The Tales of the Forbidden Library

Chalice of Cognitionis

The Chamber of Unknown Artifacts shares this artifact with The Library's Department of Forbidden Texts. Although this artifact is not a written book of magic, it contains knowledge which has been considered forbidden for all witches and wizards. The Chalice of Cognitionis is a heavy metallic cup in the shape of a conventional wine glass. The outer appearance of The Chalice is dark black with four golden striped grooves equidistant from one another.The strips of gold reach from the bottom of the cup, through the stem, and finally flow into the cup. The interior of the cup is golden with ancient lettering identical to the lettering seen on many other cursed or enchanted items from the period when these artifacts were primarily created (600 BCE- (~)1730 ACE). The Chalice is activated when a drop of blood from hundreds of victims is willingly dripped into the cup. The cup becomes fully active one the blood is filled past all inscriptions on the interior of the cup. When active, the interior inscriptions with emit a green hue which can be faintly seen through the blood. The inscribed marking also appear to emit a heat as well, forcing an almost immediate bubbling to the blood. The one who wishes to to use The Chalice must consume the entire contents of blood to receive the curse bestowed on The Chalice of Cognitionis. This curse provides the knowledge of all known and unknown books of spells, potions, etc. Any word which has been written to bestow knowledge of magic is placed into the mind of the drinker. The consumption also takes a great deal of pain; not only is the blood boiling as you drink it, but the drinker will age immensely fast. Many accounts forecast about one month of living is equivalent to being three years closer to death.

While The Chalice of Cognitionis has been used all the way up to its capture and preservation in 2015 ACE, the length of time between uses is typically long. The consensus as to why is due to how many willing participants are required to complete the ritual for the use of The Chalice. King Raphael Westcraft had used The Chalice of Cognitionis at every official ceremony. Most notably, he had commissioned it as a ritual to have new witches and wizards drip their blood into the cup as a sign of complete loyalty. The Chalice had been missing since his death during the Battle of Lanbrough in 1241 ACE until it was found within a dark wizards chest in 2015 ACE during a search of Tenebris Fort; a school once designed to train in dark magic.