Icons and relics

Every temple in an tabletop RPG needs a made-up relic in it! Especially when there is a tie-in to the history of the town or community the temple serves. Especially if it can serve as a jumping-off point for an adventure or investigation, right? Right? Anybody?

Roll 1d10 and read across rows…

Dice	Description	If somehow put to use..	Venerated by…
1	A dry olive tree branch. The demigoddess Cassanae extracted an unending amount of water from it and sustained people through a famine.	All magical properties have been exhausted from the item, but an aura of good pervades the space around it.	A group of monks that have been fasting for years, while seemingly being in perfect heath and condition.
2	A torn piece of parchment with outlines of long-lost wax seals. It is said to be a part of a peace treaty between Giants and Titans.	Other pieces of the parchment are scattered. Once recomposed, the bearer has a letter of passage into the kingdom of giants, who will recognise him or her as a minor noble.	The local head of the temple, who holds the title of “head archivist”. Its prestigious position is a source of intrigue and infighting among the local clergy.
3	An hermetically sealed jar containing a preserved hand of saint Marianus. His most famous deed, the miracle of the awakening, saw him cure a group of hundreds of lycanthropes by imposing his hands on their leader.	Using the hand as a macabre weapon can harvest the remnants of its energy to turn low-level undead upon touch. Preserving it will then be the problem…	The locals of the town around this relic are extremely devout to it, and will march it in processions several times per year.
4	A rusty broken arrow with fletching made of Chimera feathers. The arrow, fired by the champion archer of the yuan-ti horde, was about to hit Queen Mathilde at the battle of Firethorn, when divine intervention snapped it in mid-air.	If someone manages to recompose the arrow, it will be able to magically target anybody with royal blood.	Hunters make the pilgrimage to the temple to pray to the arrow, believed to bless the worshippers with superior markmanship.
5	A clay brick, once at the base of a tower that protected the community from the undead. The tower was magically erected in only one week by the mysterious archmage Kalandor, and partially crumbled some decades ago.	The brick can be alchemically grown to re-sprout the full tower. Knowledge on how to do so is long-lost, and may lie in some dungeon… Once the tower is reconstructed, it can protect a village for several years before running out of energy.	The brick is taken by masons as a sign that their profession is blessed by the gods. Thus, a shrine was constructed around it and constantly new parts are added. On the other hand, wizards want to remove the brick from the temple to study its nature and reactivate its powers..
6	A harpoon wielded by the mythical heroine Varannis to down the warewhale that terrorized the seas. It is stained with silver-colored blood.	The harpoon carries the blessings of many divinities and is a powerful magic object. It can be used to strike water creatures very effectively, but will be ineffective on land.	Sailors and merchants pay their homage to the harpoon of Varannis by bringing fish donations to the local temple every spring. The fish end up dumped in an overpopulated pond.
7	An watermelon-sized acorn gifted by the spirit of the lake, providing fertility to the surrounding lands.	The acorn will deteriorate if removed from its encasing and the area it is in, as it is a gift from nature to the locals. It may even backlash, curse the thief and seek to be returned.	Local tradesmen, farmers and business people keep miniature reproduction of the acorn in their homes, believing it brings good luck.
8	The tongue of saint June. The saint was a commoner innately able to speak every known and unknown language. When he died, his body decomposed except for his tongue.	You stole a tongue? You can speak 1d3 additional languages now, but only if you wear it as a talisman.	While most people are devout to the tongue as a sign of the miraculous life of St. June, a small but fanatical underground sect cuts off the tongues of people believed to be impure…
9	The house of Hwatha, god of the mountains. Three walls of his house were transported by humongous Roc birds and dropped in the front yard of the local temple. They now stand there, covered in moss, and attract a crowd.	Sure, putting these walls in your stronghold would look super cool. But also make people and gods super mad.	The walls hide frescos that prophesize an avalanche so large that it would bury the earth. They were dropped in the area as a warning, but being covered in moss, people just took to worship the miracle of them appearing and their meaning has not been found.
10	The shield of the moon. Left on earth by a celestial being, it mimicks the moon cycle by growing to a crescent, then a full shield each month, mirroring the lunar cycle.	The “dark side” of the shield is in the astral plane, and (on the non-full moon days) protects the wearer from being observed or attacked from the immaterial realm.	Warriors, scholars, and paesants alike worship the shield as an unmistakable sign that the nature around us was forged by a divine being.