Level N/A
and Varies
Eye Of Autochthon (Artifact N/A)
The Eye of Autochthon surpasses all other
magic items known, for the Primordial Autochthon itself created it. Through the
Eye, mortals can rap a tiny fraction of a power older than the world or gods or
time itself— if they date.
The Eye of Autochthon looks like an immense
blackpearl, so large that a hero might strain to wrap his arms around it. Its
ebon luster draws the eye into limitless depths of dark radiance, a void that
could birth worlds. No force, whether human, natural or divine, could so much
as scratch the Eye’s surface, but in the First Age some unknown agency clamped
the great globe into a tight-fitting nest of three gimbaled rings so that the
Eye could turn freely in all directions. With no hand to push it, the Eye
nevertheless spins by itself.
No one since the First Age has owned the
Eye long enough to fathom all its mysteries. The sages of the Immaculate Order
know this much: The mere presence of the Eye quells all disturbances of land,
sea, air and Essence for a league around it. The earth does not quake. Storms
and waves calm. The Wyld itself subsides and stabilizes. The Fair Folk wither
and die in minutes if they enter the Eye’s zone of power. The few trustworthy
accounts of the Eye also tell of other powers that the Eye granted to owners
who could weave the threads of Essence.
Six centuries ago, the sorcerer Bagrash Köl
used the Eye to wrest a Demesne from the northern Wyld. He built a citadel so
tall that its towers needed gates to let the moon pass through, and enslaved
thousands of peasants and barbarians to populate his kingdom. Five years later,
dozens of terror-maddened men and women appeared in the northern Threshold
kingdoms.
They said that Bagrash Köl’s kingdom had
met a strange and nameless doom. Many sought the
Five centuries ago, the Grand Satrap
Manosque Viridian found the Eye and sought to usurp the Empress. At Lord
Viridian’s command, the Manses of power that defend die Realm shut down,
denying their use to the Empress and their legitimate owners. The legions of
House Manosque were only three days’ march from the Imperial capital when the
day darkened to blackest night and —- so the survivors said — Lord Viridian and
half his army fell into the sky. The Empress subsequently killed every
remaining member of House Manosque, even though they were of her own blood.
She did not obtain the Eye, though. Two
centuries ago, the Eye turned up again in the hands of the South lands prophet
Ikerre, who proclaimed a crusade against all the forces of chaos. Ikerre’s cult
of Autochthon decimated the Fair Folk of the south and cleansed two
shadowlands. When the Imperial legions came to wrest the eye from Ikerre,
however, they found the prophet and her caravan entirely turned to crystal —
but not a trace of the Eye.
The Insidious Ebon Xoanon (Artifact N/A)
The Insidious Ebon Xoanon was designed and
built by the First and Forsaken Lion, who insisted on having a device that was
the equal of any warstrider in Creation. Its shape, function and composition
were all based on warstriders the Lion had seen in Creation but modified to
better channel Oblivion.
Unlike most warstriders, the Insidious Ebon
Xoanon is not forged from metal, but crudely carved from Essence-hardened
ebony. Where the Xoanon needs to be flexible, the joints of a dead giant have
been set into the wood and animated with necromancy for mobility. Aside from
the joints, the rest of the creature is more comparable to an enormous wooden
golem than a warstrider. Odd though it is, it fulfills
exactly the function of the warstriders of Creation. The Insidious Ebon Xoanon
is the equivalent of a royal warstrider in size and strength, with certain
necromantically added advantages.
The heavy wood of the Xoanon is crudely
carved, and all surfaces of the creature are covered with the unholy glyphs of
necromancy. It’s as much a primitive totem — the kind worshiped by nephracks in
the depths of the Labyrinth — as it is a suit of armor. Part idol, part armor,
the Ebon Xoanon is carved in the shape of some unspeakable horned horror,
possibly one of the Malfeans, possibly…something… else.
