Level 4
Artifacts
Aerial Rickshaw (Artifact ••••)
These small vehicles are one of the most
common means of short- and medium-distance transport in Yu-Shan. Since they are
also small enough to fit through the gateways to Creation, some gods and
Sidereal Exalted also use them there. Some are fantastically decorated, but
most are relatively plain. However, all aerial rickshaws are 14-foot-long, 6-foot-wide
jade ovals with a depression in the front where the driver sits and windows on
the sides (but not the front) of the passenger compartment.
Aerial rickshaws can hold two passengers in
comfort (or five who are exceedingly friendly) in a wide bench seat. In
addition, one driver must sit in the front and power the vehicle. The driver
sits in the open, while the passengers all sit in a room closed compartment
that maintains a comfortable temperate. To operate the aerial rickshaw, the
driver must commit 5 motes of Essence to the vehicle. Gods of air, fire or
flight and Air- or Fire-aspected Dragon-Blooded can then operate the vehicle by
simply spending 3 additional motes of Essence per hour to keep it running.
Other gods, God-Blooded and Exalts must insert a Celestial, Air or Fire
Hearthstone of at least level 2. The pilot must also have Sail •• or more.
Aerial rickshaws are immune to bashing
damage and have a soak of 10L and 10L/20B health levels. The passengers are
completely protected by this soak, and the driver is mostly protected (75
percent cover), so all attacks that specifically target the driver are made at
a +3 increase in difficulty. Unfortunately, these vehicles are not designed for
combat. Passengers cannot open the doors into the cabin unless the vehicle has
landed and the windows do not open, so the passengers cannot fire out. The
driver is busy operating the vehicle, and so, he also cannot attack. In
addition, aerial rickshaws are relatively slow, with a maximum speed of only 50
mph. Unless they are damaged, these vehicles are simple to maintain, requiring
only an hour of minor repairs after every 100 hours of continuous use. The
character performing the repairs must know both Occult •• and Lore ••, and the
repairs cost Resources ••. Alternately, a single minor servant can easily
maintain this craft.
Anastacia’s Chains And Catches (Artifact
••••)
The Sidereal sorcerer Anastacia was rumored
to be one of the first great spirit binders. There were others before her and
others after, hut many advancements in spirit binding attributed to Anastacia
have yet to be deciphered by modern sorcerers. In addition, Anastacia is
reputed to have bound some of the most powerful spirits of her time in
ornamental bracelets. Some of these spirits were bound to prevent their
continued rampages against the world. Others were bound, many willingly,
against some future catastrophe. Unfortunately, if there is a way to tell the
nature of the spirit bound in one of Anastacia’s bracelets, that secret has
been lost to time.
Each of Anastacia’s catches appears to be a
tiny ornamental lock on a small bracelet with an equally fine key. The bracelet
has a number of clasps around its circumference to which specially designed
figures can be attached. According to the tales, these charms served to enhance
the enchantments that bound the spirits within the chain itself. Unfortunately,
over the millennia, many of the figures have been lost, weakening the wards on
the bindings. Equally unfortunately, many of the keys have also been lost.
If the research on the few recovered
catches support these theories, the enchantments seem to be unraveling slowly
but measurably with time — a fact that has led to much concern. The decaying
bindings may indicate that malevolent spirits may soon be released on an
ill-prepared world. On the other hand, the weakening bindings may be part of an
elaborate time delay sorcery intended to release a powerful and benevolent
spirit in an era of great need. But if this is the case, would the spirit
remain benevolent after several millennia of imprisonment, even voluntarily,
within a piece of jewelry?
Ancestor Sash (Artifact ••••)
Worn by the personal guard of the Prince of
the Middle Lands in order to transform themselves into the Elephant-Riding
Ghost Generals, the Ancestor Sashes are artifacts of immense and strange power.
Each is 20 feet of spun gold and silk, embroidered with gems of every kind. The
embroidery depicts the many princes, queens and heroes of An-Teng’s First Age,
all basking in the light of the Golden Lord. The sash is wrapped many times
around the waist and over the shoulder of the wearer, always tied so that the
scene of the wearer’s choice is displayed proudly. When riding into battle, the
warriors traditionally choose to show a scene in which a great general of the
First Age, atop an immense elephant spirit, led the forces of An-Teng in a war
against the Pale Mistress’ cult army.
By invoking the power of the sash, the
wearer summons and is infused with the greatness of the past heroes of the
kingdom. Those who made the sashes sacrificed a small portion of their power in
order to ensure the survival of the kingdom. The wearer of the sash need not be
Exalted, and in fact, these artifacts work better when worn by mortals.
The sash increases the wearer’s Essence
score to 4. The cost for using the sash is a number of temporary Willpower
points equal to the difference between the wearer’s normal Essence score and the
one the sash provides. These effects last for a full day or
until the character removes the sash. The additional powers of the sash
are based upon the difference between the wearer’s normal Essence and the
Essence provided by the sash.
The wearer’s Attributes all increase by the
difference, and the following Abilities increase by the same amount: Archery,
Athletics, Awareness, Brawl, Dodge, Endurance, Martial Arts, Melee, Presence,
Resistance, Ride, Socialize, Survival and Thrown. The character gains a +3 Ride
specialty in Elephants, replacing any existing specialty. The character gains a
number of -0 and -2 health levels equal to the difference, additional lethal
soak equal to the difference and additional bashing soak equal to twice the
difference. Those soaks are considered natural. The character gains access to
the spirit Charms Principle of Motion and Uncanny Prowess if they cannot use
Charms normally.
If the character is Exalted, calculate the
character’s new Essence pool based upon the increased Essence score. Characters
who cannot channel Essence gain a temporary Essence pool of 40 (their Essence x
10). A character donning the Ancestor Sash immediately becomes a heroic
character if he is not already and may remain one after the sash is removed. While
under the effects of the sash, the character cannot be ambushed and bleeds and
resists illness and disease as an Exalt. However, this effect fades with the
effects of the sash, so the Ghost Generals had best have their wounds dressed
and cleaned, or the injuries they have sustained may quickly prove fatal.
While the sash is
activated, the mien of the wearer changes. The Essence invested in the sash by its previous owners
carried with it a small portion of their being. The wearer may take on traits
or experience disjointed memories associated with those who have worn the sash
in the past. In rare cases, the character’s Nature may change during the scene
in which the sash is activated.
If the wearer already possesses an Essence
score of 4 or higher, the sash grants no further Abilities, powers or Essence
to the wearer. Such characters may sacrifice a permanent point of Willpower to
invest a portion of themselves in the sash. Doing so
provides no benefit to the character, but ensures that all those who will wear
the sash will be influenced by the character’s Nature and Essence.
Armor Of Aquatic Puissance (Artifact ••••)
These curious suits of articulated plate
armor appear not so much to be forged as carved. Regardless of what type of metal
the armor is made out of, it will be heavily inlaid with a rare form of
sparkling black jade that glistens as if wet, even in the sun. The armor is
built to tolerances and stresses that cannot be duplicated today; all of the
suits known to exist date from the time preceding the Contagion. The armor’s
helm is a massive casque, a single piece of blue jade that locks into the
shoulder yoke with a twist. The whole of the armor, excepting the faceplate, is
carved in an ornate pattern of scales and fins; the faceplate is typically
carved to resemble the face of a fierce warrior, bearded and angry.
Although not as strong as other forms of
enchanted articulated plate, this armor has a number of advantages that make it
extremely useful to an Exalted that spends much time upon the waves. First and
most importantly, when the helm is locked in place, the wearer can breathe
normally in even the deepest waters. The armor does not deal with other needs
(water, food, etc.), so the practical limit is that this effect can be used for
Stamina + Endurance hours in a row before it must be removed. The wearer can
alter the buoyancy of the armor at will, allowing him to quickly surface or
sink without penalty. The armor doubles the wearer’s normal swimming rate
underwater, and the wearer suffers no mobility penalties underwater (although
ranged combat is just as difficult as it would be for someone not wearing it).
He can see underwater just as if he were in air (clouds of silt, squid ink and
other materials can block vision, just as fog or smoke would above water,
however). This armor has sockets for two hearthstones.
Although not as common as more conventional
kits of armor, this armor does exist in some numbers. Both the imperial navy
and the forces of Lookshy are known to have several suits, and the more
aquatically inclined Dynastic houses each have at least a couple of suits. A
number of others are rumored to be in the hands of the Guild, and the Lintha
pirates are known to have at least two. Outcastes working as pirates or merchants
may own others, but if so, they are quiet about it. No Abyssal is known to own
a suit of this armor (unsurprisingly), but the deathknights may have comparable
suits of their own design and manufacture.
Armors Of The Immaculate Dragons (Artifact
••••)
First Age armorers created many wondrous
pieces of armor and protection for the Exalted. Although most suits of
Celestial armor were completely unique creations, handcrafted to exacting
specifications and requirements, suits built for the Dragon-Blooded were
normally more generic — while hand-forged, Terrestrial suits of armor were enchanted
and designed with a common purpose and function in mind and are similar enough
to be treated as a single type of artifact. These suits of armor were nearly
the pinnacle of Dragon-Blooded armor, and few have survived to the present day,
most in the hands of the Realm and Lookshy. The five elemental designs
described below were the most common, but at least five additional designs were
made for particular missions.
