Hearthstones
Of Fire
Fire Gem (Manse •)
Trigger: Concentration and breath
This Hearthstone is a transparent,
reddish-orange gemstone. It allows the bearer to breathe on a piece of wood or
other flammable material and thereby spark a small magical fire. In order to
remain alight, this fire must be fed further flammable material and protected
from wind and rain.
Gem of the Calm Heart (Manse •)
This Hearthstone is teardrop shaped and the
bright, glittering red of heart’s blood. It serves to bank the fires of the
character’s heart, allowing him to act out of reason rather than anger. The
Hearthstone allows the character who bears it to spend Willpower to suppress a
Valor check without adding to his Limit. This Hearthstone has no effect on
Limit Break conditions.
Gem Of Night
Vision (Manse •)
Trigger: Concentration
This Hearthstone is completely clear. Its
bearer sees perfectly in non-magical darkness, even when there is absolutely no
light at all.
Jewel Of Fire
Sense (Manse •)
Trigger: Concentration
Perfectly round, red and translucent, this
gem grants its wearer the ability to sense the largest source of fire within a
one-mile radius. His player merely makes a Perception + Awareness roll against
a difficulty of 3. Even one success lets the character know which way the fire
is and how far away it is. This Hearthstone does not indicate if there are any
obstacles (such as rivers) or dangers between the character and the fire. This
gem is particularly coveted in the North, where access to a fire can mean the
difference between life and death for even Exalts stranded in the cold and
unable to make a fire of their own.
Stone Of
Circulation (Manse •)
Trigger: None, constant
This Hearthstone is a translucent green. It
grants the bearer good blood circulation, helping to keep her warm in cold
weather and vice versa. It also improves her immune system and staves off the
dehydration of heat and the stiffness of cold. However, it cannot prevent
injury from more severe temperatures—for example, frost bite or scalding.
Mechanically, the bearer gains one extra die for appropriate Stamina and
Resistance rolls in non-temperate locations.
Stone Of Passion (Manse •)
Trigger: Speaking of important matters
This dark purple stone causes the bearer’s
voice to take on an appealing tinge of passion whenever he speaks on a matter
of emotional import to him. This zeal gives him two extra dice on any Charisma-
or Manipulation-based rolls that have to do with such topics.
Stone Of The Light
Sleeper (Manse •)
Trigger: Sleep
This disk is a bright, fiery red, with a
stylized sun etched into its surface. It blazes with inner light. Its bearer
can awaken at a moment’s notice with no sleepiness or confusion and will wake
up at the slightest out-of-place sound. This Hearthstone will make it difficult
for her to sleep in noisy places.
Blazing Soul Shard
(Manse ••)
Trigger: Concentration
Strangely unattractive for a Hearthstone,
the blazing soul shard is a long, jagged, violently yellow gemstone containing
red flecks throughout. The only Exalted who can benefit from this jewel are Fire-aspected
Dragon-Bloods. Once a Dragon-Blood has attuned this Hearthstone, the Essence
cost of igniting his anima banner decreases from 5 motes of Essence to 2.
Gem Of Seduction (Manse ••)
Trigger: None, constant
This Hearthstone is a deep purple that changes
to dark blue under direct sunlight. It causes the bearer to seem more
attractive to others, giving him an additional three dice on rolls pertaining
to seduction attempts. It also gives one extra die to any other Appearance
roll.
Gemstone Of Last
Resort (Manse ••)
Trigger: Focus anger and rage
This Hearthstone is a brown and black
speckled stone. The bearer may choose to ignore all wound penalties during a
combat. When he reaches Incapacitated, this effect ends immediately, and he can
still die. If the stone’s power is invoked, the bearer will take twice as long
as usual to heal from any wounds sustained in the combat, and the Essence cost
of any magical healing will be doubled.
Jewel Of Hungry Fire (Manse ••)
This gem is bright orange-red around the edges,
deepening to a glowing brick red at the center, like the coals of a banked
fire. The Hearthstone draws heat and flame into itself, protecting the
character. Add 6 to the character’s soak when applying damage from fire
attacks.
Prism Of Focused
Passion (Manse ••)
Trigger: Concentration
This Hearthstone is a pyramidal carnelian
stone with flecks of orange throughout. The Exalt wearing this gem can inflame
passions in such a way that a small amount of an emotion can be incited to
flare up like a spark catching fire under the breeze of a bellows. This
Hearthstone works to amplify those feelings into fiery passions, turning vague
attraction into uninhibited lust, amplifying disease into terror or fanning
annoyance into a full rage.
The bearer of a prism of focused passion
gains two additional dice on all applicable Presence dice pools (seduction,
intimidation, etc). For the purpose of inciting rage in another, the target’s
Virtue is treated as if it were one dot less than it is. This effect works only
on one target at a time.
