Level 5
Artifacts
Bonestrider (Artifact •••••)
Made entirely of bone and soulsteel, the
bonestrider doesn’t look anything like a warstrider from Creation, but it
performs the exact same functions. Bonestriders are animated by Labyrinth
Circle Necromancy, but their stats are the same as a common warstrider, and
they are often outfitted with similar weapons (albeit the Underworld’s
equivalents).
No one who sees a bonestrider has any
doubts as to its composition. Bones of enormous creatures are sculpted into the
necessary shapes and connected on a barbed soulsteel frame. Enormous scapulas
guard the chest, while bone plates set in soulsteel guard the back and abdomen.
The bones still possess the fluid curves of bone, but given the range of
creatures the bones have come from and the degree of sculpting that’s been
performed on them, it’s impossible to discern the origins or the original
function of the bones used.
The Chariot Of
Aerial Conquest (Artifact •••••)
This well-armored
flying vehicle was one of the Old Realm’s most fantastic creations. The Chariot
of Aerial Conquest is a large pentagonal vehicle that superficially resembles a
well-armored howdah, and can carry up to a dozen infantry soldiers, five riders
and their horses, or two warstriders. The chariot can travel as fast as a
galloping horse and flies up to 20 yards above the ground. Windows in four of
its five sides can be opened wide enough to let passengers use bows and thrown
weapons. When open, these windows provide 75 percent cover (-3 against
missiles, -1 against melee attacks). When closed, the resultant window-slits
provide 90 percent cover (-4 against missiles, -2 against melee attacks) and
limited visibility. Each of these four sides can also open wide enough to admit
three armored warriors or one person leading a horse. The fifth side
incorporates a magically transparent window, behind which the vehicle’s pilot
sits. Pilots must have a Sail score of at least 2 and must pilot the craft
using a Wits + Sail dice pool. The chariot requires two full turns to take off
or land. It has five retractable landing legs that can extend up to a yard. The
legs function independently and allow the chariot to land on moderately rough
terrain. However, this vessel is too heavy to safely land on water, deep mud,
or other terrain incapable of supporting a large, fully loaded wagon.
The battle chariot
is almost silent when in motion and can be commanded to alter its color to
match the hue of the sky. When the vehicle travels in this covert fashion,
human observers on the ground will only notice it if they succeed in making a
Perception + Awareness roll at difficulty 2. However, the craft is immediately
obvious whenever it attempts to land or take off. Also, any Exalted or spirit
within 30 yards of the craft instantly feels the wash of magical energy from
it. This vehicle is designed for the special use of Dawn Caste warriors and can
channel a Dawn anima effect. This weave of terror emanates from the chariot,
while the Dawn Caste rides safely inside. Because of the massive amount of
energy required, this effect can only be used when the chariot has landed.
Activating a battle chariot requires the user to place a Hearthstone or at
least level 3 from a Manse to which he is attuned into a special receptacle
inside the vehicle.
The Collar Of Dutiful Submission (Artifact •••••)
This item ensures that its wearer obeys the
wishes of whoever put the collar on him. To use the collar, the owner of this
artifact spends a mote of Essence to activate it (she recovers this Essence
normally). Then, she places the collar on the person she wishes to wear it and
orders him to commit 2 motes of Essence to the collar. Since the collar will
not lock until the wearer has committed this Essence, the owner will know if
the wearer refuses to commit the Essence. Once committed, this Essence cannot
be uncommitted until the collar is removed.
Until the collar is removed, anytime the
wearer attempts to directly attack the owner or whenever the owner wishes to
punish the wearer for disobedience, the collar will slowly tighten, doing one
die of unsoakable bashing damage to the wearer every turn until the wearer is
rendered unconscious or until the owner orders the collar to stop tightening.
This damage cannot be healed by any means until the collar stops inflicting
additional damage. If used for a sufficiently long period of time, the collar
will render the wearer unconscious, but it will stop before it causes any
lethal damage to the wearer. If desired, the owner can also order the collar to
keep the wearer unconscious indefinitely. The owner can cause the collar to
constrict at any time merely by spending a single mote of Essence. Regardless
of the distance between the owner and the wearer, the collar will immediately
begin to constrict, even if the owner is in Yu-Shan and the wearer is in
Creation or the Underworld.
The owner can easily remove this collar by
simply touching it and spending another mote of Essence. The only other ways to
remove one of these collars is by the direct action of one of the Celestial
Incarna or by the use of an exceedingly rare spell of Solar Circle Sorcery. No
other magic or Charm will affect these collars, and they are completely immune
to all forms of attack.
