"Hiding Hoards in Space"

At it again...

This week, "Hiding Hoards in Space"

Cron's Ethereal Pendant...

source

The Astromancer Cron created a series of pendants that act as gates to  locations within the Ether.  These pendants were crafted for clients with need for very secure storage.  Each pendant, upon utterance of a command word, creates a pathway into the Ether, allowing an object to pass through, and putting it into orbit around a small body in space, such as an asteroid.  The pendant's rings will expand to allow the passage of an object (up to the size of a large chest), then contracting and closing the gate behind.


As the object is stored in the Ether, no organic matter or living creature may be stored, however, it is a useful method for secreting away valuable relics or hoards.

Each pendant is unique, and the rings and gems in each individual pendant form a celestial 'map' with the location of the body where the object orbits.

The challenge lies in retrieving said treasures.   As there is no method for securing or tethering the stored object, it will tend to drift away from the portal, sometimes to a significant distance...

Oftentimes the object can be grasped or caught by inserting an arm, net, or hook through the opened portal, but if the object has drifted too far, a more direct approach may be required...

If an arm is passed through the portal, it will receive 1d6 points of damage per round from exposure to vacuum (numbness, swelling, ultraviolet burns).  If our intrepid treasure-seeker actually passes through the portal to attempt to spot or reach the secreted treasure, she will lose consciousness after a number of seconds equal to her Constitution score.  After that, damage incrementally increases 1d8/ten seconds (1d8, 2d8, etc.).  If the character is not pulled back through the portal, such as by a rope tether, damage becomes permanent after 30 seconds (due to hypoxia, bends, ultraviolet exposure, cellular mutation, etc).

(Word has it that Cron secretly made exact copies of each pendant, and after sufficient time had passed, would retrieve "lost" hoards with the use of a magical helm and armor which protected him from the ravages of the Ether...other sources say that he employs trained tardigrades to affix a line to wayward treasures...)

reference:
Bodies exposed in space