Akasha's Necklace
Akasha, of PRPG2, wore a necklace around her neck with a collection of trophies on it. These are the stories behind some of them (the ones collected throughout the campaign have been, for the most part, excluded):
A small lapis lazuli gemstone: Tossed to her as part of a circlet by the bandit king Goldring
two garnets: She came across on the road two wealthy unicorns that had eloped. They had asked her if she knew where to find someone who could perform a wedding ceremony and she'd replied that she had a great knowledge of religions and was more than happy to fill the role. Using her smoke she created a smoke cathedral in the middle of a field and wed them on the spot, overjoyed to be a part of the couple's happiness. Taking off promise rings they'd worn on their horns for years they finally replaced them with wedding bands and began walking off with eyes only for each other. When Akasha pointed out they'd just dropped the promise rings on the ground they both turned to her slightly, still smiling, then went back to enjoying each other's company. Akasha took the rings, each set with a garnet, and incorporated them into her necklace.
a bent bit: After playing a show Akasha was counting her earnings when she came across some bits that, for some reason, just didn't feel right. She talked to the local sheriff and, after biting and bending the bit, stated it was a counterfeit. What followed was Akasha carrying along supporting the sheriff in tracking down the counterfeiters. It was a fairly harrowing experience and one she remembers with pride, helping take down their watchmares and then ambushing the bunch. She considers it her first real adventure. She also had the anti-skrying enchantment added to her necklace after this just in case someone were to skry for her trophy in order to seek revenge.
eight beads consisting of one of each of the primary and secondary colors: Given to her by her mom. This was the original necklace before everything else was added to it. It already had enchantments against wear and tear.
an uncut diamond: From a rock farm far in the west. The community wasn't a big fan of entertainment, oddly-enough, and she had to work for her room and board. She was not very good at the farming but she WAS, as it turned out, pretty lucky. After a lot of good strikes on geodes and gemstones in the span of just a few days the family offered her the diamond and asked her to stay. She declined, but made them a big thank-you dinner using all of her cooking and alchemical ability. She could hardly remember them more fondly.
two small shells:
one black clam : Not actually a clam, but metal. She once came across an earth pony blacksmith that liked making displays about the all but forgotten waters that had been lost since the catastrophe. Akasha talked with him for nearly a full day. Literally day and night, about everything they each knew about the oceans pre-catastrophe. Recipes meant to taste like dishes long forgotten, legends of the seaponies and other deep creatures, and the short history of the conch described below and the greater journey it was found on, the earth pony similarly sharing his fascination and love for the water that once was. He made the clam, and several other pieces, while they talked, and gave it to her when it came time for her to finally go.
one swirled pink/orange conch: Traveling with a few camels across an eastern desert one stepped on this tiny, spikey shell and cursed like no one Akasha'd ever met previously or since. The thing was crushed by the effort but Akasha painstakingly restored it, even if it is still covered in cracks and caked in sand. Still, if you hold it up to your ear, you can still hear the ocean it used to reside in.
a minotaur's tooth: On the road in the southern dusts she was once held up by a minotaur who demanded she give him her valuables in southern drawl so thick she could hardly understand him. She had little to give at the time and, while he accosted her, used her smoke to sketch in the air far above "HELP I'M BEING ROBBED". Oddly-enough, the next one to show up was the minotaur's brother. What followed was an argument she couldn't even attempt to follow but which led directly into a brawl, the tooth in question flying out of one of the two's mouths and hitting her on the snout at one point. In the end the minoraurs' mother (or, at least, a female minotaur substantially larger than either of them) showed up and dragged both off. After which Akasha just laughed, picked up the tooth, and went on her way.
a very low-quality and malformed pearl: Is actually made of some material she doesn't even recognize. Happened when she experimented with the black metal clam she has, trying to see if it could produce a pearl like she'd once read clams could. Despite the "pearl" being pretty much trash she felt oddly attached to her creation and kept it. It smells oddly of diesel.
a crystal forest crystal stained with blood: She doesn't remember. It makes her sad to look at, but she can't bring herself to throw it away. I don't have much of a story for this one, actually. The vague idea came about after that wind attacked us and our guide died. I think, basically, Akasha's been through that before. Rode a carriage, had it attacked, and someone important to her (her aunt, if I had to pick) saved her, perhaps getting under her and taking the force of the hit upon the ground. It'd explain why falling was so traumatic. She’s long suppressed the memory. The crystal was one that pierced her aunt and herself but that she managed to keep ahold of after it had been removed from her. She kept it hidden for a long time, looking at it occasionally to try and remember what she'd forgotten, but she still can't quite grasp it. ...'cause yeah, I just can't help myself. SOMETHING on the necklace had to be dark. I like darkness and tragedy to entirely forgo it, even for such a generally bright and cheerful character.
