Magical Artifact
The Wishing Well is an ancient magical device crafted by Apprentice Thaumaturge Abeus Okalis toward the end of the 2nd Century of the Telos Era.
Okalis was a student of Master Thaumaturge Harun Aetherium and a known malingerer. In an attempt to create an artifact that would allow him to bypass his required daily chores, he mingled with magic well-beyond his skill and outside the scope of legal incantations.
At first, Okalis used Aetherium’s magic reserve to enchant his broom and other tools to perform their tasks autonomously, but he found them to be slow. So, he opted to create a new artifact that could amplify the magic he’d already cast.
He built a small stone well to serve as a vessel for magika and fuel the device. In the end, he failed to configure his magic correctly, and created an unstable artifact.
Upon completion of the spell, The Wishing Well flickered in and out of spatial alignment.
Realizing he forgot a key ingredient for the spell – a copper and nickel alloy – Okalis threw the chunk of metal into the water basin and whispered, “be still, be still, my wayward contrivance. Be still and free the torment from my soul.“
The Wishing Well stabilized and Okalis thought himself successful. However, he was murdered later that day by a pickpocket.
The authorities rummaged through Okalis’ study while investigating his murder, but the Wishing Well was nowhere to be seen.
The Wishing Well now materializes throughout spacetime searching for wayward souls to grant their deepest desires, but with unintended consequences.
Tim Koster 