Each suit resembles a carefully forged and
fitted suit of articulated plate armor, so cunningly built that no seam or gap
in protection can be found, of plates of jade-alloyed metal. The helms of these
suits of armor feature Essence-filtering lenses for the eyes and a face plate
that filters the air — these helms are frequently carved with draconic designs
and formats, but this is not universal. Dragon armor not only protects its
wearer, it provides him with mobility and a number of specialized abilities. When
worn, the wearer gains the following benefits:
• The armor protects its wearer from
poisons and diseases — add two dice to all Endurance
and Resistance rolls to avoid infection or contact with any poison while worn.
• Dragon armor sharpens the wearer’s senses
when desired (+2 to all Awareness checks — 1 mote per minute), and grants them
Essence sight (2 motes per minute of use).
• The armor augments the wearer’s Strength.
The exact amount changes depending on the suit, but applies only to tasks
relating to brute strength — it specifically does not modify Strength
for the purposes of Charms, but is compatible with abilities or Charms that
enhance Strength.
• The armor can camouflage itself, making
it harder to detect. Add +2 difficulty to all
Awareness attempts to locate the wearer, so long as the observer is at least 10
feet away. (This costs 1 mote of Essence per scene). This ability specifically
defends against Essence sight.
• The armor can also protect against
detection by divination and astronomy — add +2 difficulty
to all attempts to locate or determine the fate of the wearer, his armor and
anything it is touching. This is proof against Sidereal astronomy and the
foresight of the little gods. (This ability costs 5 motes and one Willpower per day).
• The armor doubles the user’s ground
speeds.
• Each suit is equipped with the equivalent
of an elemental lens — these are sometimes nonfunctional but are considered a
priority repair, so they still operate in the majority of the remaining suits
of armor.
• Each suit of dragon armor requires a
commitment of 7 motes of Essence and a level 2 Hearthstone to power the armor’s
various enchantments. The armor has three Hearthstone sockets, and the wearer
can select which one is rendered inactive by powering the armor as a dice
action that requires no roll. Dragon armor must undergo maintenance after every
50 hours of use. Every hour of combat (or fraction thereof) counts as two hours
of use for maintenance purposes, as does every hour of flight or other special
movement, if any. Additionally, every day spent using
protections against divination requires an hour of additional
maintenance. Every 10 hours it’s in arrears causes the armor to lose one power
at random, but the defenses against divination will always be the last ability
lost.
The Most Terrifying
Armor Of The Air Dragon
Forged out of steel and stranger alloys and
enameled with plaques of blue jade, the Most Terrifying Armor of the Air Dragon
was intended for the hard-hitting blitzkrieg-style warfare favored in the First
Age — it stresses mobility and fire power, sacrificing some protection and
general utility to gain it. The armor has all of the abilities listed above
and, additionally, can also focus Essence into the suit’s gauntlets, causing
them to crackle with electricity — this lightning can be directed against
ranged targets, affecting all targets in a 10-foot area from the target point,
or it can be used in melee (see the weapon statistics, below). This is a
reflexive action — ranged attacks are made using Thrown, and close combat
attacks are made with Brawl or Martial Arts, as appropriate. This ability is
compatible with Charms that affect unarmed attacks.
The armor can fly at a speed of 45 yards
per turn. This costs 3 motes to activate for a number of turns equal to the
user’s permanent Essence. This flight is accompanied by great swirling gusts of
wind, and for an additional mote, these gusts can be harnessed as a defense,
knocking arrows and other missile weapons out of the sky (+1 difficulty to all
Thrown or Archery attacks on the user). For 5 motes per hour, the user can fly
at up to 60 miles per hour for one hour, but maneuverability is limited — roll
Dexterity + Athletics, difficulty 2, for the Exalt to make any sudden change in
course.
The Most Resolute Armor
Of The Earth Dragon
Built as a combat engineering support suit,
the armor’s glistening white jade-alloy plates, rounded and powerful in
structure, offer a striking contrast to the earth, wood and stone with which it
works. The Most Resolute Armor of the Earth Dragon provides all of the benefits
common to dragon armor and, for 2 motes, can find the weakness or flaw in any
fortification or construction, allowing the next successful strike against that
structure to inflict double damage after damage is rolled. Once a successful
attack is made, this ability cannot be used for another five turns,
while the wearer observes how the damage inflicted has affected the structure
(this observation can be made while in combat).
For 10 motes, the wearer can build
battlefield fortifications and battlements out of stone and earth at a
prodigious rate — stone reshapes itself, boulders obligingly roll into
position, earth and soil roils to dig trenches and build whatever supports the
engineer demands. This ability is relatively imprecise — the wearer can dig
ditches or pits, can create low earthen or stone
battlements, can even shape abatis or other obstacles from stone shards, but
permanent fortifications are beyond her. This ability affects a maximum area
equal to ([the wearer’s permanent Essence + Craft] x 3) yards in diameter, and
duration is dependent on the amount of work accomplished. A handful of pits and
abatis to place archers behind might take only a few turns, while completely
reshaping the area might take hours (and require more than one application of
this power, at the Storyteller’s discretion). The area being reshaped is
extremely hazardous while work is underway — anyone other than the suit’s
wearer may be rolled over, thrown by surging soil or otherwise manhandled. This
is an environmental hazard, with a difficulty of 2 — success indicates the
subject takes 4B damage (soaked normally), while failure results in 4L damage,
and everyone in the area takes a two-die penalty on all actions while present.
The Most Fearsome Armor
Of The Fire Dragon
Forged of copper alloyed with curious
alchemical substances and red jade, the Most Fearsome Armor of the Fire Dragon
was designed for fast-moving combat on the ground and was intended to allow the
wearer to rapidly react to enemy advances or shifts in the battlefield. The
armor has all of the abilities listed above and, additionally, can summon great
fiery fighting claws into being around the user’s fists — this action is a
reflexive one. This ability costs 2 motes per turn, and the claws have the
statistics listed below. These fire claws are solid enough to parry weapons
(and can be parried). The fire claws may be used with the wielder’s Melee or
Martial Arts.
For 3 motes, Fire Dragon armor can move
with the speed of fire on the dry plains — quadruple the wearer’s ground speed.
This function lasts a number of turns equal to the wearer’s permanent Essence.
For 5 motes, the wearer may take two extra
actions for one turn, in addition to her normal action — only one of these
extra actions may be an attack, and this ability is not compatible with any
extra action Charms, sorcery or ability imparted by other artifacts or
Hearthstones. The wearer may not split her dice pool when using this ability.
The Most Benevolent
Armor Of The Water Dragon
Forged of glossy black plates of
jade-alloyed steel, the Most Benevolent Armor of the Water Dragon was issued to
Dragon-Blooded assigned to police the interactions between the mortal world and
the spirit courts and to those operating with demon-hunting Celestial Exalted.
The armor has all of the abilities listed above. Additionally, expending 1 mote
a turn allows the wearer to see and speak with dematerialized spirits or ghosts
as if they were material. By spending 3 motes, the wearer can both see and
affect dematerialized spirits as if they were material. This ability lasts a
number of turns equal to the user’s permanent Essence.
For 10 motes, the wearer can summon the
Ghost Binding Wall, which permeates the area around the suit. This field hardens
Creation — gateways cannot be opened between Creation and anywhere else
(including other parts of Creation), and spirits are fixed in their current
state, unable to materialize or dematerialize while within the boundaries of
the Wall. This effect has a range of (permanent Essence x 5) yards and lasts
half the user’s permanent Essence in turns (round up). The Ghost Binding Wall
has no effect on beings with a permanent Essence higher than the user’s, but
each additional suit activating the Wall temporarily decreases the effective
permanent Essence of all beings in the field by 1. If a being’s permanent
Essence drops below 0, he suffer a one-die penalty on all actions, and the cost
of all Charms used rises by 1, for every point he falls below 0. Multiple suits
acting in concert base range, duration, etc. on the highest permanent Essence
of any of the users. This armor has no effect on mortals, even those with
Essence higher than 1.
The Most Puissant Armor
Of The Wood Dragon
Inlaid with precious woods and formed of
plates of green jade-alloyed steel, the Most Puissant Armor of the Wood Dragon
was designed to confront Essence manipulating foes. Units equipped with this
armor were among the most feared foes a rogue Exalt could face.
At a cost of 5 motes per turn, the wearer
can dampen Essence in an area equal to (his permanent Essence
x 5) yards in radius, making it harder to use Charms and sorcery. Each
use of Essence — Charm, sorcery or activation of an ability or power — costs 1
extra mote for every 3 motes spent — so, a Charm that normally costs 6 motes
would cost 8. This only affects expenditures of Peripheral Essence — Personal
Essence is unaffected (if a pool is not specifically mentioned as Personal,
assume it is Peripheral). This field specifically does not affect the
armor’s wearer or users of other suits of dragon armor, which were designed to
shield against this ability’s effects. Multiple Wood Dragon suits can enhance
this field, but the cost in motes increases by one for each additional suit in
the area of effect — so, a fang of Terrestrials all using Wood Dragon armor
would spend 9 motes each (base 5 motes, +4 for four additional suits) to raise
the Essence damping field — but the field would encompass an area equal to the
highest Permanent Essence in the group and would increase each use of Essence
by 5 motes per 3 spent (8 mote cost for a 3 mote Charm, 16 for a 6 mote Charm,
etc.). Calculate the additional cost of the Charm after the Charm’s total cost
has been determined, in the case of Charms with a variable cost, such as dice
adders.
