Sleeping Dragon (artifact)

The Sleeping Dragon was an unusual artifact that floated in the center of the Dragon Wood, deep in the Evermoors of Northwest Faerûn, circa the Year of Wild Magic|1372 DR.

Description
The Sleeping Dragon was a megalith about twenty feet (six meters) long and almost ten feet (three meters) thick, with rounded edges that made it resemble a giant stone potato floating horizontally ten feet (three meters) off the ground. Its vaguely ovoid shape gave it a fanciful reputation around the North as being a dragon's egg, and thus, a "sleeping dragon". The stone was dark in color and did not match any local formations. Its surface was boldly carved with abstract curves and swirls, sometimes to a depth of about a foot (thirty centimeters). These designs concealed three hatches that opened with carefully applied pressure in particular directions. The patterns that hid the access points were known by nicknames: the Wink, Darkhole, and the Wizard's Door. There was a fourth bas-relief that was known as the Splendor, but it had other unusual properties rather than a hidden door.

The Wink
The Wink was located on top of the Sleeping Dragon and required sliding the curved panel in a certain direction until a catch released it with a click. (The direction of "up and to the right" was only meaningful once the compartment was opened, since it was relative to the orientation of objects inside.) Once released, the hatch swung open to reveal a rounded hollow about three feet wide, a foot-and-a-half tall, and four feet deep (approximately 90 by 45 by 120 centimeters). If not recently plundered, the cavity was mostly filled with a chest that could be removed by pulling on one of the large carrying handles. Above the chest was a stone crossbar that had ten cylindrical compartments for holding potion vials.

The chest appeared newly made of solid duskwood and the seams were treated with tar to prevent moisture seepage. The corners and lid were bound with riveted iron bands, and there were two handles for easy portage. The chest had three locks of a claw design, and the keys were usually found in the locks. A wide variety of things have been found in the chest over the years. Examples included: If the trunk was removed from its resting place, it (or an identical copy) magically returned in about two tendays with fresh contents. If the trunk was emptied and replaced, it took about the same interval for it to fill up again.
 * Three coils of hemp rope.
 * Dry duskwood kindling.
 * Two dozen baldrics, belts, and scabbards.
 * A half-dozen pairs of hard leather hobnail boots.
 * Bottles of ink, writing quills, and sheets of parchment.
 * Thousands of buttons carved out of bone in myriad sizes and styles.
 * More than a dozen fine steel daggers with scabbards.
 * Three dozen thick tallow candles.

The potions, when present, usually numbered six, and were all in identical frosted glass vials sealed with preserved wooden stoppers and no indication of the function of their contents. There was no rhyme or reason to what sort of potion would appear in which slot, nor which slots would be left empty. If they were taken, replacements usually appeared like the chest, but seldom if ever to the same person or group twice in a row, i.e., if someone camped there and checked every day for new potions, they were likely disappointed.

Darkhole
At the opposite end from the Wink was another, larger panel on a single pivot hinge that swung out over the downward curvature of the Sleeping Dragon. The slab was almost four feet wide, two feet high (120 by 60 centimeters), and quite heavy. Even though it rested on a ridge in the design, the open door could be lifted out of its socket and removed. If the cover to the Darkhole was ever displaced or broken, it eventually reappeared, in place and intact. The chamber below was two feet (sixty centimeters) deep and extended into the artifact for six and a half feet (two meters), seemingly sized to hold a tallish, human-sized body. Indeed, the word "darkhole" was a old slang term for a sepulcher or burial cavity in the wall of a tomb or catacomb.

Reports of the contents of the Darkhole varied from empty to a pile of bones, to a body in a shroud, to an undead skeleton that attacked when disturbed. Once in a great while, adventurers would lay a fallen comrade to rest in the Darkhole, but that rest likely lasted only until the next explorers came along, or possibly even less time. The Dragon Wood was home to a small clan of pixies that liked to play tricks on people who came to examine the Sleeping Dragon. It was difficult to determine which reports were real and which ones were the result of very believable illusions cast by the pixies.