Thought Bottle: This item usually takes the form of a metal flask similar in appearance to an efreeti bottle. Bottle and stopper are usually engraved with intricate runes. The bottle can
be used to store and protect important memories and thoughts, and is often
used by powerful characters as a way of managing their (potentially cluttered)
memories.
To use the bottle, a character concentrates on the thought or memory to be
stored. He then uncorks the bottle and speaks the word of command. The thought or
memory is then transferred from the character's brain into the bottle. All
details of the thought or memory are held within the bottle. The caster remembers
the general nature of the thought ("Oh, that was my thought on the design of an
efreeti-powered steam engine") but need not worry about forget- ting specific
details, since these are trapped in the thought bottle.
To retrieve a thought, a character uncorks the bottle and speaks another word
of command. The thought or memory is then transferred directly into the user's
brain.
Thought bottles are sometimes used to protect vital information. A messenger carrying vital
plans through enemy territory where there is a significant chance of capture and
subsequent interrogation might carry all sensitive plans in one or more
bottles. The messenger does not know the contents or the command word and therefore
cannot reveal the contents of the bottles. Likewise, a spy could gain secret
information, transfer it to a thought bottle, then use forget or modify memory to wipe this information from his mind. After this, regardless of the methods
used, the spy is incapable of revealing the sensitive information.
Thought bottles are sometimes used as "memory archives," where characters can save memories
that are "cluttering up" their minds. (This would be more of a problem for
long-lived races such as elves, since the sheer volume of memories recorded over
several centuries could be overwhelming.)
Thought bottles will function (in both storage and retrieval) for any
intelligent creature.
When discovered, 75% of all thought bottles can hold only a single thought or memory. The remaining 25% have a capacity
of 2d4 separate thoughts or memories. There is a separate word of command for
each "thought slot."
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