Pearl of Power

The Pearl of Power was a legendary artifact of the Utter East that could make arcane inventions come alive.

Description
The Pearl of Power was a glowing yellow or white ovoid, about as wide as a man's hand and twice that in length.

Powers
The Pearl had the power to animate a mechanical constructs, when installed inside one. It seemed to have much other potential besides.

However, according to legend, it had a curse for its owner, in that greed for it would lead to war and disaster.

History
When the clans of the ancient Utter East warred, defeated champions were buried in barrow tombs, together with their weapons and magical relics like the Pearl of Power. The sensible living would shun such places. Curses were said to bring grief and misfortune to those who disturbed them.

However, during the time of the Bloodforge Wars (648–657 DR), a pair of feuding, treasure-hunting brothers named Garrulos and Wormskull delved into one of these barrow tombs and discovered the Pearl of Power. However, Garrulos immediately snatched it for himself, cheating his artificer brother of the glory. "For safekeeping", he claimed, Garrulos took it to Konigheim to present it to the king.

This act triggered the Nuts and !Bolts (sic) conflict, in which the brothers warred with bloodforges through the streets of Konigheim, burning the city in the process, and in the Hall of Wonder and Puzzle Palace. Garrulos allegedly tried to protect the Pearl from corruption. Wormskull was obsessed with the Pearl and planned to use it in his inventions. At one point, Wormskull stole the Pearl of Power and installed it inside a great mechanical monster, creating the Juggernaut to complement his army. The outcome of this conflict and the fate of the Pearl is unconfirmed; it may have been left inside an out-of-control Juggernaut, but if the Juggernaut was destroyed, Garrulos could've retrieved it and reinterred it in the barrow tomb.