Draft:Orb of Mastery

Omega 0.90.4

Orb of Mastery&TypeArtifactBase value (Au)10000Item level10Weight500Unidentified appearanceMysterious OrbCursed nameOrb of Mastery

The Orb of Mastery is the Elemental Master's artifact and the final object requested by the Duke. With all four unused elemental Orbs, it doubles the six maximum attributes, sets current attributes to those new maxima, grants a wish and awards 20,000 experience. Present it for the Duke's quest before activating it: the audience lets you keep it, while activation turns it into a Burnt-out Orb.

Generation

The Elemental Master carries the Orb on the fifth Astral level, reached through the Oracle's journey. The Orb starts reserved for that special possession and is excluded from ordinary random-object generation and normal acquirement. A normal kill drops carried possessions; successful player pickpocketing is an alternative, but takes the first possession and must pass the ordinary theft check. The command ignores the Master's listed theft immunity. Its 0–9 extra random possessions may come before the Orb.

The four required elemental Orbs also occur as repeatable random finds. Their fixed Astral carriers are:

Astral level	Carrier	Carried Orb
1	Elemental Lord of Earth	Orb of Air
2	Elemental Lord of Air	Orb of Earth
3	Elemental Lord of Water	Orb of Fire
4	Elemental Lord of Fire	Orb of Water
5	Elemental Master	Orb of Mastery

The lords do not carry their namesake elements. These guardian placements occur on newly generated Astral floors only while the Astral journey is not recorded as complete. Successful Star Gem activation records that completion, so gather the required possessions before relying on a later regenerated Astral visit.

A summoning scroll can randomly produce the Master through normal creature construction, but cannot choose him or guarantee a safe encounter. Once a normal Mastery copy has been obtained, the fixed-possession branch stops supplying another to newly created Masters. Using the Orb does not reopen that supply; older advice about indefinitely summoning fresh complete sets is not a dependable route in this version.

Duke's audience

Reach Lord rank through the castle quests, then attend the castle audience while carrying Mastery in accessible inventory or the pack. The quest checks possession, not activation, identification or blessing, and does not require the four elemental Orbs. It grants the Duke title, 10,000 experience and access to the castle treasure, while leaving Mastery with you. Merely picking up or activating the Orb does not grant that title.

Combined activation

Identify and check the full set before beginning. Move Mastery to accessible inventory, keep one unused Fire, Water, Earth and Air Orb in inventory or the pack, then use A → a and answer m for the mixed sequence. This single answer performs the combination; do not activate the elemental Orbs one at a time. No mana, recorded identification or positive blessing is required, and stripped powers on a material do not change its identity. A Burnt-out Orb cannot substitute for any element.

Stage	Result
Materials	Remove one Fire, then one Water, then one Earth, then one Air Orb
Attributes	Set current and maximum Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Intelligence and Power to twice each attribute's old maximum
Wish	Receive one ordinary positive wish
Experience	Gain 20,000 after the wish returns
Remaining object	Mastery becomes one Burnt-out Orb

The combination does not grant the four elemental Orbs' separate spell knowledge, immunities, invisibility, attacks or 10,000-XP awards. A drained current attribute is replaced using the old maximum, but an unusually large temporary current bonus can likewise be replaced by a lower value.

The wish uses the same accepted words and capitalization as a noncursed scroll of wishing. An unrecognized word wastes the wish; Death and normal-play Destruction are fatal. Location cannot escape the Astral Plane or Circle's demesne. The wish occurs before the 20,000-XP award and final burnout, so choose its result deliberately rather than assuming it is an automatic safe bonus.

Failure and consumption

Any accepted answer other than m kills the player directly. At the element question, Escape is not accepted as cancellation. Missing even one required element is also fatal. Materials are removed in order, not checked as an intact set first: missing Water can still cost Fire, and missing Air can cost all three earlier elements.

Each material removal consumes one copy, but the activated Mastery object is replaced wholesale with one Burnt-out Orb. If you have acquired multiple Mastery copies in one stack, separate the one to use. Enchantment cannot reverse burnout because the remaining object has a different identity.

Strategy

Plan around three separate rewards: obtaining the Orb, presenting it for nobility, and consuming the full set. Complete the earlier castle requests before spending Mastery. Bring all five Orbs back together and choose the wish in advance; a successful audience costs none of them.

Individual elemental use is attractive for an early spell, immunity or experience, especially from a spare random copy. Using the only copy delays the combined reward until another is found. Mastery's doubling scales with permanent maxima, so waiting can increase the gain, but also delays a broad improvement to survival and magic. Do not postpone a useful reward solely on the assumption that another complete set can always be farmed.