Throughout history there have been a lot of examples of artyfacts or objects which had a clear 'good' influence on man(kind) or at least had good intentions. For example the Holy Grale, and King Arthur's sword Excalibur. You could find many more examples.
Of objects that were obviously 'evil' there are not many examples. The invention of gunpowder or the invention of the rifle could spring to mind, but those are not really one object. One of those objects in fiction is 'The One Ring' in The Lord of the Rings.
But what if such an object did excist? And what if it moved through history from one bad guy to another? What would it look like? A sword or a dagger or a poisoned wine-glass? Or would it be more subtle, and use the fear of humans and use the humans themself? And what if the 'evil' of the barer is incuraged by the object. And the object feeds on the fear and evil of its barer?
The Talisman from this story is such an object. It has left a bloody trail through history. Sometimes in the hands of people you could pin-point immediatly, sometimes more subtle.
The Songs in this story are all about 1 person who came under the spell of this Talisman. They differ a lot in character, and also the the things they did to the world are quiet different: the downfall of the Templers, the masacres under the Inca's, or Jadus the Traitor of Jezus.
And what if this Talisman is still in our world? Where would she be? With the 'bad-guys' of today, or would she lie in wait somewhere, waiting for a new victim...