a geode: She was walking along the road when she heard crying. Following the noise she eventually came across a lost colt. Carrying him on her back she eventually got him back to his village and parents. To thank her the colt gave her this geode, one of the ones he found when he was exploring and got lost in the first place, it being the best one he'd found on his adventure. She’s long hoped the colt would keep his curiosity and thirst for adventure and exploration so that she might one day meet him on the road once more.
an emerald: Thrown to her by an entirely DIFFERENT bandit king (IE not Goldpin) in a display of generosity and wealth. Since this is, apparently, what wealthy thieves like to do when they're gloating about how wealthy they are. Akasha would have done something about the bandit, but he was shortly attacked by another due to, again, flaunting his wealth so much. Which quickly became a mob while she wisely made tracks.
a polished piece of coal: She was sleeping in a cave when she thought she heard what sounded like a dragon snoring. She went deeper into the cave to try and find the dragon. And deeper. And deeper. And DEEPER. She doesn't know how long she was descending in the cave, nor quite how long it took her to get out again, but what she finally found was an underground stream of pure, sparkling water roaring out of a rock crevice. Where the water landed was a depression and, in the depression, were some perfectly smooth stones. She took one, refilled her canteen, and left, a bit unhappy for not having found a long-forgotten sleeping dragon, but still considering this a memory worth remembering.
the petrified tail of a small lizard: Given to her by her dad to help her remember the need to be very discerning before trying out new alchemical recipes. Comes from a special type of lizard used by alchemists that can detach and re-grow its tail painlessly and EXTREMELY fast and so potions and elixirs used topically can be tested on a creatures' living flesh with little risk to the creature being tested-upon.
two lumps of amber (both deep red-orange): Two little mares shared some of their candy with Akasha after she'd told them and their friends a story. Akasha didn't like the stuff but couldn't bring herself to throw away the nice gift, so they eventually ended up in her necklace.
a rainbow-colored beetle shell: Akasha once visited a town where they ate bugs. It was difficult but she eventually managed to get herself to taste one. ...they weren't that bad. The one who had this shell, in particular, was actually something approaching tasty. She kept the shell in case she ever came across it again so that she'd remember it... then put it in her necklace when she decided the shell was pretty as well.
a catseye marble: She and her sister liked to play marbles when they were growing up. One day Akasha won her sister's best shooter... and then refused to ever play with the marble again, denying her sister the chance to win it back. Her mom demanded she give it up and she refused. She got grounded and her sister ended up getting to take as many of Akasha's marbles as she liked... but she never found where Akasha'd hidden the shooter. Akasha didn't even remember herself. She only found it while packing up to leave home and added it to her necklace. Her sister still doesn't know where the shooter got to.
the sun-bleached head of a small fish: She came across a sales stallion selling this and many other odd things he'd come across. She haggled him down pretty low before purchasing it. She intends to give it to the stallion who gave her the black clam if she ever meets him again.
a rusted screw (iron): On one visit to Trenchtown she met a very handsome zebra inventor. Impressed with his ingenuity she decided to stick around and help him in his work, acting as a sounding board and using her alchemy to aid in his work. Together they created a great deal of both practical and artistic projects and the screw was left over from one of the more interesting ones: a mechanical pre-catastrophic bird they restored. While a more romantic relationship did develop between them during this time it still took little over a month before Akasha’s wanderlust grew too strong to stick around any longer. When last she stopped by Trenchtown she discovered her friend had moved, though she never figured out where to.
a not-very-rusted nut (also iron): Akasha'd come across a robot like Sprocket Torque before, though this one wasn't possessed by demons. This one was, instead, just being made by a unicorn who'd decided the robot in question was the best way to clear some squatters out of some pre-catastrophe ruins he wanted access to. Working with another zebra who understood the engineering far better than her they snuck in and stole this nut from the monstrosity the night before what the unicorn called "field testing". On the day in question the machine not only fell apart but parts of it even broke apart or got so hot they melted. After some gloating and goading afterwards by Akasha and her friend the unicorn in question got flustered-enough to actually complain to the authorities about the two’s vandalism. Of course, when they realized the intentions he had had for his machine, they shut him down hard.
a chestnut: After being gone for years Akasha went back to visit her family last year on her birthday, Hearth's Warming Day. There was a very, very big feast with lots of chestnuts, which all of Akasha's favorite foods include. She LOVES the things. This was one of the leftovers which she alchemically modified to stay fresh forever. She had her parents and sister carve tiny, simplified caricatures of their glyphmarks into the sides of the chestnut and it and she likes to look at it, smell it, and remember her family whenever she gets lonely.
a hoof-sized wooden claw with its tip clipped off: She was part of a different adventuring party and tracked down a large pack of timberwolves that had been threatening local villages. It was the most difficult fight she'd ever been in. A lot of her companions were badly hurt but, in the end, her efforts helped her team win the day and, afterward, help the others recover in full. They were sad to see her go but when she got that letter from Princess Nightfall she felt strongly it was a sign she, and she alone, was needed elsewhere.