The Sentinel’s
Stone (Manse ••)
Trigger: Concentration
This Hearthstone is a cloudy white shot
through with black-streaks that seem to move at night. It gives its bearer an
additional one die to use in any Awareness roll, three if he is standing watch.
Discord Stone (Manse •••)
Trigger: Concentration
This stone is a slim, dark-blue disc, and
it causes people to bicker amongst themselves. The bearer must pass within 10
feet of the people to be affected. Up to three people can be affected at once,
and this power can only be used once per day. The effect lasts for half a day;
during that time, the targets’ players must succeed at Willpower rolls in order
for the characters to pass up any opportunity to argue with someone. In order
to realize that the urge to argue came from somewhere else, their players must
succeed at Intelligence + Occult rolls, difficulty 3;
these rolls are made after the effect fades.
Fire Dragon’s
Scale (Manse •••)
Trigger: Taking damage
A popular form of protection for those who
can get one, a Fire Dragon’s scale appears to be a small wedge-shaped cat’s-eye
gem. Once the scale has been attuned to its wearer, any melee weapon inflicting
damage (before soak) on her taps into the elemental heat of the Dragon of Fire.
Metal weapons instantly grow searing hot, while weapons made of wood catch
fire. The player of the wielder of such a weapon must make a successful
Willpower roll, difficulty 3, or his character drops the weapon. If the
target’s player succeeds on the roll and refuses to have his character drop the
blade, the target takes two levels of lethal damage to his hands. If the player
succeeds on a simple Stamina + Endurance roll, the damage is halved. Any Aspect
of Fire who has ignited his anima banner beforehand is immune to the effects of
this Hearthstone.
Gem Of The Burning
House (Manse •••)
Trigger: Concentration
This Hearthstone is a near-perfect two-inch
cube of red. The possessor is immune to damage or burning from all normal
fires, including damage caused by smoke inhalation. Thus, she could enter a
burning building without harm. but she would take damage as usual from a
magical fire or an arrow that has had the Fiery Arrow Attack Charm used on it.
Neither the bearer nor her immediate possessions (carried or worn) will catch
fire.
Gem Of White Heat
(Manse •••)
Trigger: Activating a Solar or Fire Anima
Very popular with Fire Aspects of the
Immaculate Order, the gem of white heat is a translucent red-orange gemstone
with 12 pentagonal facets. When the wearer of the Gem ignites his anima, he
effectively doubles the intensity of the flaming nimbus around him. The flames
both flicker more quickly and burn more brightly, appearing blue and white
instead of red and orange. Damage inflicted by the wearer’s anima is doubled accordingly.
This is compatible with the character’s aspect power but only triples it,
rather than quadrupling it.
Hearth’s Fire (Manse •••)
Trigger: Touching the Hearthstone to the ground
(reflexive)
This deep orange-and-red crystal bursts
into flames the second it is placed on the ground. Whatever the environmental
condition, be it deep snow, pouring rain or a fine day on a green field, the
Hearthstone creates a fire of roughly two meters in diameter, which burns hot
enough to keep a dozen people warm and dry and to cook their food, in even the
worst of conditions. It will burn until it is struck by sunlight on the
following dawn. The Exalt who owns the stone may also touch the fire again to
snuff it with no damage to himself.
Liquid Fire
Cabochon (Manse •••)
Trigger: None, constant
This Hearthstone takes the shape of an unfaceted crimson oval. The liquid fire cabochon is
unpopular despite its power because of the sometimes unpredictable and
destructive effects it brings about.
The liquid fire cabochon causes its
wearer’s bodily fluids to ignite and blaze intensely upon leaving the wearer’s
person. Blood, tears, urine, semen and sweat all erupt into a white blaze like
burning phosphorus upon leaving the wearer. A single tear will deliver one
level of bashing damage to anyone it falls on, a wad of spit will inflict one
level of lethal (or easily ignite flammable objects such as wood or cloth),
while a significant gout of blood will inflict up to six levels of lethal
damage. Pissing on the side of a wooden hut will send the edifice up in flames.
These Hearthstones can provide a powerful disincentive to those attacking the
character with melee weapons. In addition, anyone drinking the wearer’s blood
(an Abyssal consuming Essence, a Lunar wanting heart’s blood and the like) will
take the full six lethal health levels of damage each turn she persists in
consuming the target’s blood.
In combat, assume that attackers take one
level of lethal damage for every three levels they inflict on the wearer with
edged weapons. Powerful Dodge Charms such as Flow Like Blood (and any others
that allow the user to dodge unsensed attacks) allow
the attacker to avoid sprays of blood, but the effect must activate separately
each time the possessor of the Hearthstone is injured.
