The Jewellery

The Jewellery

                The jewellery. Most of the pieces were beautiful, with the odd relatively plain exception. Yet even those were obviously worth a fortune - they were made of unknown metals or had large gems set in them.

                The true value of the pieces was the magic imbued in them, however. Delani had discovered their powers by chance when she wore a particularly appealing piece on a whim. There were twenty-four pieces in total, ranging from earrings and necklaces to anklets and bracelets. Delani had gone through them all, and best as she was able figured out what each one did.

                Although most seemed to tell her (in some strange way) what they were capable of, she wasn't sure what the capability being communicated to her really meant in some cases. But for the vast majority, she knew.

                The ring she had initially put on, for example, could create small flames at her fingertips. It was handy, but probably not too useful for stealing things (except in rare situations). On the other hand, it was one of the most beautiful of the pieces she had stolen; a faintly red gem of some kind set in silver that shone almost impossibly bright in the light. Delani hadn't really wanted to take it off, but if she hadn't she'd be unable to be sure of which piece allowed her to do what.

                The most useful of the pieces was a golden necklace. Not quite a chain, it was made of linked golden 'cages', that each held topazes of varying size. The largest (and obviously intended to be worn foremost) was about five centimetres long; the smallest less than half a centimetre. The piece was worth a fortune, so long as the topazes were valued.

                It also gave Delani the ability to shock her a person with a single touch, knocking them out cold. She had first tried it on Prayrwin, and discovered (perhaps luckily) that it did the victim. Which was nice - Delani was not fond of death or killing. She was a thief, not a murderer. The trouble with the necklace was simple: it required a few minutes to recharge after use, which left Delani open to attack.

                But so long as she wore other pieces she would be safe. One other piece, especially, was useful. It would inflict a heavy blow over a short distance - enough to knock someone out, or break a window. The piece itself was an opal set in platinum, designed to hook into one's hair and dangle roughly mid-forehead. As with the necklace, it required time to recharge after use.

                A pair of platinum anklets allowed her to control the movement of small amounts of air and water. Tiny amounts; barely enough to have any effect but perhaps enough to poison, or spread smoke quickly. They were intricately patterned with lines, one with spiralling winds and the other with flowing water.

                Twin bracelets made of gold - identical in every respect - would 'lock' the jewellery on her. Unless she willed it, no-one could remove the jewellery from her while she wore them. At least, not without taking extreme measures. She hadn't wanted to test that. Each was completely plain except for the clasp which was round and flat barring an engraved keyhole symbol.

                A pair of sapphire earrings allowed her to produce light from her hands. The make was very similar to that of the topaz necklace; gold cages holding the quite large sapphires in place. The light itself had an odd blue tint, and could be channelled quite long without fail (and would recharge quite rapidly).

                Delani's favourite by far was the ring that (she was pretty sure) meddled with her weight. She had initially considered some quite novel uses, but she had discovered that it could only take effect for around thirty seconds before needing to recover (though it could do so without being fully drained). It was made of a strange orange metal, and completely plain.

                Using it Delani could, when she wanted to, jump and fall as if she weighed far less than she did - leading to softer landings and the ability to jump pretty damn high. She wasn't sure how much less she weighed, but she knew that her weight (rather than gravity) was changing due to some information she'd picked up while robbing someone.

                They'd been discussing the matter with a friend, and making the case for gravity (supported by handed down knowledge from the portal error) against the strange magic understanding of their friend. Delani had actually watch them perform a quick experiment that resolved the matter as she pinched what she needed (she'd been pretending to be a maid at the time).

                Some of the pieces were only ever really useful for a thief - something that Delani was pretty sure meant they'd been hidden for a thief to find in the first place. It'd make her look better if that theory sounded likely, at least. A small piercing stud with a diamond inset allowed her to change her hair colour to anything she desired (though only once every three hours or so). A pair of silver toe-rings with clouds on them muffled her footsteps as she walked.

                Finally, a ring with a beautiful clear diamond set in it allowed her to sense fine details within a small area - amazingly useful for locks, and likely nothing else. Nothing Delani could think of anyway. The way the diamond was set in the ring was also unusual - the gold went around the diamond completely, granting her a clear view through to her finger.

                There were also quite a few pieces she did not know the use of. Their abilities left an idea in her mind of what she could do, but she wasn't able to understand it. The pieces were a golden belt made of linked metal pieces in the shape of leaves; a plain ring made of a green metal; a bronze ring with a gray jewel; a simple string necklace with a piece of tin strung on it; a pair of silver ring earrings; three identical fine chain bracelets made of a silver and gold alloy; and a golden hairpin with emeralds set into it.

                Delani was sure she'd figure them all out eventually. She had been making progress - and even better, she had figured out how to use several of the abilities together to slowly metal. She reckoned it would be the first of many combinations. Hopefully. Unfortunately, she hadn't quite managed to figure out exactly which pieces of jewellery allowed her to do it (beyond the ring that was obviously involved).

                The wagon Delani had managed to connive some seating space in rocked suddenly, making her jewellery bounce. She half panicked in fear that something would fling out and be lost, but luckily she hadn't put the pieces somewhere stupid. Muttering something rude under her breath, she double-checked that all the pieces were still present.

                After she'd made sure they were, she smiled and started to put them back on one at a time. Every last one of them. She had taken them off to figure out which piece did what as best she could (wearing all at once was quite confusing). It was another one of Prayrwin's suggestions, actually. And although Delani realised it was to keep her out of Prayrwin's hair for a bit it had been a really good idea.

                After she put them back on though, she intended to never take them off again.