Beam Klave (Artifact ••••)
The signature melee weapons of the
Alchemical Exalted, beam klaves appear as unassuming cylinders of reinforced
alloys and Magical Materials tipped with a small crystal spike. Most are between
9 and 12 inches long. Once attuned for a commitment of 3 motes, they become
light and nimble and may be wielded by their masters. This requires an
additional commitment of 5 motes per scene, causing a blade of glowing Essence
to extend from the jewel to an average length of three feet. Combining heat and
pure force, these blades can set flammable objects alight with a touch and emit
a flickering light comparable to a torch. The color of the blade depends on the
Magical Material used in the artifact. Orichalcum blades are the golden-white
of sunlight. Moonsilver carry the pale silver-blue of the moon. Jade have
blades the color of the specific jade type used, though black jade yields a
midnight blue. Starmetal are the most spectacular, crimson-hued at rest and
smoothly arcing through the spectrum to deep violet as they slash. Soulsteel
blades are the deep red-black of dried blood, with a contrail of shadows
tracing their paths. Adamant blades are barely visible as pale-blue prisms of
energy that refract and scatter all other light.
Active beam klaves have the same statistics
and Magical Materials benefits as daiklaves (adamant models inflict piercing
damage), with several additional powers. If one is used to parry a non-magical
weapon, resolve the attack and parry normally in every respect. However, if the
parry achieves any successes (even if these successes are not sufficient to
completely deflect the attack), the parried weapon is destroyed by its contact
with the heat and focused energy of the klave. Natural weapons such as fists,
claws and feet may be severed from extras in this manner, but more important
characters should only suffer two levels of lethal damage (that may be soaked
normally) instead of automatic amputation. If a non-magical weapon parries a
beam klave and the defending character rolls at least one success, the weapon
is similarly destroyed. Furthermore, all parry successes against it are halved
(rounded down). If a beam klave successfully strikes a being wearing
non-magical armor, the attack is resolved normally. However, the raw damage of
the attack is permanently subtracted from the armor’s bashing and lethal soak
values (to a minimum of zero). If both soak values are reduced to zero, the
armor is destroyed and provides no further protection. In the case of a
partially successful parry, the beam klave usually destroys the blocking weapon
and burns into the defender’s armor with a single brutal slice. Against
inanimate targets of roughly the user’s size or smaller, soak is permanently reduced
as with armor. If soak reaches zero, the object is appropriately charred and
gashed, but not destroyed until it loses all health levels as normal. Against
larger inanimate targets (such a wall), the soak reduction only applies to the
small area attacked rather than the entire structure. Magical weapons suffer no
damage from contact with a beam klave.
While standard beam klaves are the most
common examples of energy blade technology used in Autochthonia, Alchemicals
have also developed counterparts for all the basic bladed magical weapons.
These cause the same effects on impact or when parrying non-magical weapons.
Other forms of daiklave models are referred to by the same prefaces as beam
klaves, so reaper beam klave, reaver, etc. Grimcleavers become beam axes. Dire
lances convert to beam lances, and are considered javelins when they are not
powered. Razor claw variants are known as beam talons and come in pairs. All of
these weapons have an artifact rating •• higher than normal and an attunement cost
of 3 motes. Activating them for a scene costs 5 motes (even for a grand beam
klave). Warstrider-scaled beam klaves also exist as Artifact •••••, requiring
an attunement of 4 motes, plus the normal commitment cost for such a weapon in
order to activate the energy blade for a scene.
Cage Of Eternal Torment (Artifact ••••)
This is most often built as a jade and
adamant cage that is four feet on a side. It is made to be almost
indestructible. A cage of eternal torment cannot be harmed by anything except
Charms, enchanted weapons made of one of the Five Magical Materials or sorcery.
Also, neither bashing damage nor Charm and other effects that multiply damage
against objects have any effect on these cages. They have an armor of 30L and
require 50 health levels of damage to open one enough to allow the occupant to
escape.
Thanks to an effect similar to the one
provided by a Gem of Incomparable Wellness, anyone placed inside the cage
cannot die or suffer permanent harm. The prisoner recovers one level of bashing
damage every five minutes, one level of lethal damage every hour and one level
of aggravated damage every day. So long as the cage is closed and the prisoner
is inside, this regeneration continues even if the prisoner is killed and her
body burned to fine ash. However, this regeneration is as painful as receiving
the damage was in the first place.
Chariot Of The Infinite Heavens (Artifact
••••)
Although many in the armies of the First
Age could fly, those not so gifted relied on a wide variety of flying craft to
aid them. The chariot of the infinite heavens was one of the more common
smaller craft used — in form, it resembled the wheeled chariots used by some
barbarian forces, but it was sturdier, with four small feet or skids to hold it
up when it landed. Perhaps 3,000 were built over the centuries of the First
Age, in countless different designs, but only a fraction — no more than 200 —
have survived to the present day. The majority of those that remain are in the
hands of the Seventh Legion, which generally uses them for local patrols,
rather than for offensive duties.
Each chariot can carry three, but requires
only a single charioteer — anyone can fly the craft, provided the chariot’s
owner “turns over the reins” — this action is a reflexive one, as is regaining
control. The other two passengers can take any normal action while the chariot
is in flight — part of the chariot’s enchantment is to ensure that passengers
are always stable and steady, regardless of the movement of the chariot.
Hitchhikers will quickly find the charioteer determines who is or isn’t a
passenger.
Each chariot requires a level 2 Hearthstone
to power its flight and, additionally, must be fed 1 mote of Essence each scene
— this is a security mechanism, to prevent mortal charioteers from fleeing with
the chariot. Chariots of the infinite heavens require one hour of maintenance
for every 20 hours of flight or for every 20 turns of combat use.
Cloak Of Vanishing
Escape (Artifact ••••)
This item appears
to be a night-black cloak of extremely tough fabric. Anyone wearing it pulled
around himself gains an additional 1L/1B of protection. However, the primary
function of this cloak is that it gives the wearer the ability to move
instantly from one place to another. If the character spends 5 motes of Essence
and concentrates for one full turn, he can transport himself anyplace within
Essence miles that he can see clearly. During this turn, the character can only
perform reflexive actions. If he is knocked down, forced to look away from his
destination or performs any non-reflexive actions during this turn, he must
concentrate for another turn to successfully use this item. At the beginning of
the next turn, the character vanishes and instantly reappears at his
destination.
Using this item,
the character could transport himself from the walls
of a fortress to a small grove several miles away, but he cannot transport
himself into a neighboring room, unless he can clearly see under the door or
through the keyhole. The character can only take along items that can also be
concealed under the cloak. He cannot carry more than a single additional person
along on this journey, and carrying along any other living thing larger than a
house cat or a small dog costs an additional 5 motes of Essence. In addition to
the other costs, the character must also spend 5 motes of Essence to attune himself to the cloak. The clasp of this cloak has a setting
for a single Hearthstone.
Cold Wind Knives (Artifact ••••)
This pair of twin blades,
each just over three feet in length, were once the prized weapons of Starless Sky, a First Age Night
Caste who lies buried somewhere in the
Finally, the knives know their master. The
Cold Wind Knives are incapable of inflicting damage on the person to whom they
are attuned — or to any Night Caste Solar (a secret that Starless Sky
took to her grave, among many others).
Death At The Root (Artifact ••••)
This moonsilver grand grimcleaver was
crafted in the aftermath of the Usurpation, by the mad Lunar Suki Yommi. Tales say
that the Lunar was driven mad by the death of his mate at the hands of the
Dragon-Blooded Host. Deprived of victory by the righteous might of the Dragons
and deprived of his honor by his flight in the face of their onslaught, he
ended his own life in a ritual suicide rather than face an existence of shame
and defeat. Death at the Root is the child of this ritual, a weapon filled with
all the rage and despair of a defeated demigod, bent to the destruction of the
very bastions of Essence that shore the walls of the real from the frothing
chaos of the endless Wyld. Suki Yommi bequeathed the axe to a mighty lord of
the Fair Folk, in return for which he extracted an oath that the lord would
never turn the grimcleaver against a Chosen of Luna. It is said that Death at
the Root was later reclaimed during a Wyld Hunt that ranged deep into the
forests of the East and brought to the Blessed Isle.
In addition to being a fearsome weapon in
the conventional sense, Death at the Root is able to deform and break the very
flow of Essence through Creation. A character wielding Death at the Root may
attempt to disrupt a Demesne or Manse (requiring a successful Essence roll
against a difficulty of the Manse’s level + 1 or the level of the Demesne).
Success indicates that the Manse or Demesne is disrupted, severing all
attunement to it and neutralizing any Hearthstones generated by it. Every
success on this roll beyond the first reduces the level of the Manse or Demesne
by 1. Reducing a Manse to level 0 in this way destroys the Manse and may cause
a backlash of Essence stunning anyone attuned to the site or causing its
Hearthstones to explode catastrophically.
