A Magic Box with a Putrid Egg

October 31, 2023

Wondrous item, rare

dnd dnd-5e tier-1 tier-2 tier-3 tier-4

The box is a nondescript but well-made wooden box. The surface has no carvings or embellishments except for a maker’s mark “A.D.” on the bottom. The edges have a slim rounded bevel, and the box shows no signs of wear. The box has a magical enchantment placed on it making it extremely durable. The hinge and clasp appear to be made of a brass colored metal. The clasp closes and stays shut with a satisfying snap. Shaking the box does not cause it to open, but the clasp can be easily undone by hand.

The interior of the box is well padded with fabric and contains a single Putrid Egg. The egg is a yellowish brown color with a leathery shell. It is about 2 times the size of a large chicken egg but the species is unknown. The egg is slightly squishy, but too much force will cause the egg shell to rupture. While closed, the box protects the egg from damage and no smell escapes.

When the box is opened the egg gives off a foul odor that instantly permeates throughout a 15 ft radius circle. The odor cloud is invisible and is only detectable by smell. Closing the box will instantly and completely contain the smell, removing the odor cloud.

The odor is so foul that all living creatures with any sense of smell within range are forced to make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save the creature is forced to use their next reaction to vomit. They also receive a -2 AC penalty while trying to block the odor. Concentration checks must also be made on a failed save. A successful save causes no adverse effects but the odor is still terrible.

Dropping, throwing, or puncturing the egg causes it to burst on impact. The impacted surface, roughly in a 5 ft square, is splattered with the translucent yellow-green fluid, but chunky, contents of the egg, and gives off the same odor cloud with the same effects, but the radius is increased to a 25 ft circle. The odor cloud cannot be dispelled or blown away by wind. The only recourse is to remove the affected surface, bury it under 6 feet of dirt or submerge it completely in water. For example, a wooden floor would need to be torn up and buried in the ground or sunk to the bottom of a body of water.

When porous surfaces like cloth or fur (not on a living creature) are splattered, they are stained and absorb the smell and permanently stink.

Creatures splattered will stink for 30 days. Bathing will reduce the stink bit by bit, requiring 7 full baths to fully remove the stink. Prestidigitation does not work on the stink, but can remove the stains.

Without the egg, the box can be used to completely mask the smell of an item, as long as it fits fully in the box and the box is completely closed.

Additional Images

All images were generated with Chat GPT 4. The images above were color adjusted by me to look more… putrid… The images below are some other results you might find interesting.

Attribution

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.