Pauper's Box

Any business deal overseen by the Pauper’s Box eventually fails.

History
Handhardt Shillerstein of Carroburg was once the city’s most successful businessman. His trade-concerns spanned from Marienburg, across the Reikland, and deep into Bretonnia. He was unimaginably rich, courted by the nobility and loved by his employees. However, it was all to come to an end. On his 50th birthday, he hosted a great festival celebrating his life and fortune in Nuln, the capital of the Empire at the time. When asked about the secret to his success, he replied with a wink: “Why, my wit, my intelligence, and, of course, my charm! I would outwit old Handrich Himself if given half a chance.” The next day, his servants found him greatly changed. His eyes were unsure, his hair white, his jaw slack. Although he never talked of what happened, rumours spread that Handrich had indeed given Schillerstein chance to outwit him, and Schillerstein had failed. The once-successful merchant died a pauper ten years later—an unrecognisable madman, street-preaching against the dangers of a loose tongue. Pauper’s Boxes are said to contain some of Shillerstein’s bones, which are believed carry the curse of Handrich to this day. It is rumoured that a Pauper’s Box can never be given to the unwilling, and that they always return unharmed to their true owners, no matter what extremes are taken to discard them. Crafty merchants often try to sell suspected Pauper’s Boxes to their rivals, passing them off as relics of a more beneficial kind; however, they have to be careful, because if the Box is physically present at such a sale, it is sure to fail.

Source
Caja del Indigente
 * Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Tome of Salvation
 * pg. 251

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