It is doubtful that anyone mortal knows the truth about the Golden Fleece. Is it the hide of a magical sheep sent to succour two children of Zeus from jealous Hera? Is it the skin of an immortal ram born among the reeds of the Euphrates that aided Marduk in his battle against Tiamat? Did the Greek villain Jason steal it from the people of Colchis? Did the Greek hero Jason rescue it from Persian thieves? Was Medea torn weeping from the side of her murdered father and bourne away to slavery? Was Medea betrayed by her brother and saved by Jason's use of the divine fleece? When Persians or Greeks discuss the fleece of gold, it is wise to move away as blood will soon be spilled. Whatever the origin of the Golden Fleece it is widely believed to be an accursed item that inspires greed and treachery among those who witness it's seductive charms. Yes, it possesses the power to heal. Yes, it brings prosperity and wealth to the one who claims it. Yes, it causes jealousy and bloodshed wherever it goes.
THE EFFECT OF THIS ARTIFACT HAS CHANGED. This artifact was once very powerful. Now it possesses only a tiny echo of it's power. Or, depending on your point of view, it contains it's truest power and what was done previously was merely a showy miracle.
It may be invoked once at the Final Annual, over a dying hero of Atlantis. The one who evokes it must be in true love with the dying hero. The invocation must be made by covering the dying character with the Fleece and performing a heartfelt confession of love, and a description of the life once imagined had both lived - this may be something which is utterly impossible in the world of the Middle Sea, turning back time, undoing things done, finding things lost.
At the conclusion of the invocation of the Fleece the souls of both the invoker and the dying hero will pass into a dream realm of the entity Hypnos, where the heartfelt invocation is made flesh. The journey is a one way trip. To the outside eye, both characters will die. No magic known to the middle sea can reach their souls. There will be no death audiences. No psychopomp will come.
[Referee note: the Realm of Hypnos is beyond the scope of Odyssey. If you choose to use the Golden Fleece to this end, the game team will not provide you with any information about what happens to your characters beyond the fact your body appears to be dead. Perhaps you have escaped into a dream; perhaps you have just died, the subject of a cruel trick. There is no canon explanation. Everything beyond the Middle Sea is up to you now.]
No
No
| Ribbon ID | 43 |
|---|---|
| Type | Tribute Item (Egypt) |
| Phys-rep | Exists |
| Source | Tribute of Themiskyra |
| Pack In: | Sacred Band |
