Magic apples are a mainstay in European myths and folklore. Golden
Apples are the most common form of apple found in myths, and are the
focus of this post. Notable examples of Golden Apples include:
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| Trickery and guile always wins the race. |
The
Distraction of Atalanta: Atalanta’s
father abandoned her as an infant, but in typical jerk-bag style, he
reclaimed her as his daughter after she had grown into an incredible
huntress. Sadly, his first instinct was to marry her off, and with
Atalanta being sane in her enjoyment of her freedom, she was not
pleased with this turn of events. She possessed an incredible level
of physical prowess and used that to her advantage by requiring a
prospective husband beat her in the foot race, those that lost the
race forfeited their lives. This required forfeiture reduced the
number of possible men willing to take on the challenge. A man named
Melanion became obsessed with Atalanta, and prayed to Aphrodite for
something to help him with the race. The goddess granted Melanion
three Golden Apples, and told him to toss them aside during the race
to distract her. Even with the distractions, Melanion nearly lost the
race, and his life, for Atalanta was truly fast. While the couple
married and produced a heroic son named Parthenopaios, they were
turned into lions for offending the gods.
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| The Garden of the Hesperides. Art by A. Rackham |
The
Garden of the Hesperides: The
Hesperides were the daughters of Atlas, and tended to Hera's orchard
of trees that produced immortality granting Golden Apples. As part of
Hercules' twelve labors, he tricked Atlas into stealing the apples in
exchange for holding up the world. Hercules, being a complete d-bag,
didn't hold up his end of the bargain (pun intended) and walked out
on Atlas as he still held up the world.
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| The party that got really out of hand. |
For
the Most Beautiful: Eris,
goddess of discord, was upset that she wasn't invited to the wedding
of Peleus and Thetis that many of the other gods and goddesses were
attending. Her lack of an invite was mainly due to the fact that she
was a complete jerk who reveled in the complete chaos she caused in
the lives of others. To entertain herself, she carved 'To/For the
Most Beautiful' (Greek Transliteration: Ti
Kallisti)
into a Golden Apple, then rolled the apple into the midst of the
party. A disagreement erupted among the vain goddesses at the party,
that eventually spun out of control and resulted in the start of the
Trojan War.
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| The orchard of Idunn. Art by A. Rackham. |
The
Apples of Idunn: Idunn,
Norse goddess associated with apples and youth, tended to the apple
orchards that granted the Norse Aesir and Vanir immortality and
youth. These apples, as with the other apples in the post, were
Golden Apples.
Apples
into Metal
The biggest question that might be
asked after reading this post, so far, is how might one forge
metal-like items from apples? The answer, you don't forge stuff from
the apples, rather you use apples to help forge metal items. A bit of
historical and scientific facts might help to illustrate what I mean.
Most fantasy geeks have heard of
Damascus Steel, with the unique patterns that appear across the
surface of such steel as well as its high quality. While modern
materials exceed the capabilities of the specimens they have of the
steel, it was deserving of its fame during its time (3rd
to 17th
Century AD). In 2006 a German team discovered nanowires and carbon
nanotubes within a Damascus Steel blade, leading the team to believe
that the presence of the nanowires and nanotubes gave the steel its
resiliency and ability to hold an edge so well. The exact methods
they used to produce the steel are still unknown, although there are
a number of plausible theories. One theory states that extra biomass
was used during the smelting process, since nanotubes and nanowires
can be derived from plant fibers. In the smelting process, the
organic material is burned away, but the nanotubes and nanowires
persisted and were 'mixed' into the steel ingots.
Just as the biomass was added to the
smelting process to create Damascus Steel, these apples are sliced
and added into the smelting process of a metal. The unique qualities
of the apples are imbued into the metal they are smelted into, giving
the metal a golden hue. Why wouldn't someone just eat the apple and
become immortal as the legends suggest, rather than pounding it into
metal? Unless someone has a steady supply, eating a single apple is
more trouble than it is worth. While the eater may gain immortality
for a short time, they need to continue to eat these same apples,
otherwise they die, no matter how young or healthy the person is. If
a person has only one apple, its better to make a item from it than
eat it and die a few weeks later from withdrawal.
Golden Steel / God Metal
Metal smelted using Golden Apples is most commonly referred to as
Golden Steel (when steel is used) due to its color, non-steel smelted
with Golden Apples is usually referred to as God Metal due to the
origin of the apples.
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| A Golden Steel Sword. |
Golden Steel Sword: These
weapons are coveted by mortals, and hated by gods as well as other
powerful beings. No matter the power of the intended target, a Golden
Steel Sword is capable of harming them, even if the target is a god.
