Overview
Sealed Artifacts are extraordinary supernatural items in Lord of Mysteries that grant their user strange and powerful abilities, always at the cost of a significant drawback. They are central to high-Sequence Beyonder operations, are tightly controlled by the orthodox Churches, and feature heavily in the source material's late arcs.
How they work
A Sealed Artifact's power corresponds to the Sequence level and Pathway of the Beyonder Characteristic used to form it. In simpler terms: a Sealed Artifact crafted from a Sequence 1 Beyonder's residue holds power approximating Sequence 1 Pathway abilities, with corresponding side effects.
Every Sealed Artifact carries a drawback. The drawback can be physical (the item drains the user), mental (the item corrupts the user's sanity), conceptual (the item warps reality around the user), or contractual (the item demands a price for each use). The Churches catalog drawbacks alongside abilities and rate the artifacts accordingly.
Classification grades
The Churches classify Sealed Artifacts into four grades by danger, power, and sealing requirements:
Grade 3: low-tier, manageable drawbacks. Often loaned to mid-tier Beyonder operatives for specific operations.
Grade 2: meaningful power with concerning drawbacks. Tightly controlled.
Grade 1: high power, severe drawbacks. Restricted to senior captains and above.
Grade 0: the most dangerous and unfathomable artifacts. Cannot be inquired about, disseminated, described, or spied upon outside the highest Church authorities. Sealed in the deepest basement of the relevant Holy Cathedral.
Notable Sealed Artifacts
Source-material references identify a number of named Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts that may appear in the campaign through cinematic moments or quest-locked encounters:
0-08 Alzuhod's Pen: applies a 'law of words' effect; stories written by the pen become reality. Appears in the Tingen-arc story as a critical late-act element.
0-17 Concealment Angel: descendant of the Destruction Demon Wolf. People and items that approach it disappear and enter a small town on Mount Hornacis.
0-05 Magic Wishing Lamp: grants ten wishes. The third wish kills the holder.
These specific named artifacts are referenced in the campaign through Mr. Fool visions and Church archive scenes. Whether the player can wield any of them in-game is gated behind story progression.
Church control
Each orthodox Church maintains its own Sealed Artifact archive, with the Saint Selena Cathedral in Backlund hosting one of the largest collections. Older Churches (the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the Church of the Lord of Storms) tend to have larger Sealed Artifact archives than newer ones; the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, being a relatively recent foundation, has a smaller collection.
The Machinery Hivemind, Nighthawks, and Red Gloves can borrow Sealed Artifacts from their Church's archive by following a procedural request. Mid-tier operatives may receive Grade 3 or Grade 2 artifacts on a specific assignment; Grade 1 and Grade 0 are reserved for senior captains and special-mission scenarios.
Player relationship
Player characters can encounter Sealed Artifacts as:
Story setpieces: cinematic moments during major story beats. Grade 0 artifacts in particular feature in the campaign's apex moments.
Loaned items: Nighthawks reputation at certain tiers grants the player a Grade 3 Sealed Artifact for a specific mission, with the artifact returning to Church custody afterward.
Quest-locked rewards: rare side quests may grant the player a permanent Grade 3 or Grade 2 Sealed Artifact, typically with a meaningful drawback that affects how it can be used.
Crafted items: high-Sequence player characters may eventually be able to participate in Sealed Artifact crafting through Church-sanctioned rituals; this is endgame content not surfaced in the Crimson Test.
Caveats
Sealed Artifacts are never given to player characters lightly. Their drawbacks are mechanically modelled in-game: a Sealed Artifact equipped in a slot occupies that slot indefinitely, applies the canonical drawback as a persistent effect, and may force Acting or sanity checks each time it activates. They are powerful but punishing tools.
Specific in-game balance for player-wielded Sealed Artifacts has not been finalised across all artifact types as of the Crimson Test. Expect adjustments through the live game's iterative balance patches.