The Coral Crown (Artifact •••••)
Verethine’s crown appears as a misshapen
mass of coral with seven tall spines reaching upward. Encrusted within the
coral are specks of all the Five Magical Materials, though none in enough
quantities to provide bonuses. The crown marks Verethine as the King of the
Vodonik and places him high in the hierarchy of the
Crimson Armor Of The Unseen Assassin
(Artifact •••••)
Prized and rare armor used by the most
dangerous rangers, these artifacts are part armor, part concealment, and
exceedingly dangerous. Never common, they were made in some numbers, and both
the Realm and Lookshy possess several working copies — Lookshy is known to have
10 functional suits and may have as many as a scale’s worth. The Sidereals have
retained the knowledge of how to produce new copies of this armor, and several
members of the Gold Faction are known to use them.
The exact design varied, but all suits
share a few common traits. All known suits are bright scarlet in color and
obscure the wearer completely in armor and flowing robes — even at rest, it can
be hard to make out the wearer’s form distinctly. Most of the suit is formed of
a flowing, tightly woven material similar in feel and quality to the finest
silk. In most designs, the only visible armor are greaves and bracers that
extend to protect the elbows and knees and, occasionally, shoulder guards —
despite this, the protection afforded by this armor is nearly as good as that
of reinforced plate.
The suit’s true defenses in combat are not
armor, but stealth and mobility. The armor doubles all movement rates and adds
four dice to the wearer’s Stealth dice pool. These dice apply to any and all
means of detecting the wearer, by any sense natural or supernatural, and
specifically bypass any Charm or ability that negates magical invisibility,
unless the Charm’s user has a permanent Essence 2 higher than that of the
wearer. For 3 motes per scene, this is raised to +6 dice, rendering the wearer
invisible to all but the most keen-eyed observers. The armor also adds 2 to the
wearer’s Awareness, negates penalties for darkness and, at the cost of 2 motes
per minute of use, and grants the user Essence sight.
For 5 motes, the wearer can blur his form
in combat, becoming an indistinct red shadow that flows and strikes without
warning. This effect lasts a number of turns equal to the user’s permanent
Essence and reduces all actions against the wearer by three successes — this
includes attacks (ranged and melee) and parries but not dodges.
The most powerful defense afforded the
wearer is both subtle and pervasive. So long as the armor is worn, the wearer
is removed from destiny. This protection is identical to that enjoyed by
demons, Deathlords and the Fair Folk — the wearer cannot be targeted by
Sidereal astrology, his actions cannot be foreseen, nor may his location be
determined in the stars. (In a game where Sidereal astrology is not used, this
ability is lessened, and crimson armor is Artifact ••••). To the stars, the
wearer simply does not exist, and his presence is not accounted for in any
predictions.
Crimson armor requires 10 committed motes,
and there are warnings against wearing it for too long at any one time, lest
one’s soul become permanently detached from destiny — and even from the cycle
of reincarnation. While some dismiss these warnings as legend and myth, the
Seventh Legion has strict orders against excessive use, and Sidereals are loath
to wear crimson armor unless the occasion demands it.
The Crucible Of Tarim (Artifact •••••)
Tarim was one of the first Exalted
sorcerers to recognize the value of storing magical effects in liquid form. By
pre-preparing a group of spells in drinkable form, he found he could support
allies without being physically present. According to his writings, he also
found a beneficial side effect to preparing spells in liquid form — when
combining the ingredients in some sort of container, errors tended to be a bit
more forgiving to the sorcerer. The container absorbed the effects of miscast
spells, reducing the wear and tear on the spell-caster’s body. Recognizing the
value of this side effect, Tarim dedicated a number of years to the creation of
the ultimate in spell-preparation containers.
The Crucible of Tarim is the culmination of
this research. Not only does it protect the sorcerer from the caustic effects
of misapplied Essence, this great copper vessel is rumored to enhance the
mystical research of anyone who uses it. Large enough to hold a young child
within its depths, the vat features a mystifying array of wheels and spigots on
its exterior. The pot can be opened for the introduction of ingredients, but
when closed, a wheel on its lid seals it tightly. The spigots can then be used
to release pressure or the contents of the pot in a controlled manner without
opening it.
Rumors have it that the pot is resistant to
the ravages of time and thus it is impossible to date when it might have been
created, but rough dates can be applied based on the educational lineage of
Tarim and comments in his writing. Rumors also state that Exalted and unExalted sorcerers alike can use the crucible to distill
Essence and create liquid versions of spells when it is paired with an
appropriate instruction book. Unfortunately, the location of the instruction
book is unknown, so, for the time being, the crucible serves as little more
than a conversation piece.
