The Brush of Everchange

The Brush of Everchange is an artifact of Orfai that, while initially appearing weak, grants it's user a potent power if they are creative enough to use it properly. Using the Brush of Everchange, the painter is able to paint strikingly realistic pictures that can actually be entered and brought to life from within or without by the painter. These pieces of living art are often considered master pieces and often sell for vast sums of coin, but few know that the gentle sway of those tree's is not a trick in their head but is in fact magic at work, and even fewer know that the brush is real. One properly versed can tell these paintings as if one looks carefully enough, they can see that the movements within the paintings are not tricks of the mind and are, in fact real movements.

The Brush appears nearly nondescript, a simple Oak Wood paint brush with black bristles on the end. The Brush is unnaturally strong because of it's magical connection, and if it is broken Orfai can restore it and pass it along to another user. The wood supposedly comes from an ancient oak tree from Estara, and the bristles are rumored to be woven from the hair of a painter, Elizabeth Campbell, who was involved in an accident and suffered from uncontrollable shaking in her hands as a result. In desperation, she turned to Orfai to take her art up again. 

Legend has it that Orfai (Or one of his Changelings, depending on the account) appeared to Elizabeth one day while she was struggling to paint an image of part of the river that runs through Estara, and plucked some hairs from her head and wove them into the bristles of the brush, before carving a piece of wood from a nearby oak tree, weaving them together and placing it into her hands. He told her that all she need to do is raise the brush and imagine, and her hands would create realistic paintings. She went on to fill the world with wonderful pieces of artwork, which are now priceless and grace the halls of kings and nobles. Few know that the legend holds some truth, and that Elizabeth Campbell really was in possession of an enchanted paintbrush, and as a result she is considered one of the most influential painters of all time. Elizabeth met a peaceful death at a grand old age, and left the Brush to her son and it was passed down through her family for many years until it was stolen by a thief who had presumably uncovered it's true value.

The paintings are not inherently dangerous, but once a doorway is opened things can cross through both ways, and should the artist open a gate way to a painting he must be sure to close it, else his creations may leave the painting. Of course, some deliberate paint and lead their creations out, some using the Brush to create warriors to serve their own ends. Some of these scattered paintings have been used by the artists to imprison their opponents, trapping them forever more inside the painting. The Brush it's self is not inherently dangerous either, but since anything can be used as a canvas, it is possible to paint wounds onto people and even kill them through this manner

The Brush of Everchange has exchanged hands many times, it's purpose making it highly versatile. Assassins and thieves might paint door ways into walls so that they might pass through, painters may use it to create realistic paintings that bring them great fame, warriors have used it to paint weaponry or armour into existance. Like with all his artifacts, Orfai rarely cares how it is used as long as it creates change. When painting, time warps for the user, and they are able to create beautiful works of art that feel as though they take hours, only to complete and discover mere seconds have passed. The Brush does not require any form of paint nor skill, only the users imagination. Truly, the only limit is ones imagination.

There is no denying that it can be a very useful artifact despite what seems to be an initial small scope, but with Orfai being the God of Change, it cannot be relied on to remain in ones possession. At any moment the Prince of Change may decide that he would rather someone else be in possession of the Brush and give it to them instead. Some have placed the brush within a locked cabinet for the night only to awaken and find it gone, often with no evidence that the vault has been opened. Some are in possession of it for only short times while others may possess it for their entire lives.

Orfai often gifts it to the more creative who have captured his attention, reveling in the changes that their imagination might force onto the world. These can be those content with making a cultural mark, or those who use the brush for more malevolent purposes. Sometimes religious zealots, such as the Order of the Aether, grab talented painters in an attempt to find the Brush of Everchange, sometimes thieves steal all the paintbrushes of a famous artist in an attempt to uncover it.