This elegant brass-framed hourglass is filled with fine silver sand that floats upward, defying gravity, in a slow and unchanging loop. It never runs out. No matter how many times it is flipped, the sand resumes its steady ascension. Crafted by the nomadic and irreverent Rasmus, a trickster to many, a prophet to few, or a friendly merchant—depending on whom you ask—the Inverted Hourglass is as enigmatic as its maker. It has no markings, no beginning or end. Some scholars believe it counts down to an unknown calamity; others suggest it might be a joke with centuries of commitment.
Many who carry it report vivid dreams of falling, ticking clocks, or distant laughter echoing through vast voids.
Properties:
- Ceaseless Motion: The Inverted Hourglass is unbreakable by non-magical means and functions even in anti-magic fields. The sand continues to rise no matter the conditions.
- Chatterbox: When held, it emits a faint magical aura, though spells like Detect Magic reveal no school of magic associated with it—only a strange and shifting signature, as if constantly changing.
- Mystic Timekeeper (Passive Effect): While in your possession, you are never late by accident. You always have an innate sense of time, and can awaken precisely when you choose, as long as you're not magically forced to sleep.
- Ominous Tension: Once per long rest, you may ask the hourglass a yes or no question about the future while meditating with it for 1 minute. The hourglass might give a subtle hint—a sudden shimmer in the sand, a moment of stillness, or a faster flow—at the DM's discretion. This does not guarantee a correct answer, only a mysterious one.
- Unnerving Presence: Spending a long rest with the hourglass nearby may cause dreams of ticking clocks, drowning in sand, or unknowable voices whispering "soon."