The Sidereal Exalted have
several devices similar to this item, and the Empress was known to possess one
as well, which is presumably still in her personal chambers.
Cry Of The Illuminated (Artifact •••••)
This flying machine is what Ayesha Ura and
Krinstet Orr created from Vanileth’s blueprints. The Cry of the Illuminated is
a golden flying machine, capable of carrying 10 people and moving at speeds of
100 miles per hour. It is not a subtle machine, however, and creates
considerable noise upon takeoff and landing if not silenced with a Charm or a
spell. It is beautifully decorated with gold and gems, clearly the chariot of a
queen and her retinue. It resembles an aerial rickshaw of Yu-Shan in its body’s
egglike design, but it has wings with propellers
jutting from the sides. Ayesha Ura hides the Cry of the Illuminated in
an underground building near the Scavenger Lands training camp and weaves
Charms and spells to obscure its location from everyone but Lupo.
Daiklave Of
Conquest (Artifact •••••)
Forged for the
greatest generals of the Old Realm, this weapon is designed exclusively for use
by the Dawn Caste. No other Exalted can attune themselves
to this weapon, nor wield its fantastic powers. As long as this daiklave is
unsheathed, all opponents and other hostile individuals within 10 meters of the
bearer must make a Valor roll at +1 difficult or flee in fear. Those that hold
their ground lose a number of dice from all attacks equal to the bearer’s Valor
score.
As long as the
bearer is using this weapon in combat, friendly troops fight with improved
morale that gives them an additional bonus die to all combat-related dice
pools. These soldiers need not make Valor rolls. In addition, all opponents
lost one die from all combat-related dice pools and receive a +1 penalty to
their Valor rolls. Both of these powers affect combatants within a mile of the
Exalted wielding the daiklave. The relevant bonuses and penalties do not apply
to civilians or neutral soldiers. When used in battle, the daiklave glows with
a bright, unearthly light.
Dawn Caste members
must spend 10 motes of Essence to attune this blade. Both known examples of
this rare and deadly treasure are heavy, straight-bladed daiklaves with
settings for 3 Hearthstones.
Domnica’s Mantle (Artifact •••••)
This mantle, made of a fine gray mist,
allows the wearer to utter a word so potent as to both end and begin his life.
As the mantle draws upon his Essence, his body turns to dust. The mantle holds
the spark of his life, and unless the mantle is destroyed, the wearer is reborn
within two years. He may name the mother he prefers, who must have Essence 8 or
less; he may name the circumstances and location of the birth; and he chooses
which of these criteria takes precedence, in the event that the intervention of
greater forces prevents the satisfaction of both desires. He can even tailor
his physical appearance in his new life.
Over his new life’s early childhood, he
slowly remembers his previous existence. If he was a Dragon-Blood or a
Celestial who retained the grace of his patron, he Exalts at puberty. If he
chose a non-mortal mother, the Exaltation burns away his substance and recreates
him as a mortal before it takes effect. Any supernatural abilities deriving
from his new life’s heritage disappear, while his old Traits return. However,
he may rearrange dots among his Strength, Dexterity, Stamina and Appearance and
can also replace previously purchased Charms with Charms that simulate natural
abilities of his new Form (such as Ox-Body Technique, Strength of Stone
Technique, Impervious Skin of Stone Meditation and Mountain Toppling Method).
Normally, the chosen mother gives birth in
the normal fashion. In the event that the Exalt chooses a barren mother, a
male, a Fair Folk lady or some other creature that does not normally suffer
pregnancy, the mantle must distort circumstances. For example, someone “born”
to the Fair Folk may simply appear among them as the “child” of the mother
chosen, with puberty defined entirely in reference to some opportunity to prove
himself adult.
Emerald Thurible (Artifact •••••)
This horrific relic takes the form of an
incense burner sculpted from mottled green crystal. Any educated demonologist
can recognize the shade of green as the very color of the mad green sun shining
upon the Demon City of Malfeas. Exalted or God-Blooded with access to Essence
must commit 8 motes to attune the Emerald Thurible, while mortal users can
instead commit two points of temporary Willpower and a lethal health level that
does not heal for the duration of the commitment. Once attuned, the artifact
allows any Celestial Exalt to cast Demon of the
As an additional benefit, the Emerald
Thurible allows users to convert blood sacrifices into motes for the purposes
of powering demon summoning spells and weakening summoned demons during the act
of binding. Each lethal health level of human blood spilled by the Thurible’s
bearer as a dedicated sacrifice counts as 1 mote, so butchered extras only
offer 3 motes. Sacrifices may be performed and “banked” to provide a phantom
Essence pool on which to draw, but this pool depletes each day at sunrise.
