This reliquary is quite heavy and of fairly large size (about Bulk 9), made from a very light-colored but dense material — perhaps ivory or an unusual wood. It is covered with reliefs of major Avatars and exquisite scrollwork. Several of the designs have tiny rubies or amethysts worked into them. Many of the Avatars’ eyes are tiny emeralds, though about half have fallen out.

Possibilities:

1. Inside the reliquary is the jewel-encrusted, gold-leafed tibia of the Avatar Ferkios, which has been missing for many centuries. It lies on a bed of surprisingly clean velvet.
2. The interior of the reliquary is sectioned up; each of the four sections contains the remains of a different Avatar.
3. The reliquary’s decorations indicate, to someone knowledgeable in religious symbology, that it should contain the remains of Selimo the Just. Strangely, though, it contains the bones of an entirely different Avatar, but there is no indication as to why.
4. The reliquary was sealed more than a century ago. It is impossible to open save through divine intervention. It contains the remains of a necromancer/anti-Avatar who threatened the very existence of the Temple. The reliquary may seem a strange vessel in which to contain such abhorrent remains; they chose it because it was the holiest vessel available. It is possible that removing the remains would cause the necromancer to come back to (un)life.
5. The interior is utterly clean and dustless, despite having sat in an underground location for decades. The molded shape seems designed to hold a skull, but there is no skull present. There is also a note indicating that the skull was traded to another Temple in exchange for undisclosed favors.
6. The reliquary contains only a few cobwebs. However, pressing the right combination of gemstones causes several of the reliefs to detach from the reliquary. Beneath each relief is a finger bone, in itself a relic; and put together, they form the full Hand of Iridescent Deliverance.
7. The reliquary was remade from an earlier reliquary. Whatever relic is contained within ends up acquiring some aspects of the previous relic held within. Why did they decide to remake the earlier reliquary? And who were they?
8. The reliquary has traveled a vast distance to get here. Several of the gemstones worked into it have been replaced by gems from different places around the world. Its religion is no longer practiced in the land it came from.
9. The reliquary is the last extant creation of the great artisan Linela of the Ivory Hand. The reliquary was designed by her as the final resting place for her own remains.
10. The interior contains a moderately important Avatar’s remains. However, the reliquary also has a false bottom; within the false bottom is one of the most important relics in existence, long considered destroyed in the War of 654.
11. The reliquary is a fake, made to deceive a wealthy merchant, about 100 years ago. It was sold for a heavenly sum. However, the merchant saw through the fake and eventually tracked down the fakers; their remains are contained within.
12. The reliquary is an unholy fake. It is carefully modeled on another reliquary, but someone skilled in religious iconography will recognize that the Avatars have been subtly altered from their correct expressions. The reliquary will channel and focus evil religious energies; it will eventually destroy any relics placed within it. Indeed, it contains a grey ash that was once the eye of Gethne the Far-Seeing.