The wielder of Death at the Root may also
use it to attack the very threads of Essence sustaining a sorcerous effect. Doing
so requires that the character be able to make contact with the area of the
effect using the axe and is the character’s diced action for the turn although
no roll is necessary. This attack disrupts any ongoing Terrestrial or
The wielder of Death at the Root may always
channel Willpower through his Conviction Virtue while using it. Death at the
Root requires the commitment of 10 motes of Essence to attune it.
Essence Storing
Although the Dragon Kings have relatively
few motes of Essence compared to the Exalted, they learned to use their skill
at manipulating crystal to create artifacts that helped them to overcome this
limitation. This artifact is a flat collar of triangular crystals that sits on
the Dragon Kings shoulders, at the base of its neck. The collar stores and
concentrates Essence, giving the wearer access to an extra 8
motes of Essence. The wearer can use this Essence just like ordinary
Essence. However, this item is particularly attuned to Dragon Kings and cannot
be used by Exalts or other Essence users. The user must deliberately store
Essence motes in this item in order to retrieve them later.
When the crystals are filled with Essence,
they glow softly. Dragon Kings who wish to hide their presence must conceal
them underneath clothing, armor or scarves.
Because of the high Essence cost of many sorcery spells, during the
First Age, most of the rare Dragon King sorcerers wore one of these artifacts.
This artifact costs nothing to attune. However, when the wearer first puts it
on and places at least 1 mote of Essence in it, the item automatically sizes
itself to fit around the wearer’s neck and closes when the ends are touched
together.
Flame Spear (Artifact
••••)
One of the
virtually lost arts of the Old Realm is the forging of raw elements into solid form,
to create weapons such as flame spears. The hafts of these spears can be made
from orichalcum, moonsilver, jade, starmetal or soulsteel, and they gain the
same benefits as every other weapon made from those materials. The spear blades
are made of solid, unquenchable fire. In addition to inflicting terrible wounds
on anyone it hits, the flame spear has other uses. In its normal state, the
blade burns as bright and hot as a small lantern and will ignite any flammable
object as readily as a torch. By spending 1 mote of Essence, the user can bank
the flames, reducing the heat to the temperature of a hot bath and the light to
the glow of dim coals. Grasping the spear and willing it instantly returns the
blade to its normally fiery condition.
If the user spends
3 motes of Essence, the spear’s eternally burning blade will glow more
brightly. In this state, the wielder can concentrate the spear’s flame to burn
a yard-wide hole in ironbound oak doors or thick wooden walls in no more than
10 turns. This increased heat lasts for a full scene and can also be allow to flare wildly, so that it can instantly ignite a bonfire
or set a large wooden or thatched roof aflame within 2 turns. In its agitated
state, the weapon also does 2 additional points of damage.
Anyone attuned to
a flame spear gains resistance to flame and receives a +2 bonus to all soak
rolls against heat or fire. Using a flame spear requires the owner to commit 6
motes of Essence.
Flying Silver
Dream (Artifact ••••)
This ornate,
straight-bladed moonsilver daiklave has a speed rating of +3, an accuracy
rating of +4, a damage rating of +10L and a defense rating of +3. Upon command,
Flying Silver Dream will leap from its bearer’s hand and attempt to engage an
opponent, named by its attuned wielder, in single combat. When fighting on its
on, the sword is considered to have Attributes and Abilities equal to the
character who launched it and a movement speed figured as normal from its
Dexterity. It acts on its wielder’s initiative.
The sword will
fight until its target is slain, its bearer mentally commands it to return (a
reflexive action) or its wielder is incapacitated. While the sword is fighting
on its own, its wielder may engage in battle using another weapon, use Charms
or participate in any other activity he chooses. If the sword kills its target
and the wielder is otherwise occupied, it will orbit him until he commands it
to attack a new target or until he has a hand free to take possession of it.
Anyone who wishes
to attack Flying Silver Dream while it fights on its own may do so as if it
were a character ― it dodges with 12 dice, and all attackers
automatically subtract 2 successes from their attack rolls to reflect the
difficulty of hitting the whirling weapon. Flying Silver Dream automatically
dodges all attacks without penalty to its normal actions and without a
reduction in its dice pool for subsequent attacks. Flying Silver Dream has a
10L/8B soak, and any attacker must do at least three damage successes to it to
have any effect. If the sword does take three levels in one attack, it drops to
the ground, undamaged but unable to fight again until its wielder picks it up
and commands it to do so (picking it up is a dice action).
In addition, this
item has a setting for a single Hearthstone. It costs 5 motes to attune to
Flying Silver Dream. Flying Silver Dream is designed so that Solars or Lunars
can receive the moonsilver Material bonus when attuned to it.
Folding Ship (Artifact
••••)
This fantastic
creation of the First Age is a blue-water merchant with double masts and sails
of the finest and strongest silk. It is capable of sailing on its own at the
command of its owner, without need for a crew, merely someone at the helm to
direct it. But that is not its best known ability. At a command from its owner
(who must commit 4 motes of Essence to the artifact to attune it), the ship
collapses in on itself, folding in a clatter of cunningly designed panels until
it becomes a box of finely carved wood, about a foot long and six inches tall
and wide. Upon another command from its owner, the box once again unfolds back
into a ship. A folding ship that spends a full day or night in box-form repairs
all damage it has suffered. Although still limited by needing a body of water
to sail upon, a folding ship is an extremely useful vessel, and the ships were
often found in the possession of Eclipse Caste diplomats of the First Age.
Forge-Hand Gauntlets (Artifact ••••)
The Exalted craftsmen of the First Age
didn’t need to slowly heat metal with coals and a bellows and work it using a
hammer and tongs. They could simply put on these light red-scaled leather
gloves and use them to simultaneously heat metal to malleability and manipulate
it with the dexterity of their own skilled hands. So fine were these wondrous
gauntlets that the Exalted smith wearing them could still feel the slightest
imperfection in an item she was creating without needing to wait for the item
to cool (or needing to reheat the item if it was not yet as its creator wanted
it to be). Forge-hand gauntlets instantly superheat metal to the point of ideal
malleability (whatever temperature that happens to be for the metal being
worked at the time) and protect the wearer from the heat they generate. These
gauntlets can be used to work metal or even to dig through solid stone,
although heating each handful of stone to the claylike consistency necessary to
dig through it takes five turns.
Wearing these gauntlets
during the act of creating an artifact counts as employing First Age tools if
the character is working metal and, additionally, reduces the difficulty of any
Craft roll by one. This
affects only the time spent actually creating the item, not the time spent
researching or gathering ingredients.
These gauntlets grant the wearer the
ability to craft any of the Magical Materials — except one. These gauntlets do
not help in the creation of soulsteel objects in any way. The dead have their
own ways of working that dread metal.
As with so many artifacts from the past,
the Dragon-Blooded have overlooked the gauntlet’s constructive uses and think
of them primarily as weapons. When so used, forge-hand gauntlets inflict
horrible heat damage on their targets. Armor is not proof against the deadly
effects of these gloves either. If the damage dice pool exceeds the lethal soak
rating of any armor it hits, the gloves melt a hole through the armor,
effectively destroying it (or permanently reducing its soak rating considerably
— -5/-5, if its soak is higher than that). Even if the armor survives the hit,
it is superheated and inflicts one die of lethal damage to its wearer unless
the character has thick insulation between her armor and her skin. This effect
does not work on armor composed of the Five Magical Materials.
Globe Of Transport (Artifact ••••)
Rathess was located far from the lands
inhabited by mortal humans and their Exalted leaders. As a result, the Dragon
Kings enchanted special crystals to enable them to easily visit far-off lands.
The smallest and most common of these crystal vehicles is the globe of transport.
When not in use, this item is a solid sphere of violet crystal the size of a
large orange with a setting for a single Hearthstone. In this form, it can be
carried around as easily as any other small item. However, it the user places a
Hearthstone of at least level 2 in the setting and spends 7 motes of Essence,
this sphere transforms itself into a wondrous vehicle. The sphere expands into
a thin-walled hollow globe nearly three yards in diameter. This globe expands
around the individual supplying the Essence, and once it has fully expanded,
this individual (as well as up to two other people she is touching) is inside
the globe — the globe can carry a maximum of 800 pounds, but overloading one
can burn it out very quickly. This globe can be used to transport up to three
humans or Dragon Kings, but is not large enough to transport larger creatures
such as horses. The walls of this globe are fairly fragile, providing only
3L/3B armor for the occupants. However, any cracks, holes or other damage will
repair themselves in seconds.
The individual who initially supplied the
transport globe with Essence is the one who controls it. The controller can
either direct the globe to go to any place he has visited before whose location
he is aware of, or he can tell the globe to travel in a particular direction.
The Essence supplied to the globe powers it for one journey, regardless of
whether the globe transports the rider 10 yards or 10,000 miles. This vehicle
travels at up to 100 miles per hour and will immediately land on the first
safe, solid surface if for some reason it becomes impossible to reach its
destination.
Because its exterior is solid and without
holes, it is difficult for anyone riding in one of these globes to launch any
form of attack with either weapons, Charms or sorcery at anyone outside of the
globe. Assume the globe’s 3L/3B soak protects targets outside the globe from
attacks inside the globe. Whenever the globe lands, it deactivates and
transform itself back into a small violet ball. When the transport globe
deactivates, everyone and everything inside of it is deposited outside of it,
completely unharmed. While the globe is in use, the Hearthstone in the setting
provides no other benefit to the owner.