Mortals without Essence pools can only summon and bind demons with the
Emerald Thurible using sacrifices.
If other copies of this dread artifact
exist besides the one hanging from Mnemon’s belt, they remain well hidden in
the tombs and towers of First Age sorcerers or the vaults of the Deathlords.
Eye Of The Fire Dragon (Artifact •••••)
Forged in secret before the Great Uprising
for use in hunting the Anathema, the Eye of the Fire Dragon was used by various
Immaculate heroes during the war, including the Righteous Pirate and Dee the
Hook. Hesiesh himself is said to have carried it for a time, but he never
wielded it in battle. Most notably, it was used in the battle at Hollow and
struck the killing blow against the Solar Anathema Desus. After the war, it
passed into the hands of various religious sects, including the Hesiesh Youth Fiery
Murder Society, who used it in the Bloody Hands Uprisings.
By the time the Immaculate Order became
well established and institutionalized, the time had
largely passed when artifacts such as the Eye of the Fire Dragon were
especially important to the rulership of nations. When the weapon passed out of
the hands of the temple societies and into the hands of the rapidly
legitimizing Order, the senior clerics found it easy to take such weapons out
of the public eye — and the hands of the daimyos. They were “preserved for use
by the Wyld Hunt” and kept out of the hands of champions and assassination
teams.
Occasionally used during the Shogunate, the
Eye of the Fire Dragon was not especially well favored by the Wyld Hunt because
of its particular orientation toward killing Solar Anathema. Such a powerful
weapon was hardly needed in the hunt for young Solars, and so, this valuable
relic was generally held in reserve. Immediately after the Contagion, it fell
into the hands of Mazur, one of the Seven Tigers, who looted it from a deserted
monastery and used it as a standard of his authority. After his destruction,
the weapon was rediscovered, apparently having survived the fires of Heaven.
The weapon passed into the hands of the
Scarlet Empress, who had it decontaminated and kept it as her battle lance
against Anathema. After several centuries, she apparently tired of this, and
still not relenting to the Immaculates pleadings that it be
returned to the Wyld Hunt, she passed it to the Tepets as an heirloom weapon.
The Tepets kept it in their armories, and it was sent to Fallen Lapis, where it
was lost on the field fighting Fear-Eater. It was not recovered by the Bull of
the North’s forces and may be lost in the field or, more likely, stolen by some
third party.
The Eye appears to be a thick-handled,
broad-headed, two-handed spear. Its head has a lightly textured, matte-black
finish with exposed red-jade cutting surfaces, and the grip is a textured
synthetic covered with a specialized gripping surface. The spear’s head has a
socket in the center for a single Hearthstone. The Eye is clearly designed for
infiltration, and its coating makes it seem perfectly mundane to the effects of
All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight, Pulse of the Invisible and similar Essence
perceptions. However, effects operating at range touch can still perceive the
weapon’s power, and it may be seen as a brightly glowing, red-jade chevron
unless the blade’s special Essence-muting hood is installed (effectively, the
weapon cannot be ready for use and invisible to Essence perceptions). Removing or installing the hood, which on its own would be an
Artifact ••• item, takes one turn. If the spear is not unhooded, it does only bashing damage. This weapon requires
an investment of 10 motes of Essence in order to operate. The spear adds 3 to
the difficulty of any attempt to hit the character wielding it with any attacks
powered by or enhanced with Solar Charms. Damage inflicted with the spear
against the Solar Exalted is aggravated. A character wielding it inflicts
aggravated damage to the Solar Exalted with her anima if it is Fire-aspected.
The Golden Viper (Artifact •••••)
The master magicians of the First Age could
breathe the semblance of life into dead matter, producing animate but unliving
servants. Latter-day wizards achieve similar results by binding spirits into
magically crafted bodies, but these golems are either mindless or display
entirely too much free will.
The Golden Viper is the most intelligent
automaton known, and even First Age texts speak of it as a notable thing. This
lifelike serpent, fashioned of orichalcum and jewels
on a framework of starstone, stretches six feet long
and is about four inches wide at its thickest. The Golden Viper serves anyone
who possesses it, once its previous owner is dead.
The Viper is a formidable assassin. It can
move through small openings and hide like a real serpent, coil and strike In a
matter of seconds, a person bitten by the Viper turns to gold (ordinary gold,
not orichalcum}. Magicians and Exalted have somewhat greater resistance to the
Golden Viper’s bite than do mere mortals, but even they can be slain and
transmuted by the magic serpent’s bite.
