Cornwell Asset Management - Artefacts
The second most common of Cornwell's three "Assets", Artefacts are items of great (or at least unusual) power. They're officially defined as "A non-sapient (though not necessarily non-sentient) item of great power. Artefacts, unlike Specimens, can be fabricated as well as discovered."

They're almost exclusive made, though not necessarily by Cornwell, nor always through normal manufacturing processes. A gun with an attitude problem, a doll with a pervasive passive aggressive aura, some keys that just don't want to be found, almost all Artefacts dealt with by interns will be... at least a little useful, if not a little frustrating.

Mechanically speaking, Artefacts usually take the form of Items, Weapons, or Armours. They will be things that players can utilise during an adventure to help (and sometimes hinder) themselves during their story. 

A Reward For Backers
Backers of SHIVER: Corporate now get to vote on which of these peculiar artefacts is going to be featured in both the "Asset Mismanagement" Card Deck, and one of (we won't spoil it) the Cornwell Consolidated  Supplements ("Mandatory Company Greeting", "Have A Safe Corporate Takeover", "Your Last First Day on the Job").

All Backers need to do is pick an Artefact, vote for it (thereby telling all the world its your favourite), and then tell us in the comments WHY it should win. Now, we're not saying your reasoning will outweigh the vote totals, but we also never said Cornwell was a democracy.

And if you haven't backed yet, don't miss your chance to have your say! Back today, and let us know which of these weird little critters you want to see!

You Can See the Artefacts On Offer (As Well As Some Notes From Cornwell's Files On Them) Below:

Option #1: Artefact CN-G0 - The Deton-Ape
A tragic keepsake of a simpler time, imbued with psychic energy? Perhaps. Then again, maybe it was never actually a doll to begin with and is just something else assuming the shape. All the same, this little monkey toy is... fragile. Emotionally fragile. It likes to be read to. Children's books, mostly. Cornwell approved literature.

And if you don't give ti what it likes it gets upset. Expect the most explosive of tantrums.

First Appearance: "Termination Notice", to be published 2026

Option #2: Artefact CQ-FP - Excalipurr

Are you familiar with the phrase "isekai" Neither are we, but one of the Infranet Support Team is obsessed with it. Recently they commandeered a portal so they could fulfil their "Shonen Destiny". Anyway, when we got the scraps back from the interdimensional portal, we found this.

Its like a sword, but its covered in fur, and I swear it gives you a nasty scratch just for looking at it wrong. That and it has an unfortunate habit of summoning all the local cats in the area. We don't even have cats in an underground research facility, and yet they keep coming!

First Appearance: SHIVER Epic 2025: "The Recruitment Gauntlet"

Option #3: Artefact SLP-E-TYM - The P-Jamas
It's like a onesie, except it hugs to your flesh with tons of micro-fibrous needles that can monitor all sorts of things. What sort of things? All sorts of them. Why are you asking so many questions? Don't you want to be "Snuggable, Huggable, and Observable" like the sales sheet says?

This is one of Cornwell's brainwaves that is unlikely to make it out of prototype, but that won't stop them from performing extensive testing on their interns. Sometimes for great science, you just need to be willing to make sacrifices.