When the Golden Steel is forged into a weapon, the power of the
Golden Apple is turned against those that might have benefited from
it.
Game Mechanics: A
weapon made of Golden Steel can harm any being, no matter how high of
a '+' is needed to harm them. The steel does not grant any other
ability beyond the ability to kill powerful beings, meaning a
prospective god-killer will still need the skill necessary to hit the
god and the toughness to survive whatever attacks the god might use
against them.
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| A selection of God Metal Rings |
God Metal Ring: These
rings are coveted by monarchs, scholars, and anyone else who needs
more time or fears growing old. The rings stave off time, disease,
poison, and even possible death from bodily harm. Though there are
many legends that tell of 300 year old kings removing their ring,
only to turn into dust the moment it leaves their finger.
Game
Mechanics: The
ring provides immunity to aging, while the ring is worn time is held
at bay like water behind a dam. Once the ring is removed, time flows
back onto the wearer all at once, suddenly aging them by all the time
they once held at bay. While this may not be a detriment for someone
who wore the ring for a day or even a year, wearing it for 20 years
and removing it can turn a spry youngster into someone reaching
middle age. The ring also grants immunity to all non-magical diseases
and poisons. A magical poison, for the purposes of the ring, is a
poison taken from a magical/mythical animal/plant or a poison
produced on another plane. Finally, the ring can help stave off death
from outright damage by giving the character an extra store
hit-points in the form of their own Constitution. For each point
beyond the 'death number' (e.g. 0 HP, -10 HP, Etc...) the character
may reduce their Constitution by 1 point, with the character not
dying until they reach 0 Constitution (e.g. in a system where -1 HP
is death: a character with 5 HP is hit for 8 points of damage, would
be taken to 0 HP and have 3 points taken from their Constitution). As
long as the character has Constitution left, they can be brought back
to consciousness by healing. Lost Constitution is regained at 1 point
every 3 days, meaning it can take weeks for someone to fully recover
from their near death experience.
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| A selection of God Metal Talismans |
God
Metal Talisman: These
talismans protect the wearer from all things that would distract them
from seeing reality as it truly is. God Metal Talismans are often
used by those who deal with the fae, since it grants them protection
from the illusions and tricks of the fae.
Game
Mechanics:
The
most obvious ability that the talisman grants its wearer is complete
immunity to illusions. However, it also grants another, more subtle,
ability, the capability to detect when someone is lying to the
wearer. The ability only comes into effect when the wearer is lied
to, lies told to others in the wearers presence are treated normally.
When the wearer is lied to, the DM makes a secret roll, attempting to
roll under the wearer's Wisdom, at a -5 penalty, with 1D20. If the
roll is successful, the character gets a vague feeling that they are
being lied to, but not specific knowledge as to what part of the
statement is true and what part is false.
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| An ancient priest with a God Metal Virge. |
God
Metal Virge: These
items are coveted by both illusionists, enchanters, and healers. The
virge adds its own potency to certain spells, empowering them beyond
the level the caster could normally achieve.
Game
Mechanics:
Illusion/Phantasm
and Enchantment Schools: At
base, any spell from these schools that is cast while the caster is
wielding a God Metal Virge, the spell is cast as if the caster was 3
levels higher. If the caster sacrifices a number of HP equal to twice
the level of the spell cast, then the spell is treated as if it was
cast by someone twice the caster's level when determine the level
dependent variables of the spell (e.g. If an 8th
level wizard casts Blindness,
a 2nd
level spell, and sacrifices 4 HP, the spell is cast as if the wizard
was 16th
level).
Healing
Spells: Any
spell that heals HP that is cast by someone wielding a God Metal
Virge, heals an additional amount of HP equal to the caster's level
(e.g. If a 5th
level Priest casts Cure
Light Wounds,
the spell would heal an addition +5 HP on top of the normal amount
healed.). If a Priest, or any other class that is capable of casting
healing spells, wields the God Metal Virge, they have a number of
D4's to use for healing equal to their level. These D4's may be
rolled on their own, as if the wielder was casting a spell, or added
to the total number HP healed by another spell, these D4's may be
split in anyway the wielder wishes amongst castings. (e.g. A 5th
level Priest has 5D4 to use that day. They may use 2D4 to outright
heal some minor damage to one character, and add 3D4 to the total HP
healed by a Cure
Light Wounds.)
Resurrection:
The
God Metal Virge may be sacrificed to resurrect a person or creature
who has been dead for less than the person/creature's HD in months
(e.g. Bob the Blacksmith, a level 2 commoner, was killed in the
recent goblin raid. As long as Bob hasn't been dead for longer than 2
months, he may be resurrected). Someone resurrected by the sacrifice
of the virge suffers no ill effects from the resurrection.
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