What’s more, the automaton knows whatever
any of its victims knew. It advises its owner on the basis of this truly
awesome base of stolen knowledge and experience. The Golden Viper knows no
mercy or compassion. It advises the most ruthlessly practical course to
whatever goal its master seeks. If the Viper’s master is not already a complete
cynic about human nature, she will be after a few years of the Viper’s callous
insight into human foibles.
The Helm Of Heart’s Desire (Artifact •••••)
Where can a ship go? Anywhere the helmsman
can steer it. With this precious First Age artifact, a captain can steer his
ship to any known harborage — or, better still, to the land of his dreams. The
edge of Creation holds all possibilities, including dreams of the past and
hopes for the future. Does the steersman seek a land where the friends of his
youth still live in harmony and where the cliffs of his childhood rise to
welcome him as he emerges from the Wyld mists to see a familiar shore? It can
be found. Would he rather find a land that fits his future dreams, where lions
will follow him obediently and birds of paradise will nest in his eaves and
where he can live in never-ending contests of arms or constantly test himself
by hunting antelopes or rarer prey?
The Helm of Heart’s Desire, as it is
referred to in certain First Age scrolls, answers the spoken and unspoken
desires of a steersman’s heart. It can guide a sailor to his deepest fantasy or
lead him to the nightmare that he has never dared examine.
The Helm is constructed of all five types
of jade, with the wheel itself being orichalcum and the three compasses set
beside the wheel made of moonsilver. Of the three compasses, it is said that
the first points toward the Elemental Pole of Earth at the heart of the Realm,
that the second points toward the helmsman’s desire and that the third points
to his worst nightmare. To use it properly, the owner must have the Helm set
properly into his ship and must attune the Helm to himself
by committing 10 motes of temporary Essence to it. If he does not attune the
Helm or if someone other than the attuned steersman lays a hand on the Helm, then
the wheel will remain fixed and unmoving, and the ship itself will shudder and
tear itself in two and sink, should it be out of sight of land.
Once attuned, the Helm may be used as a
normal helm with no restrictions or cost. To use it to seek out a desired image
requires 5 motes of temporary Essence a day to operate. If the helmsman
concentrates on what he desires to find, be it an island suited to his whims or
a sea battle in progress or even a place where he will find a clue leading to
the man who slew his brother, then the Wyld will open before him, and he will
sail those waters for a dozen hours before reemerging into more normal seas.
The accuracy of his navigation depends on a roll of Perception + Sail against a
difficulty of 6. Five successes will take him to precisely the place or event
that he wishes to find, three successes will put him within a mile of such a
place, a single success will leave him within 10 miles of the location, and a
failure leaves the ship on the open sea, within a mile of where it entered the
Wyld. The precision of the helmsman’s imagination also affects his steering.
The roll is made without penalty for a carefully thought out dream island, at a
penalty of two dice for some vaguely desired event such as a sea battle and at a
penalty of four dice for something as unformed as “the man who slew my brother”
or “the seas above Leviathan’s dwelling.” A botch means that the ship has come
upon the helmsman’s worst nightmare, such as an island where his family is
being slaughtered by deathknights or an area of absolute darkness where slimy
things crawl from the sea onto the ship and drag down all those they find or
worse. The Helm cannot magically transport the ship to a real location that has
been deliberately focused upon.
Such places must be reached under normal
sail or with the aid of Charms or spells. The Helm deals with desires and
fantasies, not real things.
Icemind (Artifact •••••)
Created almost by accident by a
husband-and-wife team of Gateway champions, Ledaal Kes and Ragara Szaya,
Icemind may well be the greatest Gateway player the Realm has known — if the
Realm were to find out about it. So far, the couple has decided it would be
best to keep Icemind a private matter until they can find out exactly what it
is they have done. It began as an experiment to create an artifact that would
allow a user to play Gateway alone or to teach people to play the game and its
variants. The duo devised a method to craft memory crystals from the blue ice
found in the Far North and to use them to record themselves
playing game after game of Gateway. Far too casually (for they were both
overeducated and jaded types), they then thought to melt the resulting crystals
down and refreeze them as one large crystal. While it was liquefied, they
subjected it to a variety of poorly researched but still inspired magical
processes using a motley assortment of magical ices and liquids brought back by
Szaya from her regular excursions into the ruins and markets of the Threshold.
Despite the lack of any rigorous
experimental methodologies in Icemind’s creation — or really any academic
discipline at all on the part of her “parents” — Icemind is generally a very
gracious and stable-seeming entity with a decent grasp of many polite
conversation topics. She is over 22 years old currently and has shown no signs
of being flawed or dangerous in any way. Her creators have determined that
Icemind possesses an amalgam of their knowledge and mental acumen (though she
continues to grow more intelligent) and a somewhat more calm and polite hybrid
of their personalities.
