct overland route to their destination. Since they fade away after about a quarter of an hour the owner of the horn must use it regularly in order to continue to follow the footprints. The footprints set a rugged pace, demanding hardiness and vigor from those following them, and they seem to resent guiding those unable to keep up under their own power. If the owner of the horn attempts to take any sort of “shortcut,” whether riding a horse, casting a fly spell or something similar, they fade more and more rapidly. An owner who does not repent and return to following the trail on foot eventually must blow the horn each round to summon the footprints. This exertion puts the owner at risk of becoming exhausted, requiring a DC 15 Fortitude save each round in order to continue. If followed, these footsteps eventually lead to the entrance of a hidden dungeon created by a wizard/ranger who despaired of finding a worthy heir in his own lifetime.

Faint divination; CL 3rd; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, silent image, locate object; Price 7,600 gp; Weight 5 lb.

DECK OF PORTALS

Feared by many as the dreaded deck of many things, these cards possess a different, yet still formidable magical ability. Slightly chill to the touch, they make audible crystalline clicks when shuffled together, while their faces bear all the traditional images of the deck of many things. However, anyone using these cards to read the future discovers that the cards have the ability to alter their appearance when dealt. The first three cards laid face up before the dealer offer three different visual clues. Each of these clues depicts a prominent nearby landmark such as a mountain, island, or castle. Should the person who dealt these cards burn or otherwise destroy the appropriate card at each landmark, an extra-dimensional gate opens at the exact center point between the three. This gate remains open for 24 hours once it appears, gradually fading away in the last hour (at which point the three destroyed cards reappear in the deck). The gate leads to the long forgotten meeting hall of a powerful league of arcane spellcasters. All other methods of entry have been lost through the ages. Once the three landmarks have been set they always appear in the same order to the dealer. Only the successful opening, and subsequent closing, of the gate allows the entrance to shift to a new location.

Strong conjuration; CL 13th; Craft Wondrous Item, Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion; Price 183,000 gp; Weight 1 lb