Haze Shield (Artifact ••••)
Control of the weather brought with it a
host of new weapons and defenses in the First Age. The haze shield was one of
the more common. Normally used to defend fortifications, haze shields were also
occasionally used as defenses for battlefield units. When activated, a haze shield
throws up a barrier that obscures vision as if one is looking into an unsettled
pond. Those inside the shield seem to shift and flicker in place, making
targeting through the shield difficult.
Activating the haze shield at its first
setting requires a Hearthstone of Air or Fire of at least •• in rating and the
expenditure of 1 mote of Essence for every 50 yards of shield — protecting a
front 300 yards long requires 6 motes. This defensive shield remains for one
scene or until dropped by the controller. The shield can be brought into effect
between 50 and 500 yards from the shield generator. While the shield is up, all
attackers suffer a -2 success penalty on all ranged attacks against anyone or
anything inside the perimeter of the shield. At this setting, the haze shield
does not affect outgoing attacks — archers inside the haze shield can attack
the enemy without penalty. The second setting is much more difficult to
maintain, costing 1 mote per 25 yards of shield perimeter and lasting a number
of minutes equal to the operators permanent Essence + the Hearthstone rating of
the stone used, but it provides much more protection. All incoming ranged
attacks suffer a -4 success penalty on their actions. Unfortunately, the haze
shield becomes much more distinct, and outgoing attacks are penalized by -2
successes as well.
Under no circumstances do haze shields
stack with other haze shields or provide any protection against hand-to-hand
attacks. Other defenses, including Charm effects and other shields (artifact or
mundane) stack normally. Haze shields are common in the Lookshy arsenal — a
large number were deployed around Deheleshen, and more have been produced. Each
field force has several, and many Sky Guard vessels have been equipped with
them.
Haze shields must be maintained after every
20 hours of combat use. If a haze shield is not maintained, it will lose its
effectiveness, decreasing the penalty on ranged attacks for every 10 hours the
shield is in arrears.
Hooked Daiklaves
Of Dual Prowess (Artifact ••••)
These hooked
swords are always found and used in pairs. Their hilts and sheathes are jet
black, but like most other magical weapons, they can be made of any of the Five
Magical Materials. While each blade is a potent weapon, when wielded together,
a character can take two hand-to-hand actions every turn without penalty. These
swords also eliminate the penalty for using a weapon in the off hand. Each
action must involve using one of the swords ― the character can make two
attacks, two parries or a combination of both. However, when using these blades
to take two actions, characters cannot split their dice pools. All extra action
Charms that grant extra attacks or parries only affect a single blade ―
if the character used the One Weapon, Two Blows Charm, she could make three
attacks. Combos can allow the character to use an extra action Charm with each
blade. Each hooked daiklave has a setting for a single Hearthstone. The
character must commit 8 motes of Essence to use these blades ― 4 for each
blade. The blades can be used singly, but only grant their dual-attack powers
if used together. Each blade has a setting for a Hearthstone near the hilt.
Hovering Iron Spirit (Artifact ••••)
A faithful, indefatigable guardian for the
ghost lucky enough to possess one, a hovering iron spirit is a small figure
forged out of soulsteel into the shape of a protector. Most appear as birds of
prey, though, in truth, their appearance does not matter. It is their function
that makes them so valuable.
Attunement of a hovering iron spirit takes
a week, during which time the item must be constantly in the attuning ghost’s
presence. A single instant of separation is enough to wreck the process and
necessitate that it start all over again. Attunement costs 9 motes of Essence
and an experience point.
Once a hovering iron spirit has been
attuned to a master, it will hover behind him, never staying still and never
straying more than a yard from its post. It will attempt to circumnavigate any
attempts to separate it from its master, potentially causing harm to anyone
trying to separate the two. Many hovering iron spirits have been crafted with
sharp edges for just this reason. Should there be any threat, however, the iron
spirit will place itself between its owner and the danger and wait there.
Once combat starts, the hovering iron
spirit will automatically move to catch any projectiles fired at its master. It
can catch a number per turn equal to the ghost’s Valor rating and will do so
without prompting from its master, freeing him for other tasks. Each hovering
iron spirit can absorb 50 levels of damage before being destroyed. Damage
against it is rolled, not applied automatically. It has a soak of 12B/6L.
Repairing one requires access to soulsteel
and a talented soulforger, but unless completely destroyed, a hovering iron
spirit can be made as good as new within the space of a week. Repairing the
hovering iron spirit requires Craft (Soulforging) •••• and Occult ••. It costs
Resources •••• to repair one, as soulsteel is extremely difficult to obtain.
Should the iron spirit’s master be sent to
Oblivion, it falls to the ground, inert, and can be picked up — and attuned —
by anyone. On the other hand, a wraith of insufficient power who attaches a
hovering iron spirit to herself is liable to draw some very unpleasant
attention and to be stripped of her possession by the surest method possible. A
ghost can never have more than one hovering iron spirit attuned to her. Should
she attempt to attune a second one, the two will immediately destroy each other.
Iron Horse (Artifact
••••)
This creature is a
wonder of First Age magic and engineering. It is a massive horse made of iron
plates, full articulated and capable of movement. The iron horse has the
Abilities of a war horse, except that it has 8 lethal and 10 bashing soak and
does 3L damage with a bite and 10L damage with a kick from its sharp iron
hooves.
The Iron Horse
requires no Essence to attune, merely an Intelligence + Ride roll (difficulty
3). In fact, the horse has a gemstone set into its forehead that
stores up to 5 motes of Essence that its owner may draw upon while
touching the horse. This Essence is used and recovered like Personal Essence
and only recovers once all of the owner’s Personal
Essence is restored.
The Iron Horse is
remarkably intelligent (about the same as a child of eight or nine years) and
capable of understanding and obeying verbal commands from its owner. It is
capable of traveling tirelessly, without need for rest or refreshment, and it
requires no food, water or even air (allowing it to gallop along the bottom of
the sea, for example). The Iron Horse is very heavy (weighing nearly a ton), so
some structures (such as light bridges) may not support its weight without the
use a Charm (such as Feathery Gallop Exercise). Exalted riders can use Ride
Charms on the Iron Horse normally (although some are not necessary, given the
horse’s tireless nature).
The Jackal’s Skull
(Artifact ••••)
This skull is
larger than that of any ordinary jackal: Legend has it that it belonged to one
of the foremost Lunars of the First Age, who was slain while guarding the back
of his Solar mate during the Usurpation. Wires of moonsilver link the jaw to
the skull proper, and threads of moonsilver are laced over the ivory dome of
the skull and through the bone in an intricate web. Two great star rubies are
set in the eye sockets, and they seem at times to glint as through something
behind them were watching.
The skull has the
peculiar property of being able to summon a group of dog spirits when commanded
by the name of the ancient Lunar, exhaling them in a cloud of pale silver from
between its jagged teeth. Five dog spirits emerge, each with a shadowy moon
brand upon its forehead, and will faithfully serve the summoner until they are
defeated by an enemy or commanded to return to the skull. The dog spirits have
the statistics of omen dogs but with human intelligence and with the Charms
Materialize and Principle of Motion. If one of them is slain, he can be
summoned again after the next full moon. The dog spirits will be loyal to the
summoner and may even regard him with friendship if treated will and not
scorned.
One taboo
surrounds the use of the Jackal’s Skull. If the dog spirits are ever commanded
to hunt down a pair of true lovers or to kill them, the skull will open its
jaws and give a yammering howl. The dog spirits will attempt to seize the
skull, wherever it may be, and dematerialize, taking it with them. If they
should somehow be prevented in doing so, they will attempt to hunt down and
slay their previous summoner, returning at every full moon if killed, until
either they have fled with the Jackal’s Skull or the summoner is dead.
Keystone Of The Stair Inescapable (Artifact
••••)
This pallid moonstone is buried under the
bottom step of a flight of stairs. It has no effect until someone begins to
climb the stairs, but once this occurs, the artifact’s enchantment comes into
force. It makes it impossible for the climber to leave the stairs unless he
pronounces the keystone’s name. Otherwise, the climber finds the stairs
elongating to infinity in either direction when he tries to leave them: He can
never quite reach the top, the bottom is always a few paces too far away, and
if he tries to jump off to one side or to break through the wall, then the
stairs somehow stretch, leaving him always those few inches away from the edge
of the stairs or the wall. Many who place a keystone to form a stair
inescapable do so with a spiral staircase or some other long, twisting stair
that will not otherwise have its true nature become immediately obvious.
Inescapable stairs are often littered with the skeletons of those who perished
from starvation while trapped there.
There are three known keystones, created by
a smith among the dead whose name was erased from the books of Stygia, due to
his trafficking with spectres and the Yozis. The keystones’ names are
Arishapetel, Domnozoarni and Kalaritazan, though only the learned would know
this (five successes on an Intelligence + Lore roll). The three keystones
loathe each other with an instinctive abhorrence, and bringing one upon a stair
ruled by another causes the second keystone to become inactive for as long as
the first is there, making passage possible. However, naming the wrong keystone
on a stair ruled by another causes the entire stair to scream aloud in fury,
audible for up to a mile away.