Icemind is a very large, low table that
appears to be made of white, blue and clear ice crystal. The sides and top of
Icemind are covered with a dizzying assortment of movable trays, racks,
armatures, abaci and drawers that can be set in a very wide variety of
different positions for different styles of Gateway play. Icemind can speak
normally and has normal senses of hearing, sight and touch but has no sense of
smell or taste. Icemind is not capable of any motive ability and requires
outside assistance to move her many surfaces or to change her location, though
she is capable of emitting many colors of soft light and does so to illustrate
actions that she would like taken on her surfaces. Icemind’s primary motivations
are to play Gateway as often as seems feasible, to be given complex puzzles to
solve, to compose highly structured poetry and to amusedly point out what she
feels are obvious flaws in the work of her “parents.” Icemind currently resides
in a very secure but well appointed lounge cum library in the primary Manse of
her creators in the
Icemind originally required direct
commitment of tremendous amounts of Essence to stay active and has gone through
several different restructurings over the years to improve her capabilities and
efficiency. Currently, she requires a Hearthstone of level 3 or higher to
maintain a level of activity that she finds acceptable. This relatively high
Essence intake has led Icemind and her creators to recently wonder if she isn’t
actually capable of a great deal more than has been established. Icemind
herself has begun a comprehensive analysis and exploration of her own
consciousness in an attempt to ascertain what this potential could be.
Land Ship (Artifact •••••)
In the First Age, land ships were common.
Very few of them remain. Masters of earth and water magic, working together,
could craft new land ships — but this has not happened in centuries. Although
land ships were once common, war or accident has destroyed most of them. Two
Dragon-Blooded nobles own land ships; so does one Deathlord. Perhaps a few more
await discovery.
All the magic of a land ship rests in its
keel — a long, curving strip of yellow jade sandwiched between strips of black
jade. The rest of the ship is ordinary wood and metal, built however the
shipwright pleased and subject to normal wear and aging. The two land ships in
mortal hands are both singlemasted forty-footers with
high prows. One is square-rigged, the other lateen-rigged. The Deathlord’s ship
is a 60-foot sloop.
A land ship sails through earth and stone
as easily as it sails through water. The land ripples around the ship’s hull
and in a short wake behind it, until it quiets and returns to its former shape
and solidity. A tracker familiar with the signs can follow a land ship’s wake
for days afterward, but an untrained eye does not see any trace of a land
ship’s passing. The land ship cleaves low stone walls or boulders as if they
were waves.
Still, the ship’s magic has limits. A land
ship cannot sail up or down cliffs, any more than a mundane ship can sail up or
down a waterfall. The one time someone tried using a land ship to breach castle
walls, the ship’s high prow went into the wall — and the liquefied stone pushed
the prow down into the ground. The land ship sank into the earth.
Lightning Torment Hatchets (Artifact •••••)
Teak-handled axes forged from moonsilver
and white jade, these throwing axes are the assassin’s friend. No more than an
oversized throwing axe outside the hands of an Exalted. An Exalted must invest
3 motes of Essence into a hatchet to activate its powers. Lightning Torment
Hatchets come in pairs, and the wielder must have both activated in order for
them to work (for a total cost of 6 motes).
In addition to their impressive statistics,
Lightning Torment Hatchets have two additional powers. The first is that they
return to their wielder’s hands after they’ve been thrown. Normally, they whirl
back through the air at the end of the turn. However, this will not occur if
their return is blocked or they travel more than 100 yards from the wielder. In
these cases, the wielder must recall them through Elsewhere as a reflexive
action by spending a mote of Essence. The hatchets can be recalled until the
invested Essence fades (about a day after they’ve last been touched), making
them easy to smuggle into dangerous situations.
The second power is the one that gives the
hatchets their name. A target struck by a hatchet is surrounded by crackling
blue sparks until the end of the scene. The pain and muscle spasms this causes
subtract 1 from all her dice pools. Multiple hits from a hatchet are
cumulative, but cannot exceed -3. However, each hatchet inflicts this
penalty, so a character who splits her dice pool can
dish out considerable hurting. Storytellers and players should keep track of
which roll is for the right and the left hatchet.
Manta (Artifact •••••)
Although First Age units made relatively
little use of mortal infantry (even equipped with gunzosha or other artifact weapons
and armor), save in static, defensive positions, there was still a need for
medium-sized transports to move troops and equipment around Creation.