Sphere Of The Revolutionary Dog (Manse •••)
Trigger: Constant
This orb is a
brilliant orange, and it appears to be filled with slowly billowing tongues of
flame. This sphere increases the rate at which temporary Willpower is regained.
Any time the owner recovers Willpower for any reason, the amount of Willpower
regained is increased by one. This bonus will never raise the character’s
temporary Willpower above his permanent Willpower.
Battle Fire Ruby
(Manse ••••)
Trigger: None, constant
This Hearthstone is found in the shape of a
perfect 10-sided ruby. So long as the character is wearing the battle fire
ruby, she is driven to act in accordance with her more aggressive nature —
sometimes to her detriment. Dragon-Bloods who question their own aggressiveness
in battle sometimes seek out these gems as a means of attaining some martial
ideal. When rolling the character’s Conviction or Valor, any result of 9 or 10
count as two successes. Likewise, when rolling Compassion or Temperance,
10s count as only a single success.
Bloody-Eyed Burning Jewel (Manse ••••)
This Hearthstone
appears to be a particularly brilliant jacinth, with an inner core of deep red.
Anybody attuned to it can, at will, summon fire and smite down enemies merely
with her gaze. Her eyes burn deep red, and fire spears from them to strike
targets like a hammer. Each turn that she looks at someone within 20 yard, she
can inflict a number of dice of lethal damage equal to her permanent Essence.
This ability requires full concentration and may not be used while making other
attacks or taking other actions. The target may dodge the fiery assault as if
it were a normal attack but may not parry it; armor will only soak it if it is
composed of one of the Five Magical Material. It is clear to the victim of the
attack who is damaging him, assuming the attacker is visible.
Bright Eye Of The
Fire Dragon (Manse ••••)
Trigger: Concentration
The bright eye of the Fire Dragon is a
luminous and perfect octahedral ruby with an iridescent black fleck at its very
center. The wearer of the bright eye of the Fire Dragon can see anything in
line of sight of a natural fire, great or small, in a radius in miles equal to
the Exalt’s Essence. The wearer’s player rolls Perception + Awareness, and the
character can see through any fire within a number of miles equal to the number
of successes on the roll. The bearer could spy on his enemies through their
lamp flame or engage in aerial reconnaissance by firing a burning arrow into
the sky. At the Storyteller’s discretion, this Hearthstone may allow the wearer
to perceive locations through magical, supernatural or unnatural fires or
through the fiery substance of fire elementals.
Stone Of Blood To
Fire (Manse ••••)
Trigger: Concentration
This Hearthstone is a rough, cracked red.
The bearer may transform any shed blood to fire, causing anything that has
blood on it to catch fire. The blood must be within the bearer’s line of sight,
and the fire it creates maybe pat out like any other fire. The fire does two
health levels of damage per turn until it is put out, and it will cause any
flammable materials it touches to bum. Without flammable material to burn, the
fire will only bum for three turns. Not all blood within line of sight is set
on fire, just that which the Hearthstone’s bearer chooses.
Fire-Eating Rock
(Manse •••••)
Trigger: Concentration
Taking the form of a round chunk of matte
black stone containing bright red flecks, the fire-eating rock has the ability
to consume fire. Campfires, bonfires and even whole conflagrations can be
sucked into the Hearthstone, leaving any material that was burning cool to the
touch (although it doesn’t heal or repair any damage the fire has already
caused). At its bearer’s will, the rock can consume any and all fire in a
radius of (wearer’s Essence) yards. The fire-eating rock’s wearer can cut a
swath through a vast inferno simply by holding the rock out in front of him and
walking into the fire.
Magical flames are not affected by the
fire-eating rock, including the fiery animas of Fire-aspected Dragon-Bloods and
any fire directly created through sorcery (although normal fires caused by sorcerous
fire are affected). Fire elementals, however, are explicitly
affected by this Hearthstone. If the wearer attempts to absorb a fire elemental
into the fire-eating rock, the elemental gets an opposed Willpower roll against
the Exalt. If the Exalt and the elemental do not have equal Essence ratings,
the party with the higher Essence adds the difference to his dice pool on the
opposed roll. If the Exalt wins, the elemental is drawn into the Hearthstone
and dispersed into the Essence background of Creation to reform again as a new
individual soon thereafter. The Exalt immediately regains motes of Essence
equal to the elemental’s Essence rating. If the elemental wins, the fire-eating
rock shatters, although a new one will form in the Manse in 28 days.
