Archanics 101: an arcanist’s primer

Advanced scholars of the arcane often look at Archanics 101 and scoff, calling it a picture book for children, all while privately envying the title as a possession of significant rarity and value. In reality, the book was indeed intended as a practical guide for active young minds, though only a particularly gifted child would be able to make sense of the contents. Aside from the book’s title, printed in elegant script on the cloth cover, the volume does not contain a single written word. Instead, it has detailed pictorial instructions for the construction of a number of mechanical toys. These range from a comparatively simple wind-up mouse to far more complex contraptions that border on the magical.

The book includes a compartment in which the necessary components to create any one device are neatly arranged and stored. You may spend one minute to dismantle any creation and recover the parts. Curiously, parts that are broken or lost magically find their way back into the compartment, as good as new after 24 hours.

With the book in hand, you may spend an hour to create one of the mechanical toys below. Doing so requires a successful Intelligence (Investigation) and Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. The DC for both checks is listed next to the chosen device.

• DC 8 - A wind-up mouse that squeaks and skitters haphazardly for 30 feet in one direction when wound and released.
• DC 10 - A flower that blooms when the ambient air around it is clean and breathable, and closes if exposed to pollutants or noxious gasses.
• DC 12 - A mechanical horse, complete with a tiny, jousting knight. The horse staggeringly walks at a pace of 1 foot every 12 seconds when left on a flat surface. Tapping the knight’s shield ejects him from the horse’s back and causes the mechanism to slowly come to a stop.
• DC 15 - A fist-sized sphere that emits up to 10 feet of bright light and 10 feet of dim light beyond that when warmed. It can produce this light for up to one hour without recharging. The warmth of your hand is enough to indefinitely maintain 5 feet of dim light.
• DC 18 - A realistically articulated figurine of a dancer. The figurine balances elegantly in position when placed upon a flat surface, and when exposed to music it begins to move with almost enchanting grace. The dance always manages to match the tempo, melody, and emotional tone of the music with eerie precision, as though it were a thinking, feeling being.