Forgotten Relics

You duck your head shyly. "Aunt June... can I... I mean, I've always been interested in the bits of the past you showed me."

"And you want to see more?" June's virtual avatar smiled as she steered you towards the low tech door with the high tech lock. "It's a tandem system so if you're ever in here without my agreement the destruction override will kick in and vaporize the entire vault, but since we're monitoring you at all time the only way that would happen would be if they take the entire system down." She explained, gesturing you towards the palm scanner in the door.

"Seriously?" You ask in awe, raising your hand to the device.

"Yup." June says popping the p. "I don't mind overly much if these things get used, but I do very much mind not having some measure of control. I'd rather destroy the artifacts I spent a lifetime collecting before they end up in unworthy hands." The scanner chirped under you hand as the door swung open. "The destruct protocol also engages if anyone tries to their way in. Rattling the door is okay, but obscenely high yield explosives just aren't cricket, savvy?"

"Savvy." You agree, waving at uncle Benny as you duck through the door. "So there's a chance it could vaporize me?"

"'Fraid so, ducky. If you've got the bad luck to be inside when things go off, nothing would survive, but no one's gonna hurt you, not while I'm around. Now go take a gander." June grinned, shooing you off into the impossibly vast space.

You jog off, swivelling your head from side to side only to skid to a stop to stare at a disembodied hand in a golden glove. "Is this for real?"

"Aye." June says. "Near as I could tell from the records I found at the site, the legend of King Midas that most folks know isn't the proper truth. Midas was obsessed with gold and wealth, but he turned around and spent that gold on his subjects, constantly seeking ways to improve their lives. The kingdom was small but mostly happy. So a generous king gets a boon and thinks 'Hey, if I have more gold I can do even more for my people.' so he makes the wish."

"All right, maybe I can buy that but what you told me doesn't sound like a dude who would forget that he needs to eat or that he probably shouldn't touch his young princess."

"Right. So the records say that Midas received a gift in his left hand bound beneath a golden glove or silken wraps of woven gold. That hand there, incidentally."

"Contained in a very specific fashion. So what happened?"

"You know who doesn't like it you give gold away to the peasant class?" June asked. "Nobles. The rich think they have the right to keep getting richer. So they moved against the king, keeping him imprisoned and making more gold out of increasingly ridiculous items."

"So then what happened?"

"The people revolted." June said as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. "Given the choice between a king who loved them and nobles who exploited them... well, there was a lot of and bloodshed. Ultimately the people decided that the king's boon was too dangerous to allow into the world, so they took all the wealth, divided it among the citizenry, and spread out into the surrounding lands. The king's body was cremated but his blessed hand remained, so it was tucked into a glove and buried in a ghost town. Until I came along." Your aunt gave you a cocky grin, and you had to admit, she earned it.

"What about this one?" You grinned hoping to hear another tale as you gestured at another relic.

"Not really sure about that one. Roman, obviously." She gestured at the bejeweled silver scepter before you. "Local documents spoke of a sexually depraved emperor who has since been expunged from history. I call him Hedonicus in my head because his brief reign was composed of nothing but sexual depravity. The curious thing is the implication that he could somehow warp others to his sexual whims, even those believed to be incorruptible."

"So what happened?" You ask with a raised eyebrow.

"He just disappeared." June shrugged. "Common belief at the time was that the Gods struck him down. Only the scepter remained. My best guess is it possesses some ability to manipulate people sexually. No idea how though."

You take in that information as you stroll about the room. "That's odd..." You murmur.

"Aztec spider totem." June supplied. "It was implied that the threads it cast manipulate limbs like a puppet or even ensnare the mind."

"Wicked." You breathe the word out with a vicious grin.