Aiolos' Bag of Winds

Aiolos' Bag of Winds is a Legendary Paroseme Treasure.

Overview

Shortly after his escape from Polyphemos the Cyclops, the Greek hero Odysseus sojourned with Aiolos, the wind god. Aiolos sealed all the breezes of the world into a magical bag, promising Odysseus that he would have smooth sailing to Ithaca as a result. That plan failed: As Odysseus slept, his sailors opened the bag, believing there was treasure inside. Free at last, the winds burst forth, blowing the ship miles and years away from home. The bag itself flew off into the sky, never to be seen again by mortal eyes.

So goes the legend. The reality is that the Bag of Winds somehow disappeared into the Dreaming where the parosemes found and refilled it. Since then, it has repeatedly returned to the mortal world, usually in the service of the silfars and their allies. During the Accordance War, commoner leaders used it to rescue an entire squadron in danger of Sidhe ambush; the noble knights watched in amazement as their seemingly doomed foes were suddenly airlifted to safety. The Bag's current location is unknown, but the parosemes are in no hurry to recover it. They reason that the heavy people have never been able to hold onto it for long.

Changelings lucky (or unlucky) enough to have seen the Bag of Winds report that it looks like a worn leather bladder, inflated with air and sealed with a wax stopper. Any additional observation will detect the bound winds as they circle about inside, ripping the Bag's mottled surface and keening in their search for a means of escape. All that pent-up motion points to one conclusion: The Bag of Winds is quite possibly the most potent Treasure known the the Kithain. He who controls the Bag controls the weather and is capable of generating effects ranging in size and power from obscuring mists and fogs to terrible thunderstorms and blizzards. Some tales even suggest that tornados and hurricanes are within the controller's reach.

"Control" is the operative term here. Only a paroseme has enough intimate knowledge of the skies to use the bag with any substantial degree of safety. All others, mortal or immortal, must rely instead on their innate strength of will and their knowledge of certain ancient rites concerning the heavens. Even adepts and master of Gremayre find themselves hard-pressed when ordering the winds about. Opening the Bag for any reason is a gamble, and those who fail to maintain their control find themselves caught up in a cyclone of insane fury and hellish force. Most of the time, their friends never find all of the pieces. The depleted Bag just floats off into the sky, taking at least a year and a day to recharge before it returns for more earthly mischief.

References

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