Things

Is that what I think it is? I thought it was only a legend!

After Sundown uses roughly the same system of magic item creation as Dwarf Fortress. People periodically get overtaken by strange moods (or macabre or fey moods as the case may be), and then they gather weird materials together, lock themselves in a workshop, and make a perplexing masterpiece. This masterpiece is generally of surpassing quality and thus considerable value as an object of art or history, and also frequently cursed.

The Necronomicon

It's a creepy tome that is filled with demonic magic. Each page is velum with a brown ink that could seriously be blood forming its writings in a mad and tangled hand. Those who read from its dread pages gain dark insight and go mad. Sometimes in that order.

Magic tomes are pretty common as rare and unique magical objects go. What they basically do is let someone who studies them for extended periods of time learn some sort of evil sorcery. This has the clearest effect of giving a character an excuse to learn a couple of sorcerous disciplines, so that if they are afforded the opportunity to learn a sorcerous discipline, they can choose to pursue one of the sorcerous disciplines described in the pages. Magic tomes have additional effects when they are read by humans. Luminaries can turn into Witches, and Extras become cultists. Generally, a major magic tome will cover two or three sorcerous paths, and convert Luminaries into the most closely associated kind of Witch. The Necronomicon itself covers the Descent of Entropy, the Progress of Glass, and the Song of Swarms. Luminaries who read it become Baali. Other Infernal grimoires include De Vermis Mysteriis, The Bible Black, The Book of Nod, and Unaussprechlichen Kulten; while Orphic grimoires that can change a man into a Khaibit include Secrets of Life and Death, Cultes de Ghoules, Beyond the Setting Sun, and The Book of the Dead; and Astral grimoires that can transform a Luminary into a Dryad include The King in Yellow, Allessehen Auge, The Endless Nightmare, or The Voynich Manuscript.

Any of these books is a Rating 1 Destiny, as is any similar book you make for your campaign.

Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar

It's a scimitar whose hilt is encrusted with emeralds. It has been prophesied that it alone can fell the great Efreet Fulad-zereh, and that it will inevitably do so. Needless to say, pretty much everyone who takes an especial interest in the wellbeing of Fulad-zereh (for good or ill) wants to have control this scimitar. There are of course numerous weapons out there that are the fated killers of various powerful supernatural monsters. Carnwennan the dagger, Clarent the sword, and Luin the spear were all famously used to slay various specific beings. But only the Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar is fated to kill Fulad-zereh.

These weapons have several properties that are of especial interest to the creature they are targeted against. The first is that they cause aggravated damage to the creature in question and ignore the soak bonuses of the target's Powers and Edge. The second is that if they are used to attack their destined foe, the attacker gains +3 dice on all attacks. The third is that when a character holds the weapon, they know where the targeted foe is as if they were being summoned whenever they speak the creature's name. No creature has more than one fated bane weapon targeted against them at a time, and they are usually reticent to destroy it because if they do so outside of the auspices of a specific mighty ritual of vast power, another weapon somewhere in the worlds instantly gains that property.

Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar, or any bane weapon, is a Rating 1 Destiny.

The Legacy of Thomas Craine

The room is full of books. Dusty old tomes filled with mildewed pages and cryptic writings from generations of goetic researches. There are numerous falsehoods in their crinkled pages, and yet there are some quite poignant discussions on the land of the dead. Many of the books are penned by Thomas Craine himself - some of them when he was still alive.

A magical library generally contains the source material for five sorcerous disciplines. In the case of Thomas Craine's Legacy, it contains all paths of Orphic Sorcery. But beyond that, one can do library research in such an environment, giving it a substantial edge in identifying things over any single enchanted tome. The Legacy is a good place to research locations and inhabitants of Mictlan.

A Magical Library is a rating 2 Destiny.

The Wings of Needless Sorrow

It is an amulet made of obsidian that has been cut to resemble a stylized bird in flight. The Wings are filled with hatred, and are drawn to suffering. The bearer of the amulet will see calamity after calamity, with the sick and dying plaguing their existence like a literal disease of which they cannot be cured.

The amulet senses the future, is evil, and subtly adjusts the bearer's behavior so that the amulet is brought into contact with as many crimes, accidents, and human misery as possible. If the bearer has the opportunity to take two different routes to the convenience store, they will always end up choosing the one where they witness a traffic accident. This sort of thing can actually be immensely useful to a Scooby Gang, since they can just have the bearer point to a road map at random and they'll end up driving to a place their skills are needed.

The Wings of Needless Sorrow are a rating 2 Destiny.

The Bull of Despondent Glory

It is a scroll of vellum made from human skin and written in a dense Latin script. Supposedly it was written up by the Covenant Anti-Pope Typhus II in the 11th century. Much of the second half is completely illegible, but as time goes by it sharpens, and words can be discerned.

The Bull of Despondent Glory is a True Prophesy. That means that a bunch of things that are written in it will come true, and a bunch of things have come true. Entries appear in it irregularly, but when important stuff is going on, a number of entries may come to focus all at once. While it is a True Prophesy, some of the events described did not (at least apparently) actually happen as predicted. Still, with an accuracy above 80%, it's pretty uncanny. And not a few supernatural creatures believe that it is always right and that history is merely wrong (or perhaps deliberately obfuscated) in those instances where history and the Bull conflict.

The Bull of Despondent Glory is a rating 3 Destiny.

Preah Khan

It's a jewel and pearl encrusted broadsword of clear quality. The blade is a dull and dark gray as heavily tarnished silver, but the blade is sharp enough to shave with and does not appear to need sharpening. Legend has it that the metal was forged out of naga venom somehow and that it is still toxic. But the big thing is that owning it makes you the rightful king of Cambodia. Whoever holds the sword to the banks of the Mekong can make the river shrivel, swell, or even flow backwards. This sort of grotesque displays of magic are generally frowned upon by the World Crime League, and not a few supernatural creatures want the Preah Khan to stay missing.

Preah Khan is an excellent sword, inflicting a base 3 damage, and every wound it inflicts is aggravated (even to mortal people). Khmer people will treat the holder as if they had the status of a king even if they do not know why. Even if they aren't even Cambodian, the wielder of Preah Khan can get the royal treatment in donut shops all over the Bay Area. And then there's the whole "controlling the Mekong River" thing. If word gets out that someone has Preah Khan, the owner can expect numerous enemies.

Preah Khan is a Rating 4 Destiny and comes with Rating 4 Stalkers.