Materials
The Ring For Assassins is a gold band set with a garnet.
Enchantments
The ring contains several effects, and seems to have been designed to allow the wielder to kill, and then destroy the evidence of his crimes. It is considered unusual in that the choices made by the enchanter are so far from optimal. Some conjecture that the enchanter suffered a flaw in his or her Gift, or wished to make the limits of Hermetic magic unclear to a purchaser who was outside the Order.
Only the band is enchanted. The stone served no purpose in the enchantment, and could be removed without harming the item. It is unclear if the garnet is the original stone in this setting.
The band’s enchantments are
Ring of Exceptional Mass
MuTe 20
R: Personal, D: Sun, T: Individual.
Penetration 0
(As per Object of Increased Size (Ars Magica: 5th edition, page 154.) -5 levels for Personal Range, +5 levels for noble materials, +5 levels for added volume.). This effect is activated by kissing the ring.
The Inexplicable Blade
MuTe 6
R: Personal, D: Sun, T: Individual.
Penetration 0
Transforms the ring of enormous size (created by the previous effect) into a knife. It’s clearly more effective to just create a knife with Creo Terram, which vanishes after the battle is over, so why the enchanter chose a perpetual object is unclear. The garnet moves to the knife’s pommel.
(Base 2: +1 Sun, +3 levels for linked trigger to previous effect.)
The Field of Linens
PeCo 15
R: Voice, D: Sun, T: Room
Penetration 0
This effect removes any human bloodstains from the room in which it is activated. It’s odd name comes from its triggering action, which is to say “I walk in the field of linens” in an older Occitanian dialect.
(Base 3: +2 Voice, +2 Room)
The Piling of Ashes
PeCo 25
R: Voice, D: Sun, T: Room
Penetration +4
Destroys all human corpses in the targeted room. Triggered by blowing on the ring.
(Base spell Dust to Dust PeCo15 (Ars Magica 5th edition, page 132) +1 Voice, +1 Room,
The Scattering of Ashes
ReMe 28
R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Room
Penetration 0
This spell moves all of the ash created by the Piling of Ashes out of the building, spreading it evenly across the adjoining land. This combination is less useful than it initially appears, because it does not affect the clothing of the dead.
(Base 3 (taken from Rego Terram Move dirt in a highly unnatural fashion), +3 Voice, +3 Room +3 levels triggered by the use of The Piling of Ashes)
Provenance
The item was added to the collection by the Quaesitores, following the apprehension of the ring’s current user by a hoplite band.
History
The ring appears to have been created for an assassin who came from Southern France. Beyond this, little is known about it. The sigil of the creator is arguably similar to that of Hinmis the Mad, but if so this is a juvenile work, lacking his later spitefulness.
Hooks
The garnet in this ring is not the original. It is currently held by a goblin king in Italy, who would be willing to barter it for substantial favours. It is also sought by the followers of a demon of murder. The missing stone, which is also a garnet, has the following enchantments:
- Disguise of the New Visage MuCo 15 (as per Ars Magica: 5th edition, page 131)
- Eyes of the Bat InAu 25 (as per Ars Magica: 5th edition, page 127)
- Silence of the Smothered Sound PeIm 20 (as per Ars Magica: 5th edition, page 146)
- Trackless Step Re Te 15 (as per Ars Magica: 5th edition, page 155), +5 levels for Duration: Sun
- Veil of Invisibility PeIm 20 (as per Ars Magica: 5th edition, page 146)
- The Viper’s Gaze ReAn 25 (as per Ars Magica: 5th edition, page 120) +10 levels for R: Voice and D: Sun
Vaults of the Order 