The Darewright Jar
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| The Darewright Jar | |
|---|---|
| Type | Written-compulsion artifact |
| Origin | Eastern Tsuga College laboratory; Boston high society |
| Created | c. 1905–1915 |
| Creator | Nathaniel Ashmore (unknowingly, for the Order of Aetherion) |
| Current holder | Unknown; circulating at ETC as of 2025 |
| Effect | Slips drawn from the jar bind the drawer to obey the written directive; compulsions can stack, conflict, and become permanent |
| Canon status | Confirmed |
| First appearance | Unknown |
About
The Darewright Jar is a written-compulsion artifact and one of the most dangerous objects in the Subconium Shared Universe. It operates as Layer 3 of the SSU's supernatural influence system: where The Hemlock Veil lowers inhibitions town-wide and unconsciously, and The Anklet of Inevitable Accord targets an individual with verbal compulsion, the Darewright Jar binds anyone who draws a slip from it to obey the directive written on that slip. The effects are immediate, can stack, can conflict with one another, and can become permanent.
The jar was hidden in the Delacroix vault for nearly a century before being sold in 2023 by a shop employee named Maggie who was herself compelled by the jar. It is now circulating at Eastern Tsuga College.
Description
The Darewright Jar is made of Vaseline glass, supplied by the Order of Aetherion to Nathaniel Ashmore during his research. Vaseline glass contains uranium oxide, which gives it a distinctive yellow-green color and causes it to glow under ultraviolet light. This material was chosen by Aetherion for its claimed energetic properties.
Origin
The jar was created between approximately 1905 and 1915 by Nathaniel Ashmore, a psychology professor at Eastern Tsuga College, who believed he was conducting independent research into behavioral compulsion through external objects. Ashmore did not know he was Aetherion's instrument. Elias Roarke had been secretly funding his research since approximately 1905, and Aetherion supplied the Vaseline glass and monitored his experiments throughout.
When a student jumped from the ETC clocktower believing she could fly, Ashmore attempted to destroy the jar. Aetherion intervened immediately, stealing it and leaving a slip in its place reading: "You've studied enough." Ashmore was dismissed from ETC shortly after. He spent the rest of his life attempting to reclaim something whose true nature he never fully understood. His research notes survived somewhere in ETC's archival storage.
Effects
The Darewright Jar operates through written slips placed inside it. Anyone who draws a slip is immediately bound to obey the directive written on it. Key mechanics:
- Compulsions activate immediately upon drawing a slip. Resistance only intensifies the urge over time.
- A person cannot write their own compulsion. Self-authored slips remain blank and powerless.
- Permanent compulsions exist and cannot be undone, even by the original author.
- Compulsions can stack, producing contradictory behaviors and, in severe cases, significant mental strain.
- A compulsion can only be safely removed by its author removing the slip.
- If anyone other than the author removes a slip, they inherit the compulsion. This requires a willing act and cannot be triggered by trickery or force.
- People near the jar feel a growing subconscious pull to use it, not a compulsion but a building attraction.
- If the jar spills, it selects recipients based on their fears, weaknesses, and repressed desires, not randomly.
- The jar manipulates circumstances to ensure its own continued use and rediscovery. The Maggie slip is a canonical example of this self-perpetuating behavior.
History of use
1905–1915: Creation
Created in Ashmore's ETC laboratory. Compulsions proved dangerously stronger than intended. The clocktower incident ended Ashmore's involvement. Aetherion stole the jar, and Ashmore was dismissed.
1917–1925: The Darewright Game
Aetherion seeded the jar into elite Boston social circles as the Darewright Game, a supposedly daring parlor amusement for the wealthy. By 1923 it had produced scandals, social ruin, and disappearances. In 1925, Roarke engineered a Darewright party where the current owner was compelled to surrender the jar to him. He took it to Verdant.
1925–1929: Aetherion research
Under Roarke's direction the jar served as a research object while Aetherion scholars used its principles to develop The Anklet of Inevitable Accord. The Anklet and the jar share a magical origin and are fundamentally connected.
1929–2025: The Delacroix vault
After Roarke's death in 1929, the jar and the Anklet were secured by Gen 7 of the Delacroix line and locked in the Delacroix family vault. The jar remained hidden for nearly a century.
2025: Return to circulation
A slip inside the jar reading "Sell me" compelled Delacroix's Tomes employee Maggie Mendelsohn to sell it unknowingly. An ETC student purchased it and introduced it as a drinking game. The Darewright Game has restarted at Eastern Tsuga College.
Current status
The jar is circulating at Eastern Tsuga College as of 2025. Its current holder is the student occupants of an off-campus house who use it as a chore jar. Its reappearance represents a significant threat, given that most current ETC students and faculty have no knowledge of its history or mechanics.
Relationship to the Anklet
The Darewright Jar and The Anklet of Inevitable Accord are linked artifacts. The Anklet was created from principles derived from the jar's magic. If someone wearing the Anklet draws a slip from the jar, their compulsion is amplified: the Anklet enforces verbal compliance while the jar enforces written commands, leaving a subject bound by both with minimal agency remaining. Residual connections between the two artifacts may reactivate if the Anklet's wearer encounters the jar.
Canon notes
- The full scope of the Darewright Game's revival at ETC has not been established
- Whether House Subconium is aware the jar has resurfaced has not been established
- Ashmore's surviving research notes in ETC archives have not been recovered or examined in canon
- The full range of compulsions currently active from the jar's 2023 circulation has not been established