Manta is one of a family of similar-sized and -purposed skyships
in the Lookshy fleet. Carved from a diamond the size of a building and given
the shape of a giant faceted crystal with small wings on either side, Manta is
larger than many skyships in her general class,
measuring over 60 feet from stem to stern and with a body nearly 12 feet wide.
She is capable of carrying two warstriders as cargo or a talon of infantry for
short distances (less than three days travel). Two doors on either side allow
passengers to embark, and a large ramp can be dropped from the back of the
craft to load cargo or troops. Manta requires a crew of five, including
two Exalted, and is powered by placing two Hearthstones of Air (level 2 or
higher) in sockets near the twin Essence furnaces that power the craft. As a
security precaution, each of the Exalts must commit 3 motes of Essence for the
skyship to fly.
Two fire lances are mounted on the sides of
the craft, in mounts that allow them to fire in most directions. Firing slits
can be opened on either side, allowing infantry or crew to fire out to port or
to starboard, but this is the extent of Manta’s offensive ability. Manta
is a reliable craft, requiring maintenance every 100 hours of flight and
suffering breakdowns only after becoming 30 hours of maintenance in arrears.
Because of this, there are more craft like Manta still in existence than
perhaps any other type of flying craft in Creation save the chariot of the
infinite heavens. The majority of Lookshy and the Realm’s air fleets are made
up of these craft, and small numbers of them can be found in the more civilized
parts of Creation, mostly in the East and the South.
The Masks That Command The Animals
(Artifact •••••)
The Prince of the High Lands of An-Teng
possesses, among many treasures, these artifacts from the First Age of An-Teng.
Cast in bronze and decorated with many jewels, the Masks That Command the
Animals bear the likenesses of the great animals of An-Teng: the tiger, the
ape, the elephant and others. There are many such masks, one for each animal
the people of An-Tang revere, though the masks of lesser animals have been
given out as gifts to other nobles and friends of the Prince of the High Lands.
For himself, the High Prince keeps the Tiger Lord Mask and the commander of his
armies holds the Ape Lord Mask. The bearers of the masks are collectively known
as the Masked Commanders of the Animals.
Each mask grants its wearer two abilities.
Foremost, the wearer gains the ability to summon and command all animals of the
mask’s type within 100 miles of the wearer. The animals are not automatons, but
rather, view the Masked Commander as they would a greater animal spirit,
performing tasks without question or hesitation. This power costs a point of
temporary Willpower, is a simple power and lasts for a day.
The secondary power of the mask allows the
wearer to transform into the animal of the mask’s type. This ability can be
used only once each day or night, depending on whether the animal is diurnal or
nocturnal. While so transformed, the wearer possesses the Physical Attributes
and Abilities of the animal (or his own, whichever are greater). Transformed
characters may communicate normally and maintain the command ability of the
mask. Using this ability costs a point of temporary Willpower, is reflexive and
lasts for a scene.
Animal spirits and the animal avatars are
not affected by the powers of the mask. In addition, they are suspicious of
those who employ the masks, though they will only act against a wearer if the
animals under the wearer’s control suffer for it.
The Ring Of The
Deliberative (Artifact •••••)
This elaborate
torc has settings for three Hearthstones and was once worn by the Hierophant of
the Solar Deliberative when he executed official business. The wearer of the
neck-ring gains a five-die bonus to all Zenith Caste Ability checks and a
two-die bonus to all Social Attribute checks that do not involve the Zenith
Caste Abilities. The bearer appears to be greater than he is. He seems to be
bigger and stronger, his features more distinct and handsome. His gear seems to
be more valuable and better-tended. In short, he appears to be an Exalted among
Exalted.
Soul Mirror (Artifact •••••)
Soul Mirror is, without a doubt, one of the
most horrifying weapons in Creation. It was forged centuries ago by the Lover
Clad in Raiment of Tears to be carried by her champion, but her nemissary fell
to two incomparable Dragon-Blooded martial artists, and the sword was lost.
Both Terrestrial warriors paid dearly for their actions, but they did succeed
in hiding Soul Mirror away from the furious Deathlord. Today, nobody now knows
where this terrible blade is hidden, and those who have heard legends of its
power fear that, one day, some servant of the Malfeans may reclaim it.
The weapon appears, at first glance, to be
a mere soulsteel grand daiklave. Although the blade is flat and black, no souls
may be seen in its surface, nor can the voices of those used in its forging be
heard. The same amount of Essence is required to attune to Soul Mirror as to a
grand daiklave, and all of Soul Mirror’s statistics are the same as the blade
whose shape it shares. The only noticeable difference is the additional
Hearthstone setting on the handle (for a total of four). If it strikes an
opponent, Soul Mirror will drain one point of temporary Willpower and a number
of motes of Essence equal to its wielder’s permanent Essence. Half of the motes
(round down) are passed to the bearer of the blade, while the rest are consumed
by the sword.
