The Servant of the Muses

Relic •••••

Grants access to the Artifice purview.

Unique power: Allows the user to commune with one of the nine muses by sacrificing a single legend and various objects, which are placed in the basin at the base of the statue. The muses themselves may convey further benefits upon the user.

Unique power: Allows the user to add legend in dice to any craft roll at the cost of 1 willpower.

Unique power: The Servant of the Muses may be used to appraise and explain the techniques used in a given piece of art for the cost of 1 willpower + 1 legend.

The relic called The Servant of the Muses has survived for well over two-thousand years. Carved by the scion Pygmalion before he became disenfranchised with women, the Servant of the Muses is the image of a peasant woman captured on her way to market. She carries two baskets and the cobbles at her feet fade into a round dish in which offerings can be placed. The Servant was cut against the grain of the stone, a feature which sets it apart from many other works and attests to the great skill Pygmalion displayed in all his works. The Muses, well-pleased with sculptor granted his creation the ability to call upon them wherever they might be.

When Pygmalion’s beloved Galatea was brought to life by the goddess Aphrodite (or more appropriately, one of her daughters who could wield the artifice purview), the Servant was offered to the goddess as tribute. With no need for a way to commune with goddess she could see any time on Mount Olympus, the goddess of love bestowed the relic upon the same daughter who had given Galatea life. The scion used the Servant to create many works of art and relics before passing it on to her mortal daughter. Aphrodite never chose to reclaim the relic, so it passed from mortal owner to mortal owner until a scion of Apollo found it and used it to launch his artistic career. Among the relics created by this artist was the stained glass window called The Return to Home.

Unfortunately, the scion disappeared and many of his works and possessions were stolen before his children and devotees could establish a society for preserving his work. The Servant remained in mortal hands for centuries, coming to rest in the ownership of a wealthy Italian businessman who could appreciate the craftsmanship of the piece, but knew nothing of it’s history. Worried that it might stolen, he carried it with him to each place he lived, including an island resort he frequented.