To be sure, there are ways to circumvent
the trap of the stair inescapable besides naming its keystone. Anyone of 6 or
more permanent Essence can ignore its effects and simply walk up the stairs as
though they were normal. Adamant Countermagic will also allow passage, and
Charms that alter the normal flow of space, time and fate may also permit exit
from the stair. (As characters are likely to find novel uses for them, the
Storyteller is urged to rule on a case-by-case basis, according to the
requirements of play.)
Lizard Tail Regrowth Sphere (Artifact ••••)
The capacity for the regeneration of limbs,
tails and even organs is well known as a hallmark of many species of lizards
and other reptiles. While the Dragon Kings did not possess such remarkable
abilities naturally, their science was able to achieve similar results. The
regenerator, as the lizard tail regrowth sphere is commonly called in the
Second Age, is a wonder of Dragon King medicine. This device looks like a
glittering green globe, laced with red stripes of a jewel-like material and
full of a warm, translucent green slime. Those placed within it experience a
remarkable regeneration, even to the point of restoring lost or amputated limbs.
Proper use of a regrowth sphere requires at
least 1 dot in Medicine for ordinary purposes and 3 dots to regenerate a limb.
While inside the sphere, the patient’s wounds heal at 20 times the normal rate,
whether they are lethal or bashing. Consequently, this device is especially
valuable to the Exalted, whose natural recovery abilities already far outstrip
those of ordinary men. The sphere also regrows lost limbs and appendages, as if
the character were under the effects of the Bodily Regeneration Prana. The
regrowth of small appendages takes (10- the character’s Stamina) days, minimum
1. The regrowth of limbs takes (21 - the character’s Stamina
days), minimum 3.
Characters in the regenerator need not eat
or drink and spends most of their time in a gentle analgesic doze ( + 2 difficulty to everything, and the character’s player
must make a Willpower roll for the character to awaken enough to act at all). A
regenerator cannot restore life to a dead character.
Regenerators use a tube of herbal and
alchemical reagents to form their herbal emulsion. One such tube must be used
each time the sphere is activated. These can be prepared by any savant with a
Lore and Survival of at least •••• each who has free access to the herbs of the
area around Rathess and 48 man-hours to gather them. Additional components must
be bought at a great city or manufactured in an alchemical works and, in either
case, cost Resources •••. Anyone willing to prepare the herbs and the other
chemicals on contract would charge Resources •••• and probably believe they
were involved in some sort of illicit sweet cordial manufacture.
The technician activating the sphere must
commit 10 motes to its operation while the patient is within it. The tubes of
herbs and chemicals are one-use items. After healing a single person, they
cease to function, and another tube must be inserted. For this reason, the
tubes are often stockpiled, though most of both the regenerators and the
healing preparation were stolen long ago.
Medium Implosion Bow (Artifact ••••)
A more powerful version of the light
implosion bow, only limited numbers survive even in Lookshy — one is mounted in
each tower of battle, Lookshy Manse mounts half a dozen,
and several skyships and naval vessels are equipped with them. The remaining handful have been mounted on heavy carriages for field use.
Unlike light implosion bows, these weapons require a Hearthstone of at least
level 2 to function — fortunately, they are no more difficult to repair or
maintain. Medium implosion bows have a blast radius of 20 feet and have a
longer range, but otherwise, they operate identically to light implosion bows,
doing 15B/12L damage for 2 motes and 25B/20L damage for 5 motes. The medium
implosion bow is fired using the Archery Ability but does not benefit from
Archery Charms. The implosion bow is Repair 3 and suffers normal effects from a
lack of maintenance or repair.
Obsidian Sheath (Artifact ••••)
This remarkable type of armor looks like a
lightweight suit of articulated plate made from a glassy yet flexible black stone,
similar in appearance to obsidian, hence the name of the item. The armor is
trimmed with orichalcum. It provides the orichalcum Magical Material bonus when
attuned by a Solar or a Dragon King and Dragon Kings need only spend the normal
number of motes to attune to it. When worn by a living creature who expends 6
motes of Essence to attune to it, the armor bonds with its user, acting like a
second skin and providing excellent protection against most forms of attack.
In addition, if the character’s Strength is
not already 8, the armor increase’s the wearer’s Strength to 8. If it is
already 8 or greater, the armor increases the character’s Strength by 2
instead.
This armor has the advantage of being both
quite tough and very maneuverable. A warrior wearing an obsidian sheath need
not worry about either limiting his mobility or tiring himself in combat. The
elite troops of the Dragon Kings wore this armor into battle, which is why it
is so rare in the Second Age, and most surviving examples of it have ended up
in the arsenals of various powers. An obsidian sheath is associated with
service to the Unconquered Sun, and those who wear it have a greater than
average chance of drawing the attentions of spirits likewise in his service.
Perfected Kata Bracers (Artifact •••• for a
pair)
These matched bracers have the appearance
of prayer strips coiled around the wearer’s wrist and forearms. Fine
calligraphy etched in Old Realm along the metal or stone of the bracers reveal
sutras of martial wisdom, and each of these artful coils has a setting for a
single Hearthstone on the back of the wearer’s wrist. When attuned for a cost
of 8 motes, the paired bracers augment any Form-type Charms the wearer
activates. Using such a Charm causes a dramatic display as ribbons of light
uncoil from the bracers and swirl around the martial artist. These ribbons
vanish within seconds, but their power remains for as long as character
continues to use the augmented Form.
The Form augmentation granted by perfected
kata bracers adds the character’s permanent Essence to the accuracy, damage and
defense of all her unarmed Martial Arts attacks. Attacks made with weapons
permitted by the style of the augmented Form are also considered unarmed. The
character may also choose whether to inflict bashing or lethal damage with any
of these strikes. Finally, the augmentation adds additional benefits depending
on the type of Magical Material used to construct the bracers.
The Prey Stalking Bow (Artifact ••••)
This short green jade powerbow is said to
have been carried out of the forests of the
Reaver Dragonfly (Artifact ••••)
These autonomous killing devices were
uncommon even before the Usurpation. During the Second Age of Man, they are
more often seen in family museums than on the battlefield, as their high
maintenance requirements limit their usefulness to non-savants and make them
extremely expensive to operate.
The reaver dragonfly is similar to a larger
version of the automaton assassin and is generally thought of as a sort of
weapon-jewelry that got too large for stealth. As a result, reaver dragonflies
are all incredibly ornate and beautiful examples of the death-dealing arts. All
share the general bodyframe of a metallic flying insect about three feet long.
The dragonfly actually looks a bit more like a wasp, but it gets its nickname
because of its fiercely predatory nature and iridescent hull. All have a long
metallic stinger and many long razor-tipped legs.
A reaver dragonfly must be attuned to the
Exalt who commands it. When attuned, the dragonfly hovers above and slightly
behind the Exalt, ready to strike at his foes. The attunement provides the ambient
Essence needed to power the dragonfly. It costs 4 invested motes to attune, and
the dragonfly reduces the number of motes the character regains per hour by 4.
If the character does not regain 4 or more motes of Essence per hour, then the
reaver dragonfly will drain the Essence it needs from the character’s Essence
pools, until it taps them out and becomes inactive or until he shuts it down.
Thus, the user will want to have at least a level •• Hearthstone on hand or to
live a contemplative life — for this reason, reaver dragonflies enjoy a certain
popularity as bodyguards for those forced into seclusion by security risks.
In addition to the Essence drain, reaver
dragonflies require 30 minutes of maintenance by a character of Lore ••• for
every 24 hours of operation. The reagents and repair parts cost Resources ••
per day and are only available in large cities or from a savant with a
chemistry works.
Reaver dragonflies are intelligent in a
limited sort of way. They are tremendously good at hunting and killing but
cannot speak and have absolutely no interests or personality. A reaver
dragonfly will not go more than (100 x the attuned character’s permanent
Essence) yards from its attuned character. Reaver dragonflies can track, but
they are not supernatural trackers.
Resplendent Dolphin Undersea Courier (Artifact ••••)
Built during the First Age, such vessels
were designed for speed and discretion. However, they were unarmed and only
lightly armored. When inactive, this item appears to be a large jade egg that
is just small enough to fit within an ordinary barrel. To transform this
artifact into a vehicle, the user must commit 7 motes of Essence to it. She can
then command the egg to instantly transform into a small, fast ship that can
sail both on the surface of the seas and deep in the ocean depths. All versions
of this vessel are shaped like somewhat stylized fish made of jade, steel and
silver. When fully unfolded, this vessel is 25 feet long and eight feet in
diameter. This ship uses Essence rotors to propel it across the surface at
speeds of up to 40 miles per hour or underwater at speeds of up to 25 miles per
hour.
The top of the courier consists of a narrow
(three-foot-wide) walkway flanked on either side by rows of stylized fins that
serve as a low railing. Characters enter the vessel through a small hatch in
the middle of this walkway — one character can enter or leave the vessel every
turn. The interior of the vessel is small but luxurious. It seats up to seven
people in exceedingly comfortable seats. Behind the seats is a small closed
storage space capable of holding either four barrels that are each four feet
high and three feet in diameter or an uncomfortable two additional passengers.
