As detailed in the Guide to the Labyrinth, the Labyrinth is the “space between worlds.” Though most of the Labyrinth consists of tunnels, bridges, and stranger passageways, bottled cities and pocket dimensions lie within its twists.
Another odd emporium can be found in several locations across the many passages of the Labyrinth, from the clanking realm of Ravatet, to the chaotic streets of Klingedesh, and even on Midgard itself. Though the location of this boutique varies, it can be identified by the same symbol: a golden hourglass within a silver circle.
A Pocketful of Moments
Type Private Business or possibly businesses
Size Market Wagon or Cart
Location Varies (Klingedesh, Ravatet, Midgard, and others)
Proprietor Anna Perenna
Notable Staff A steam golem named Herbert
Typical Goods Time, temporal spells, items involving manipulating time
When you enter the marketplace of a city or town, you might find an unassuming blue cart lurking among the other shops and stalls. No one appears to notice the time or method of the cart’s arrival or departure. Sometimes they don’t remember it at all. One moment a space is empty, and in the next, the cart has always been there.
Speaking to the other proprietors is a lesson in the contradictions of temporal mechanics. Most neighbors insist they have never seen such a cart, or say the cart has been there since they were children. Often the same person states both opinions with perfect assurance, depending on whether the cart happens to be present. Only those who purchase one of its knickknacks seems to actually remember the cart.
At first glance, the cart is a simple wooden market wagon with a white canvas awning emblazoned with the faded painting of a golden hourglass. Its shelves and displays are laden with trinkets, broken gewgaws, and ephemera. A rusting steam golem wearing a sign which reads “Herbert” stands between the two bars where a horse or ox might be yoked. It doesn’t react to attempts at conversation or physical touch, unless it perceives a threat to the cart or its proprietor. Then it lurches into motion to act as a deadly guardian.
The proprietor presents a mystery. She appears intermittently as a young maiden with golden hair, a dark-haired mature woman, or a wizened crone with a long silver braid. The switch is seemingly random, though certain topics or emotions can trigger the change. Most who witness the shift don’t realize it, and instantly believe the proprietor has always been in the new form. A DC 20 WIS save allows a viewer to see the switch and remember it. No matter her form, she always answers to some variation of the name Anna Perenna. Often the exact name depends on her current form. The youngest version calls herself Anna. The middle-aged woman insists on being addressed as Mistress Perenna. The crone allows herself to be called Granny Perenna.
Secret. Where surrounding businesses go out of their way to hawk their wares and lure the next customer, the proprietor of A Pocketful of Moments simply waits as if expecting the arrival of the next customer. As an avatar of the Norns (also known as the Moirai, the Three Sisters, or the Fates), Anna Perenna exists as a triad of versions of herself stretched across time. She is driven by the demands of fate and time, sometimes giving away time baubles to individuals to guide destiny on the right course.
New Magic Item: Time Bauble
The sole product sold by A Pocketful of Moments is time. Every trinket sold from the cart is a time bauble, containing literal moments of time. A time bauble can be purchased or traded for various prices. While Anna Perenna sometimes takes coins or barter of magic items for a time bauble, more often she demands moments from the customer’s future or past as her price. Greater amounts of time cost more missing time from the customer’s own experience.
Past Price. The cost of the moment is an hour, day, or event from the character’s past. If the buyer agrees, the instance never happened for the character. Anything gained, learned, or witnessed by the character is lost and they have no memory of the event. The character’s mind fills in the gaps and illogical recollections in a way that makes sense to the individual. This only affects the character who sold the instance. Others who experienced the same event recall it normally.
Future Price. The cost of the moment is an hour, day, or a specific event from the character’s future. This instance, and its length, must be specifically identified. For example, “four hours on the third day of the sixth month of this year” is acceptable, but “a few hours on a day next month” is not. When the specific time is reached, the character vanishes for the length of time agreed upon. They reappear when the end of that moment is reached, in the same space they left with no memory of the missing time.
Time Baubles
Wondrous Item, Legendary Priceless
This small item, usually no larger than a human’s hand, can have nearly any appearance. There is no correlation between the type of object and the amount of time it holds, nor is there any outward indication of an item’s contents. Spells such as detect magic discern a transmutation aura on the item. The most common amounts of time sold by Anna Perenna are described below.
- Reaction. If you wish to take a reaction but have none left to use, the reaction bauble triggers (no action required) and you can take an extra reaction. If you don’t use the extra reaction, it is lost at the beginning of your next turn.
- Bonus Action. If you wish to take a bonus action on your turn but have none left to use, the bonus action bauble triggers (no action required) and you can take an extra bonus action. If you cast a spell using this new bonus action, it can only be a cantrip.
- Action. If you wish to take a action on your turn but have none left to use, the action bauble triggers (no action required) and you can take an extra action.
- Other Amounts of Time. If such short amounts of time exist on the cart, could longer amounts also exist? Minutes, hours, days, or a lifetime? If such a time bauble is offered or purchased, the GM must determine its exact effects. The more time a bauble grants, the greater the chance a character activating it will be physically thrown back that far in time. The effects of this on a campaign are too numerous to detail here, but the cost should be far-reaching for the buyer.
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