The Humble Soldiers

This battered wooden box is  held closed by a simple leather strap and buckle, measures two feet by one foot by eight inches, and weighs  5 pounds.. Within are several toy soldiers, neatly placed in their separate compartments. On the interior of the lid, in a child's scrawl, a name is written in charcoal.


Crafted by an artificer in ages long past , the Humble Soldiers are not unique. Several sets were fashioned, given to assorted children as a kindness, and as means to protect hearth and home. When discovered, the box will contain the following: 1d6 footmen armed with pikes,  1d4 archers, 1 mounted knight bearing a standard. Additionally, for each of the following roll 1d20, on a roll of 20, the figurine is present: A Dragon, A Catapult, A wizard riding a unicorn.


When arranged in formation and the owner's name is spoken, the figurines grow and come to life. Answering to the summoner, they will fight to the death defending the summoner and his loved ones. When slain the soldiers return to their figurine form, and cannot be summoned for 24 hours. For each slain figure, roll 1D6, on a 1, the figurine is broken and useless.

When using this item in your system of choice, treat the footmen and archers as hirelings, the knight as a level 2 fighting man, the wizard as a level 1 magic user, the dragon as a young specimen of the Red Dragon species, and unicorn as written in the bestiary provided by your game of choice.