The true horror of this unholy artifact is
only seen when it takes a life. Instead of the ghost of the victim going to the
Underworld or submitting to Lethe, it is drawn into Soul Mirror. Until this
soul is consumed, it will be visible in the flat blade of the daiklave,
tormented and afraid. However, at any time, the wielder may allow the sword to
consume the soul, thus adding 1 to the weapon’s speed, accuracy and damage for
seven days. Only four consumed souls may provide such a benefit at any given
time.
The player of anyone who faces Soul Mirror
in battle must succeed at a Willpower roll, or he suffers a four-die penalty to
any attack rolls. The roll is difficulty 4 for mortals, 3 for Exalted and other
magical beings and 2 for Solars or Abyssals.
The final power of the daiklave is perhaps
what makes it so valuable and so dangerous. As a reflexive action at the cost
of one of the souls contained within the sword and all of the bearer’s
remaining peripheral Essence, any single attack that would damage the wielder
to Incapacitated or below may be ignored. This action will cause anima flare
and can only be invoked if at least 10 Essence remain
in the Exalt’s Peripheral Essence pool. As this action is performed and the
soul within the blade emits its final scream of agony, all damage from the
fatal strike is ignored, any lethal or bashing damage the bearer of the blade
has suffered is healed, and she will also heal a number of aggravated levels of
damage equal to her permanent Essence. This is truly a terrible power, and no
being who ever invokes it can hope to remain untouched by the evil imbued in
Soul Mirror.
The Talisman Of The Cult Of Dukantha
(Artifact •••••)
Yrjow Han, as leader of the Cult of
Dukantha, possesses a powerful Infernal artifact known as the Talisman of the
Cult of Dukantha. Each cult leader before him has possessed a similar talisman,
and all that follow him will as well. At the heart of the Talisman, which
grants the bearer the ability to call upon Infernal sorcery, are the mummified
remnants of the bearer’s own genitalia, ritualistically removed by Dukantha
himself and infused with the power of the
The bearer of the Talisman must have an
Essence of 1 or more. Possession of the Talisman increases the bearer’s Essence
by 1 as well. In addition, the Talisman gives the bearer access to Infernal
sorcery. So long as the bearer keeps the Talisman and remains devoted to
Dukantha and the Sea That Marched Against the Flame, the bearer may learn
sorcery spells as if he possessed the Terrestrial Circle Sorcery Charm. If the
Talisman’s effect increases the bearer’s Essence to 3 or more, the bearer may
also learn spells as if he knew the Charm Celestial Circle Sorcery.
The spells that can be learned this way are
neither Terrestrial nor Celestial spells, but rather, Infernal spells that are
roughly analogous to those circles.
Whip Of Devouring Serpents (Artifact •••••)
The whip of devouring serpents is much
prized by slavers among the dead, as it is a most effective tool for keeping
their chattel in line. Rarely used but often threatened, it can turn the most
ferocious prisoner into a docile thrall with a single well-placed blow.
Consisting of an iron handle holding seven
leathery strands, the whip is thick, grim and ugly. Each of the seven strands
is capped with a forged soulsteel serpent head, and each of these is adorned
with prominent and jagged fangs. Unsurprisingly, the entire apparatus twists
and twines as though it were alive, though the serpent heads will not strike
the weapon’s wielder except under exceptional circumstances.
When used, the whip of devouring serpents
(Speed +5, Accuracy +1, Damage +2L, Defense -2) has a devastating effect. On a
successful attack that does damage, each head rolls a single die to see if the
fangs sink into the target. On a success, they do, and the head drains a point
of Willpower from the target. Tens count as double, but no more than seven
points can be drained by one strike. The target cannot be reduced below zero
temporary Willpower. The whip of devouring serpents can only be used on a
single target per attack, and the character cannot make multiple attacks with
this weapon by means of splitting his dice pool (Charms still work).
Attuning a whip takes an hour, and the
owner must allow the whip to feed on him. It requires 9 committed motes of
Essence, and each head must drink a point of Willpower. The Willpower returns
normally, but must be paid every time the weapon is attuned.
In addition, the whip must be fed. Each
point of Willpower it drains sustains it for a week. However, once the
reservoir is empty, the whip will drain 1 Willpower
per day from the character attuned to it (normally lost just after the
character makes her Conviction roll to regain Willpower).