Firebird Gem (Manse •••••)
The bearer of this
Hearthstone may cast off human form entirely and physically transform herself
into a bird of living fire, capable of flying hundreds of leagues at incredible
speed. All objects that she is wearing, including weapons, are included in the
transformation, but steeds or friends must be left behind. The bird of fire can
travel a hundred leagues in an hour, but the character must return to her
natural form at midday or midnight, whichever comes first, and rest for at
least an hour before continuing. She will feel hunger and exhaustion from the
flight as though she had spent the last span of hours running hard. The Exalt
can set fire to flammable objects in the flaming bird form, and all attacks on
others inflict an additional +2 damage beyond normal for hand-to-hand and do
lethal rather than bashing damage. Any weapons, armor or
shield that she may have had in her human form become part of the flames of her
wings and may not be used in combat. The touch of any liquid returns the
character to her normal form. This Hearthstone is a ruby as wide across as a
woman’s palm, with a flickering golden light at the center.
Gem Of Bones To
Fire (Manse •••••)
Trigger: Concentration
This Hearthstone is a palm-sized slab that
ranges from blue-purple at one end to green at the other. Along the purple end
is a jagged layer of gold. The bearer concentrates, and his player makes a
Manipulation + Socialize roll for the Exalt to catch someone’s eye. The
difficulty of this roll is the target’s Essence score. If the roll succeeds,
the target’s player makes a Willpower roll at a
difficulty equal to the number of successes the bearer got. If the target
fails, her bones slowly turn to burning cinders, causing two health levels of
unsoakable lethal damage per turn until death or until the bearer loses sight
of her. If the target leaves the bearer’s line of sight, the burning stops, and
she may heal normally.
Gem Of Perfect Mobility (Manse •••••)
Any Exalted
bearing this Hearthstone moves as swiftly as a racing fire. A character attuned
to the stone can take two normal actions per turn without penalties any may
divide her dice pools normally to gain additional actions. By taking both
actions as movements, the character can also walk, run or sprint twice as fast
as normal. Sorcery still takes the normal time to cast, and using these
additional actions makes the character appear inhumanly fast. Anyone seeing the
character move or react this rapidly will know she is not human. This
Hearthstone is a brilliant red and glows as bright as a candle. The additional
action gained from using the stone is incompatible with all Extra actions
Charms. The character can use one or the other, but never both.
Gem Of Legendary
Leadership (Manse •••••)
Trigger: None, constant
This Hearthstone is such a dark green that
it looks black in dim light. It bestows upon the Exalt who bears it the
qualities of a great leader, granting two extra dice to use in any Presence,
Performance or Bureaucracy rolls related to leadership or governance, as well
as any rolls involving battle strategy. It also gives one extra die for all
combat-related rolls, such as Brawl, Martial Arts, Melee, Archery and Thrown,
as long as the bearer is leading troops into a battle. If the bearer is not the
leader of his force or if he does not fight beside his men, then he doesn’t get
that combat bonus.
Jade Of Puissant
Seeing (Manse •••••)
Trigger: Constant/Concentration
The Jade of Puissant Seeing is a
translucent oval of shimmering red. If one stares deeply into it, one gets the
impression the stone is in some way staring back. The Hearthstone gives two
benefits. The wielder of the stone can see expenditures of Essence, perceiving them
as flickering firefly-like motes in his field of visions when desired. This
effect has a maximum range of nearly 100 leagues — as far as the Deheleshen
Lighthouse’s light can be seen at night. Detecting important expenditures out
of the background clutter can be difficult — the wearer’s player must
successfully roll the character’s permanent Essence + Awareness, as a simple
action (particularly large or blatant uses of Essence may require a reflexive
check to observe). Detecting an incoming Skywolf-class craft running at
top speed would be difficulty 1, while detecting a Night Caste using a damped
Stealth Charm would be difficulty 5 + the Solar’s permanent Essence. This
effect cannot penetrate perfect Stealth effects. Working from the Deheleshen
Lighthouse’s summit is not required, but it does help — add two dice to the
user’s dice pool if he is standing in the tower’s storm watch.
The second benefit is that, once the wearer
has detected a target of interest, he can spend 3 motes to observe the site
directly — this is a normal Perception + Awareness check to notice any given
detail, at +2 difficulty. The observer can only see
the location (he gains no clairaudience, etc.), and penalties or benefits for
Charms, obscured vision, etc. are determined normally.
Jewel Of The
Blazing Gate (Manse •••••)
Trigger: Anytime the bearer suffers fire damage or summons a fire
elemental
This Hearthstone — a perfect deep-blue cube
with a pulsing crimson center — is a connection to the deepest South, where the
world turns to elemental fire.
Attunement to a jewel of the blazing gate
connects the bearer subtly to the South and to the element of fire. All fire
damage dealt to the bearer is halved. Furthermore, possession of this
Hearthstone greatly facilitates the summoning of fire elementals, reducing by
three quarters both all Essence costs and the time involved