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Pembrokes Portmanteau
Careful where you put your cloak in Pembroke's place, you never know what you might get back...
Nothing can really be said about Roger Pembroke's Portmanteau without a ready description of Roger himself. As can be expected, Roger Pembroke was an upstanding Englishman, fastidious in nature and a rather remarkable gentleman in ever sense of the word. He was also a rather competent if overlooked magician. Roger did have a taste for gin and other blended spirits, and to him, it was a simple matter to step from mixtures of spirits and essences of orange peels and juniper berries to somewhat more...substancial compositions.
Full Item Description
The Portmanteau is a large and very sturdily built suitcase that is a few degrees smaller than a steamer chest. Roger's portmanteau was distinguished by its faded green leather reminiscent of the Scottish highlands, and its verdigris crusted copper fasteners. It is quite large enough to carry a full week's worth of normal clothing, a gentleman's toiletry, as well as his essential papers without crumpling, folding or otherwise harming above items.
Magic Properties
The Portmanteau has two useful powers, the first and most obvious is its ability to hold a good deal more than it should. Being a fastidious dresser, Pembroke could never travel without taking twice as many changes of clothes than he could possibly wear. This ability was the boon of many a porter who only had to lug Pembroke's lone case, rather than the three or four that would normally be required for such an amount of clothing.
Its second power is by far the more interesting. Pembroke enchanted the portmanteau with several spells of alteration and transmogrification. At his will, he could place two items in the portmanteau, close the lid and speak the words of command and the enchantment of the portmanteau would fuse the two items into a single one. While almost anyone can use this power, even a child, the words of power are important as they control the fusion process. A simple abra-cadabra will start the spell, but the outcome would be at best random.
Some of Roger Pembroke's Items of Unique Clothing
With such a taste in gentlemanly fashion, Roger did create a number of popular clothing items that were frequently immitated and duplicated.
The Deerskin Vest - Pembroke created this warm and snug fitting vest by placing a well worn hunters vest and a freshly tanned deer hide in the portmanteau. The outcome was a suitably worn deerskin vest of the most charming color.
The Peacock Dress - conjured as a gift for the Lady of Northropshire, Pembroke added a dozen peacock feathers and a silk dress to the case to create one of the most vividly blue dresses in all of Middle Anglia.
Charlie's Knapsack - A rather poor creation, Charlie being a nephew of a social relation, did fiddle with the case unattended. In a bit of magical mischief he coaxed his Jack Russel Terrier into the case with his knapsack. The result was that the knapsak sprung alive from the case with the most hysterical fit of slapping straps and buckels. Charlie cried that he turned his dog into a bag, though his Aunt was quite pleased since the dog was made much quieter and no longer relieved itself on the rug.
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A decent idea that got me back into that Victorian English magic setting of 'Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell' once more. Have you been reading Susanna Clarke recently?
The idea itself is alright and cute.
I like the idea too-one could get some strange creatures from it.
This could also be a Castle Falkenstein item as well. I like the period and the period plus magic and or steam punk elements is quite fun.
I like the basic item and its conception. The lovely detail added by some of the example items were a nice touch. The piece is well written, with nice details, and minor dramatic hooks. The NPC almost deserves to be written up.
You could put in a footstool and a puppy and come out with a corgi. That expanes where those little dogs came from.
I love this line. 'the dog was made much quieter and no longer relieved itself on the rug' Sheer excellance.