The fantasy story I'm plotting features an amulet which originally belonged to an evil prophet/priest/sorcerer but has somehow fallen into the hands of a pirate who is one of the protagonists. The amulet contains a fragment of black stone (actually a meteorite) and is believed to confer magical powers onto its owner. My problem is that I have no idea what powers those might be. The bad guy's culture is heavily Middle Eastern-inspired, so it would be great if the amulet somehow referenced Middle Eastern (e.g. Semitic, Mesopotamian, Persian, or Indian) mythology.
well according to its definition I quote: So it is already hinting to something great. It could have all sorts of powers but it could also paly tricks onthe pirate if he is a baddy. You can make the amulet go against the protagonist. An amulet can embrace the aura of aperson depending onwether the person is good or bad for example. why not I like the idea. I would make it have all sorts of tricks to get to the protagonists and helps solve the story that way. It could change into a person. It could have speech powers. It could turn money to fake. It could pretend to be something else. It could turn something into somethin else it could travel back and forth between the baddie and the goodie.
Like maybe turn its owners into gods (or at least give them godlike powers)? Thank you for getting my idea cogs turning again!
not at all you are very welcome. Oh and it can also let them stay that way or not depending on the goodness of the owner. You have to give it a bit more twists or it will sound like any other amulet we have seen before.
Honestly, while magic amulets are a stereotypical fantasy trope, I've never heard of any that specifically turned their owners into gods. I'll go for a variation of what you suggested: the amulet does let its owners stay godlike (i.e. omniscient, immortal, and with the ability to cast spells on a certain scale) for a while even after they lose it, but their godlike quality wears off over time. Think of the amulet as "recharging" their godliness. Of course, it may depend on the person's moral alignment: the wear-off effect may occur only to evil people as you suggested.
You could always create a god/spirit and have him be the owner of the amulet, then when the wearer of the amulet calls on the god, it grants the wearer it's powers. Or the god could actually fuse souls with the wearer of the amulet thus giving the wearer its powers. The latter would present you with many opportunities for humor (if you're looking for that) in the scenario of two personalities fighting over control of one body.
Well, what sort of power-type is it supposed to be? An active power (granting the user specialized abilities like control over time/mass/space/etc.) or an ambient one (better health, increased lifespan, increase in good fortunes etc.)?
I've ultimately decided on the amulet (now really a chunk of meteorite) not actually having any powers; people merely believe it does. My world doesn't have anything supernatural in it now, only the belief in the supernatural (which I honestly find more unique and interesting for a fantasy story).
so you are going the libido type of idea. It has been tried and tested and it apparently works. I suppose by not giving it any specific powers you are in fact giving it more power. When I write something I never know what turns it might take. I have no specifications as such with anything and so it is almost free will he or she or it go with the flow of the story and moment.
