Chelish Crux

Though a Chelish Crux gives off no magical aura, it is similar to a bag of holding in that its interior space is larger than its exterior would suggest.

When closed, a Chelish crux is a wooden and metal dodecahedron (similar in shape to a d12) that measures about 6 inches in diameter. Each face of the crux is carved with a different rune or image-in order to open the puzzle box, a person must trace the outlines of these runes and images with the tip of a finger in the proper order. Each time a rune is triggered in the correct order in this manner, it glows with a soft red light, but whenever a rune is triggered out of order, the light flashes into fire, inflicting fire damage on the person attempting to open the crux. With each additional rune in a sequence, the potential gout of flame produced when an error is made grows greater.

Once a particular crux's combination is known, a character can open it automatically (this takes 3 consecutive full-round actions). Opened properly, the crux unfolds into a 2-foot-square flat sheet of metal and wood. Any objects the crux contains sit upon the center of the sheet. An unfolded crux automatically folds as soon as a character attempts to bend any of the sheet's four corners as a move-equivalent action. The crux automatically folds up around any objects that sit upon its face at this time-objects that would exceed the crux's capacity are pushed gently aside by the refolding action. A Chelish crux can hold up to 200 pounds of objects, but the physical size of each object is irrelevant-the sight of a crux folding up around a long polearm, for example, might make one assume the weapon was crushed and destroyed, but when the crux is next opened, the pole arm is unharmed.