The vessel supplies those within it with pure air and fresh water and has
facilities for long-term occupancy — the seats even recline to form cramped but
useable beds. The front of the ship consists of two large transparent windows
that look much like the huge eyes of deep sea fish. The front-most seat is
larger than the others and has a pair of easy to use control panel on the arms.
Piloting the courier requires both Sailing ••• and Lore ••.
Although it has a lethal and bashing soak
of 15 and has the same resistance to damage found in other First Age hulls,
undersea couriers are not armed and cannot be effectively armed. A few of them
have added mounts for a light implosion bow on the top walkway. However, diving
while this weapon is in place both halves the courier’s speed and destroys the
weapon, so it must be removed and taken inside before diving. Doing so requires
15 minutes of careful work. To safely disassemble and move this weapon, the
character handling it must also possess Lore •••. The implosion bow must also
be removed to allow the vessel to fold back into its compact barrel-shaped
form.
To activate this vessel, the owner must
commit 5 motes of Essence and place a Hearthstone of level 2 or higher in a
mounting on the right control panel. This Hearthstone provides no benefit
except for powering the vessel. Without the Hearthstone, the user’s committed
Essence only allows her to transform it from an egg to an unpowered ship that
has neither propulsion nor the ability to produce fresh air or water.
This ship requires periodic maintenance.
After every 250 hours of use, one hour must be spent repairing and refitting
it. This maintenance requires Lore •••• and Occult ••• and a supply of readily
available materials with a cost of Resources •••. If the vessel is actually
damaged, the cost of the repairs increases to Resources •••. Failure to do
routine maintenance lowers the vessel’s speed by five miles per hour, with
additional decreases every 50 hours. Once the vehicle’s underwater speed is
reduced to 0, it can no longer dive and can only be used upon the surface.
Ring Of Being (Artifact ••••)
The great Twilight artificer Jervon made a
number of these rings during the height of the First Age. He worked for years
at his great forge deep within the
It is said that each ring was a pure and
perfect representation of the Magical Material from which it was made. A
moonsilver ring would shine like a star under the light of Luna, and looking
into a ring of black jade would be like looking into the deepest ocean. The rings
were never sullied with adornments or jewels, their beauty and power were
enough on their own.
The power of these rings is great but
highly focused. No magic or power of the dead, the Fair Folk, demons, spirits
or the Wyld can affect the wearer’s innate form or mind. She can be hurt by
physical attacks or effects, but neither the native Charms of a spirit nor the
chaotic nature of the Wyld could change her, no spell might addle her mind or
make her love someone, and no demon may ever claim her soul while she is
attuned to the artifact. The act of attunement is costly. Fifteen motes must be
invested, but that is a small price to pay. In addition, an Exalt can only attune
to a ring made of the appropriate Magical Material. One of the Chosen of Luna
can never gain any benefit from a jade ring of being, other than it looking
pretty on her hand.
While the amount of the relevant Magical
Material needed to forge the ring is relatively small, the added ingredients
are difficult to come by at best. From the few fragments of records that exist,
it would appear that at least one sample of the Deep Wyld is needed and
possibly also a fragment of the Labyrinth that exists in the dark Underworld.
However, there is no real information on what other dangerous items are needed
or how to properly combine them all once they have all been found. Truly
staying constant in an ever-changing Creation is a difficult endeavor.
The Seven Lotus Crown (Artifact ••••)
The most significant of all the lost
implements of rulership over An-Teng, the Seven Lotus Crown once sat on the
head of the High Queen of An-Teng. Crafted of orichalcum and decorated by seven
perfect jade flowers: green jade leaves behind white and blue jade petals laced
with black jade veins, with red jade pistils at their center. This artifact was
a gift and reminder to the mortals who ruled An-Teng from the Solar Exalted who
lived there: orichalcum for the glory of the Unconquered Sun and the array of
jade in the flowers for the Dragon-Blooded who served both them and the rulers
of An-Teng. More than a mere badge of office, the Seven Lotus Crown conferred
upon the rightful wearer, the High Queen and only the High Queen, the strength
of spirit to rule the land.
When worn by anyone other than the High
Queen of An-Teng, the crown offers no bonuses of any kind. For a false queen,
it is no more than a trinket (albeit a very powerful one in the eyes of those
who do not know enough to expect more). Upon the head of the rightful ruler of
An-Teng, however, the crown reveals its true power — the ability to allow the
High Queen to achieve her true potential as a ruler. When wearing the crown,
the High Queen evokes an aura of power and leadership. When making Ability
rolls requiring the use of any Social Attribute, as well as any requiring the
use of Wits or Stamina, her player does not roll those Attribute dice. Instead,
the High Queen receives an automatic success for each dot in the Attribute.
Note that her player rolls Ability dice normally.
As an added bonus, the crown protects the
High Queen from harm, granting 4L and 4B soak. While wearing the crown, the
High Queen’s Willpower increases by 2.
Shining Daiklave Of Darkness (Artifact ••••)
This short daiklave was forged with the
thief in mind. It is a black blade forged of starmetal, the only one of its
kind. The Celestial Bureau had decided that a thieving god needed to be
destroyed, and a Sidereal took his Essence along with his crimes and managed to
forge a black starmetal daiklave. Knowing no better use for black starmetal, the
craftsman imbued the blade with the skills of those who must keep hidden.
Exalted thieves and assassins talk about this blade in hushed tones, knowing
that it exists but not where it resides. This daiklave takes 5 motes of Essence
to attune it to a Sidereal user, whose player can then enjoy a reduction of 3
to the difficulty of all rolls for both Larceny and Stealth. It has two
Hearthstone settings. Speed +1 Accuracy +4 Damage +8L Defense +3 Minimums S • D
•. In Exalted Power Combat, it has Rate 6.
Shroud Of The Unquiet Dead (Artifact ••••)
Stitched together from faces and limbs torn
from other ghosts, a shroud of the unquiet dead is nothing more or less than a
full-body skin suit for a ghost. However, the shroud is not intended as a
disguise. Rather, with its patchwork of faces, eyes, ears, hands and other,
less identifiable appendages, it is a gruesome mockery of even the most twisted
ghost-form. It must also be fed. One ghost of some sort or other must be fed to
the shroud each month, or it turns on itself and will devour itself from
hunger. As shrouds are difficult to find and more difficult to create, any
ghosts who owns one takes care to avoid this circumstance.
The process of attuning a shroud of the
unquiet dead is gruesome, another factor in their scarcity. The ghost wishing
to attune the item must feed it, piecemeal, another ghost, as well as part of
his own body. A finger will suffice for this purpose, and the mark cannot be
healed until such time as the owner relinquishes the suit. Wearing the shroud
also requires the investment of 7 motes of Essence, which are returned to the
wearer when he doffs the suit.
Generally worn only by spectres, the shroud
of the unquiet dead emits an incessant wailing, shrieking and moaning from all
of its mismatched mouths. Its eyes look in all directions, making the shroud’s
wearer almost impossible to sneak up on. Subtract 3 successes from all Stealth
rolls attempting to sneak up on the wearer of the shroud, and the wearer is
immune to surprise attack from enemies who are not invisible. If the shroud’s
eyes see someone approaching, the mouths will shout out a warning in chorus.
Anyone touching the shroud or making an unarmed attack on the wearer is liable
to suffer a nasty bite; up to six mouths can attack independently and will do
so if given the opportunity. Each makes a reflexive 4 dice unarmed attack and
does (1L plus successes) damage if they connect. This damage can be soaked. The
attacks are made by the artifact and not by the ghost wearing it, who can still
act normally.
But the shroud of the unquiet dead is more
than simply an early warning system. By spending a mote of Essence (and with a
successful Willpower roll), the owner of the shroud can summon up the memories
of any of the dismembered ghosts whose bits make up the shroud. The greater the
number of successes, the more detailed the memories are and the more that can
be recalled. For an additional mote, the wearer of the shroud can then speak in
that ghost’s voice.
Singing Staff (Artifact ••••)
The Singing Staff demonstrates the odd
approach to magic taken by some First Age magicians. This man-high staff of
white jade is carved in an irregular series of waves and swellings, with a knob
at each end. When rubbed with a rosined bow, the Singing Staff emits a sweet
tone, like a musical saw; different parts of the staff play different pitches
and timbres.
If one plants the end of the Singing Staff
on the ground and plays it correctly, the land responds to the music, rising
and falling like waves or shaping itself like clay molded by unseen hands. This
makes the Singing Staff precious as both a tool and a weapon: the Staff can
topple castle walls as easily as it digs canals. The Staffs uses are limited
only by the skills of its player. Singing Staves are immensely sophisticated
devices, despite their simple appearance. They were never easy to make, and in
the modern era are vastly difficult—only three are known to exist. One is in
the hands of the Empress and stored among her personal effects, one at the
Heptagram for study, and one is held by the Immaculates of Pasiap, who use it
for geomantic landscaping when building new Manses. Two used to be held by the
military, bur one was lost in battle with the Tepet legions and the other lies
on the bottom of the
Spirit Ring (Artifact ••••)
According to legend, one of the favorite
punishments for one sorcerer to inflict on another was imprisonment within a
ring or other piece of jewelry. The secrets of the imprisonment have yet to be
rediscovered, but from time to time, one of these items turns up. Fame (or infamy) almost inevitably followers the discoverer of such
an item. Great events, great heroism and sometimes great betrayals occur
around them. Rumors abound of personality changes but, also, of incredible
feats of sorcery.
