Little is actually known about this most wondrous relic from ancient times though it is generally believed to have been crafted by the Smith-Lords of Varuna, powerful Sundari wizards of great craft and skill. The tools of the Smith-Lords were said to have been blessed by the brahmans of Sharva, holy men and women devoted to the divine Father of Time. These pious sages helped guide the Smith-Lords and provided a number of sacred enchantments thus givine the Matrix its name.
Sundari legends describe how the Matrix had been used to defend the Bengalian lands from the hordes of the Moon Vale and their dread ogre-magi taskmasters. For ages, the Matrix sat atop an ivory pedestal within the sacred Shrine of the Ancients in Varuna. The low humming generated by this artifact was often believed by the city's population to be the voice of the Father of Time himself and the shrine was viewed as the most sacred of all pilgrimages. It was the common devotion to the Matrix of Sharva that kept the lands of the Sundari people united under the banner of the Padishah.
This unification would not last however and the sighting of Jurahan's Comet in the night sky on the 12th day of Crophatch in the year 643 New Age seemed to be the beginning of the end. This celestial phenomenon is often viewed as a sign of ill-omen and Sharva's Matrix mysteriously vanished from the Shrine shortly thereafter. The loss of this great relic hit Padishah Nahru so have that he took his own life through ritual suicide. Even though his popular son Pitar ascended the throne, the population became greatly disillusioned with the Court of the Ivory Throne. The lands of Bengalia have remained splintered ever since.
Sharva's Matrix appears as a large, round device resembling a sun-dial topped with a brass face plate. The base is carved from acacia wood and inlaid with intricate gold scroll work. The face plate is covered with overlapping rings of polished brass and engraved in ancient Sundarian script. Three metallic arms attached to the base bend over the face plate and are marked with notches at regular intervals. The six rings on the face plate can each be manipulated independently from the others and lined up with the notches on the arms. It is believed that by lining up the rings in specific patterns, the magic of the relic can be unleashed. Sharva's Matrix is one foot in diameter and four inches in height. It weighs almost fifty pounds.
Sharva's Matrix is said to possess the following powers:
Side Effects: Possession of this relic is said to permenantly drain 1 point of Wisdom from the owner. Furthermore, for every year the relic is in an individual's possession, that being will randomly age 1d4 years.
Suggested Means of Destruction: Smash it under the weight of the Chaos Axe of Shiran, the Father of Demons.