Jade-Eyed Dragon's Claw

Said to have originated from an Eastern dragon, the Jade-Eyed Dragon's Claw is a much-coveted artefact. It wsa the artefact that led to the Wolf-Man Murders in China between 2000 to 2007 and is considered a Plot: Dragonsblood Curse artefact.

Appearance

The Jade-Eyed Dragon's Claw is so named for the two jades set into its gold casing on either side of the curved ivory-white claw fastened into it. It has a clearly marked area where it should be attached to a chain like a pendant to a necklace.

The artefact is about 1.5 inches/3.81 cm in length and currently resides harmlessly in René Cartier's collection of artefacts after being cleansed of the Dark Magic used on it.

History

At first glance the artefact's aesthetics and design clearly indicate the artefact may be of Chinese origin. Under further appraisal this claim is questionable at best. The claw is not actually a claw, instead constituting entirely of white onyx and the 'drop' that is meant to symbolise a dragon's tear is actually white albite.

Originally said to have been made from the claw of a Chinese dragon, the dubious veracity of these claims were thrown into question when Chinese artefact appraisers were brought in to appraise the item.

The item was described to instil its wearer with the strength, cunning and magic of a Chinese dragon. China intends to bring the seller to justice for this claim as not only are Chinese dragons considered sacred in China and therefore any specific materials thought to be from a Chinese dragon would have been immediately off-limits for trading let alone any use, no one has actually seen hard evidence of a Chinese dragon or its existence to begin with.

The artefact was purchased by a man whose name remains undisclosed by the Chinese government in 1999.

Powers

The buyer soon discovered that the description provided by the seller was accurate, but to his detriment. The power of the claw comes directly not from the claw itself but from the Dark Magic infused in the claw. The spells used did indeed bestow the wearer with strength, cunning and magic, but to an extreme that slowly drove the buyer, a werewolf, insane due to the effects being exacerbated by the potent blood used to infuse it.

The werewolf in question became much stronger, faster and with quicker regenerative properties, at the cost of an eroding mental constitution. Due to the societal pressure and stigma the buyer had been experiencing as a werewolf, his issues were internalised and exacerbated his mental state of mind, preventing him from determining between friend or foe at his worst. His friends described him as a meek, if timid soul prior to the purchase of the artefact, and by the end they could only describe him as an ill-tempered monster that flew into a rage at the slightest insinuation that he was in the wrong.

After his death by the Enforcers of the Realm in 2007, the artefact was carefully removed and secured until the Chinese government could find a way to remove the Dark Magic from the artefact so that further appraisal could continue uninterrupted. Eventually the National Realm Secrets Commission cleansed and purified the artefact with some difficulty and the artefact auctioned off by the Chinese government to keep it away from the country.

Currently

The Jade-Eyed Dragon's Claw currently resides in the hands of French collector René Cartier. He acknowledges it has little value as it is not an artefact at all but simply an item, but he prizes the craftsmanship used to hone and polish the white onyx, albite and jade used to make it. No one else wants to have it due to its storied past.

The Claw itself has been deemed harmless and cleansed by several appraisers and Cursebreakers after its purification and now exists as merely an object of interest.