Can a magic relic tell its own tale?

  An elegant and powerful enchanted sword can carve its way into legends, but more often than not, the marks it makes are caused by its wielder. Most of these bdes, no matter how exalted, seem to have no control over whether they're held by heroes or tyrants, or if they're forgotten within ancient ruins, or dispyed on a wall, or pawned for drink money. They're props in someone else's story.

  Flooded with an excess of supernatural powers, these objects can also gain forms of influence to complement their consciousness. They might have the means to select their own worthy champion, grant incredible powers to those who rescue them from being lost for eternity, or corrupt their wielder with promises of treasure and enlightenment in order to accomplish their own wicked pns. A sword with the right enchantment could pick up a pen and become mightier than either object on their own—these relics might recall a very different story from the ones cobbled together from hints and hearsay by historians.

  Maybe it's just that nobody ever thought to simply ask these artifacts for their thoughts before? It might sound absurd to ask some magic boots about where they've been, but the only risk to schors would be silence.

  Most known relics are still intact and functional, on dispy in museums or hidden in attics all across the continent. Of the better-known relics, the legendary axe known as Tyriseph, "the Land Shaper", has been kept in a royal vault in Kingsne for thousands of years. I'd bet a dragon's hoard of gold that Tyriseph would like the chance to amend their historical record.

  As that story goes, an artificer poured every st ounce of magic he had into enchanting an axe forged by the finest bcksmith on the western coast. He imbued it with such immense power that it could alter the ndscape for miles in every direction wherever its head struck the ground, and gave the weapon a hunger for devastation. This artificer gifted this axe to the king of Cascalia, a tiny coastal nation that cartographers never bothered to add to their maps when it first appeared, expecting it to be absorbed by rival nations before the ink had dried.

  Cascalia wouldn't go ignored for long, though, as for years and years, the king traveled up and down the coast, ciming new territory with the power of Tyriseph at his disposal, the axe's influence growing with every new nation the king conquered. He could churn up the nd under cities with terrifying earthquakes, or split the earth into wide chasms that swallowed up opposing armies. When denied entry to the sprawling castle atop Mount Leo, the king inverted the mountain with a single strike, colpsing it into what is now known as Leo Lake. Exhausted by this final act of conquest, the king died in a field next to the ke. His heirs chose that location to build Kingsne, the present-day capital of Cascalia.

  If I were in Tyriseph's position, I might appreciate the wonderful and impossible powers the modern telling of the legend attributes to me. To be known to everyone as this almighty instrument of change, that sounds incredible! But I'd want people to know the truth about the works I'd done, especially the efforts that show I'm not a maniacal, bloodthirsty object corrupting royalty to give into their darkest impulses. Maybe Cascalia's borders grew because they turned rocky fields into arable farmnd so the people could thrive. Maybe Tyriseph urged the king to cut paths for rivers to flow to towns suffering drought. Maybe none of the legends have any truth to them. I'd want people to know!

  Or... maybe it's better to stay quiet.

  Choice begets consequence. If I let someone wield me in good faith and they misuse my powers, is it my fault when others are harmed? Or if I urge my champion into taking the wrong path? I'd have to expin all of the mistakes I'd made and hope history wouldn't judge me too harshly. I'd have to revisit my failures alongside my triumphs, and the friends I lost along the way because of them. In wresting control of my own destiny from the Fates, I have to accept my role in every fight that ensued, everything from minor skirmishes to widespread wars.

  But it's all worth it, to make sure the ones who really deserve a pce in the history books are not forgotten. I'll always keep their memory alive, as the stories of my dearest friends are forever intertwined with mine.

  I am the Viridian Sphere, an enchanted relic that can tell its own tale.

  Should I?

  I'll take my chances.