At its most basic, any spirit ring
exchanges wisdom for favors. Whether these favors are for violence, defense of
a people, seduction or the destruction of the ring itself,
depends on the nature of the ring and the soul trapped within. Tales of the
devices suggest that each is unique except for the fact that the beings bound
in the rings seem only able to communicate with sorcerers and then only with
sorcerers who are actively wearing the ring.
The desires of the ring vary wildly. For
every tale of a spirit ring wearer striking vengeance across the ages on the
family of one who wronged the sorcerer bound in the ring, there is another
where the ringbearer romances a mate who physically resembles the lost true
love of the bound spirit. At least one tale describes a ring that granted
wisdom to wearer after wearer, asking nothing in return for generations. In the
end, the spirit asked the ring’s bearer to defend a small village from a band
of barbarians. When asked why such effort should be wasted on such an
insignificant town, the ring replied that the town represented all that was
left of the bound spirit’s kin.
Despite the preponderance of stories to the
contrary, there are rumors that spirit rings can only be created with the
conscious agreement of the being to be bound. At first, one might wonder why a
sorcerer would agree to such an imprisonment, but when one considers the
desires of die captive souls, perhaps the longevity promised by the rings also
promises hope. Certainly, the tales of bound spirits asking for the rings to be
destroyed after some monumental event support the theory that the rings held
sorcerers waiting to complete some task.
Veil That Holds
Back Time (Artifact ••••)
This fragile
length of gossamer, spun and woven by craftsmen of the First Age, has the rare
property of being able to suspend the flow of time. It is diaphanous and may
easily be seen through. If it is placed over an unmoving person or item, then
the subject will remain in a state of suspended animation or preservation,
neither aging nor decaying. The veil will not work on a conscious person. An
unconscious person will remain in that state and will be unable to wake or to
remove the veil. If the veil is lifted away from the subject or disturbed or
damaged in any way, then the flow of time will at once resume. The veil is
extremely fragile and must be handled with care. Few in the current age would
have any knowledge of how to reweave or mend it.
Warbird (Artifact ••••)
Legends tell of the Old Realm’s renowned
air cavalry. While many stories talk of troops who could fly without aid, some
had to rely upon flying mounts. Because Rathess was located far from human
settlements, warbirds and other flying vehicles were one of the most common
means Exalts used to visit it. Today, around three dozen of these mechanical
flying steeds survive. The Realm has 11 of these prized vehicles, eight are
used by Exalted heroes of the Threshold, the Northern god Vanileth has six, and
most of the remainder are carefully stored in the two intact flying towers of
Rathess.
Most warbirds are the size of a large war
horse, with a wingspan of a dozen yards. Warbirds are exquisitely built, with each
feather and joint perfectly mimicking those of a living bird. Most known
warbirds are made in the form of hawks, eagles or owls, but there are also
several raitons and at least one bat. All of these vehicles are made from a
variety of magical metals with bright gemstone eyes. The metals are all colored
vivid blues, greens, reds, blacks and purples. Warbirds are all highly visible
and were meant to inspire fear and awe in those they were used to attack.
Warbirds are controlled with a combination of leg movements, weight shifting,
built in reins and verbal commands. Dexterity + Ride is
used as the dice pool.
Each Warbird can carry up to two
passengers. Both ride on small saddles built into the artifact’s back. These
saddles incorporate several sturdy straps that prevent riders from falling off.
Strapping into a saddle requires three full turns, but none but the most
foolhardy riders will take off without first strapping in. Players of riders
who aren’t strapped in must make a Strength + Ride
roll to avoid having their characters fall off when the Warbird first takes to
the air. If the Warbird is flying in a storm or making a sharp turn, players of
unsecured riders must make another such roll, at difficulty 3. Any whose rolls
fail fall to their death. Warbirds arc constructed so that all riders are
protected by the equivalent of 75 percent hard cover (-3 vs. ranged, -1 vs.
hand-to-hand) against attacks coming from below and by the equivalent of a
target shield (-1 vs. all attacks) against all other attacks. Also, when flying
normally, all attacks on the Warbird or one of its riders are at an additional
+ 2 difficulty due to the difficulty of hitting such a rapidly moving target.
Warbirds normally fly at 120 miles per hour
in ordinary flight or 100 yards per turn in combat. They have 10 health levels,
and their metal skin provides them with 10L/15B soak. Losing four health levels
causes the Warbird’s speed to drop by half and increases the difficulty of all
Ride rolls by +1. If the Warbird loses eight health levels, it must land
immediately, but it can still do so safely. If it loses all 10 health levels,
it immediately crashes. Anyone who has at least Lore •••, Craft (Metalworking)
•• and Occult •• can attempt to repair a damaged Warbird. However, each health
level requires a separate roll and one full day of work. All such Craft rolls
are made at difficulty 3. Attempts to repair crashed and nonfunctional warbirds
are at difficulty 5.
Characters must place a Hearthstone of at
least level 2 into a Warbird to awaken and control it. Awakening a Warbird
requires only a single turn. Most Exalted keep their warbirds inactive when not
using them. When inactive, a Warbird appears to be an immobile metal statue.
When activated, the Warbird moves exactly like a giant living
bird or bat but requires no food or other nourishment. Riders can employ
all manner of ranged weapons while riding warbirds. However, the total dice
pool used for a ranged attack cannot exceed the rider’s Dexterity + Ride dice
pool. Warbirds designed to resemble raptors can also attack with their claws.
Warbirds that are not modeled on raptors or owls cannot attack in this fashion.
To maintain a Warbird, a character must
also have least Lore •••, Craft (Metalworking) •• and Occult ••. For every 20
hours a Warbird is in operation, a qualified character must spend one hour
maintaining the Warbird. Every 10 turns of combat adds an hour to maintenance.
The maintenance requires an array of specialized equipment that costs Resources
••• and is large enough to fill a one-horse wagon or a small workshop. This
maintenance includes the repair and replacement of various small jade and metal
components. These components can normally only be purchased in large cities.
For every 20 hours of maintenance the Warbird is in arrears, subtract one die
from all Ride rolls, and reduce the warbird’s speed by 10 miles per hour (or 10
yards per turn). If the warbird’s speed is reduced below 40 miles per hour (or
40 yards per turn), it can no longer take off and must be given maintenance
before it can again be used. Repair materials cost Resources ••• per hour of
flight.
Warbirds normally attack at a speed of 50
yards per turn, but when making high-speed dives, they can move at up to 1 50
yards per turn. Characters on a Warbird can only be attacked in hand-to-hand
combat on the initiative count during which they attack unless the character
attacking them has a weapon with a significant range (at least 100 yards).
Warstrider Fire Lance (Artifact ••••)
A warstrider-scaled version of the fire
lance, intended to smash fortifications and troop units. This version carries
only 10 motes of Essence. An expenditure of 2 motes is needed to charge the
head for melee use, 4 motes to throw a streamer of colorless fire, and 10 motes
to throw a fire fan (which affects an entire area, rather than individual
targets). Fire lances use Melee or Archery, as appropriate, and are compatible
with Melee, but not Archery, Charms. The warstrider fire lance requires 4 motes
be committed to use.
Warstrider Shock Ram (Artifact ••••)
The shock ram works in similar fashion to
the shock pike. It resembles a massive gauntlet of steel alloyed with green
jade. To use it, the wielder simply pantomimes a punch at a distant target and
spends 2 motes of Essence, releasing a powerful “phantom punch” or other attack
at his target (the shock ram can be used to duplicate any one-handed unarmed
attack the pilot could physically make). This ability uses Dexterity + Brawl or
Martial Arts for the attack roll, is compatible with Martial Arts and/or Brawl
Charms that affect unarmed attacks and follows all normal rules for warstriders
and hand-to-hand combat, save one. Because of the nature of the attack, the
warstrider does not suffer penalties for attacking smaller targets, so long as they
are at least 10 yards away.
Wings Of The Raptor (Artifact ••••)
When an earthbound Solar wished to join his
Lunar love high above the earth, he set to building the first set of these
wings. At times when they are not being used, the wings appear as a heavy
cloak, but with the expenditure of 10 motes of Essence, the cloak grants its
wearer the power of flight. A transformation takes place, changing the garment into
a glorious set of wings 20 feet across from wingtip to wingtip. This spent
Essence cannot be reclaimed until the wings are returned to their mundane
state.
When flying with these wings, an Exalt may
move at five times his base running speed (80 miles per hour flying) and adds
six dice to any Dexterity roll involving aerial maneuvering, including dodging
and hand-to-hand combat. In addition, he gains six extra dice on all
sight-based Perception rolls, and all modifiers due to distance are reduced by
three.
Characters using the wings can only be
attacked in hand-to-hand combat during the initiative tick when they attack a
foe in hand-to-hand combat. If flying characters choose to linger outside of
hand-to-hand range and characters cannot leap to them or otherwise come to
grips, the airborne characters have control of the situation. A target may attack
(or counterattack) without penalty. Characters other than the target who wish
to attack must be able to move into hand-to-hand range reflexively and suffer a
-3 penalty. Characters who have long weaapons such as spears suffer only a -1
penalty. A flying character may be attacked in ranged combat normally.