The midriff, forearms and shins of the
Xoanon are thickly wrapped with human skin stained deep black from exposure to
Oblivion. This leather wrapping is held in place with dozens of soulsteel
studs. Ridges of sharp bone shards extend down the device’s spine and up the
sides of the arms. The device is as lethal as it is terrifying. In addition to
its other advantages, the Ebon Xoanon may also carry necromantic weaponry
powered by Oblivion’s Avatar (though it has to forego the use of traditional
warstrider weapons to do so, owing to size constraints). Perhaps the most
loathsome aspect of the Insidious Ebon Xoanon is its ability to steal Essence
from Solar (and only Solar) Exalted. All Chosen of the Unconquered Sun within
direct line of sight of the Xoanon lose a mote of Essence every turn to the
monstrosity’s soulsteel Essence collectors. This Essence is channeled directly
to the Xoanon’s wearer, making it much easier for nemissaries and Abyssals to
function in Creation.
Furthermore, the fists of the Xoanon are
potently Oblivion-tainted and drain the life force of those they damage. For
every health level of damage the Xoanon inflicts on Essence channelers, it
inflicts an additional wound level on its target with its chilling touch (i.e.,
all damage inflicted against Essence-channeling beings is doubled before being
applied to their health levels). Each health level of damage inflicted in this
way also steals away an additional 2 motes of Essence. The stolen Essence helps
to power the Xoanon, especially when it’s fighting in Creation and cannot gain
Essence through any other means.
The First and Forsaken Lion has worn the
Ebon Xoanon himself in battles in the Underworld, but it is most often worn by
his favored Abyssal Exalt, Walking on Laughter.
Like the warstriders of Creation, the
Xoanon needs maintenance. Every 50 hours of operation, the joints of the Xoanon
must be tended by nemissaries using Instauration of the Fleshly Vessel to
counteract their decay. The joints must also be greased with the rendered
tallow of a sentient creature, or the machine suffers disabilities like any
other warstrider (for more on warstrider maintenance and the disabilities
caused by overdue maintenance).
Iron Puzzle Box (Artifact N/A)
One of Starless Sky’s great secrets was the
Iron Puzzle Box, a simple metal box seven inches wide by five inches deep by
six inches high. When completely assembled, the box appears unremarkable,
except for the carving on the top. Four glyphs, each representing one of the
castes of the Solars, adorn the lid, one in each corner. The missing glyph,
that of the Night Caste, is, in fact, present in the center, but only a
character who has attuned the box can see it.
The Iron Puzzle Box is an extremely
dangerous artifact, and its origins and first owner are lost to time. Starless
Sky took the Iron Puzzle Box from someone upon whom she passed judgment some
moonless night, but she never spoke of it to anyone. Over time, she divined the
secrets of the box, including the fact that, by tapping the lip in a precise
sequence, the entire box falls apart into 50 small interlocking pieces.
Assembling the box once it has been disassembled requires 50 successes on an
extended Intelligence + Lore roll, making one roll per hour. A botch at any
time indicates that the work of the last two hours was flawed, and the player
loses any successes from those rolls. The character need not assemble the box
in one sitting (indeed, it took Starless Sky herself more than a month).
Once the box is assembled, it can be
opened. Opening the box with no idea what the artifact can do is unwise,
however. The box contains everything in any realm in or outside of Creation —
it is an opening into Heaven, Yozi, the deepest oceans, the heart of volcanoes,
the council room of the Deliberative, the bedchamber of Raksi or anywhere else
imaginable (provided the area is not warded against scrying or teleportation).
One thing it cannot do is reach through time, but it can be used to
contact any being capable of communication, ghosts included.
If an attuned character touches the Night
glyph and expends 4 motes of Essence, the box opens. If the character knew what
place he intended the box to reach or what person he wishes it contact, his
player rolls Intelligence + Lore at difficulty 3 to guide the box. If the roll
succeeds, the character can now peer into the box and see the intended location
as though he were standing there. By picking up the box and moving it, he can
move his reference point. All of his senses function normally, but nothing at
his destination can touch him unless he reaches into the box (which means he
can steal anything that would fit through the box’s opening). If the roll
fails, the box simply does not function. If the roll botches, the box responds
as though someone had opened it with no “destination” in mind.
If a character opens the box with nothing
in mind, his player must make a Wits + Lore roll at difficulty 5. If the roll
succeeds, the character’s mind is filled with images of Hell, Heaven and
Creation for a moment, and then, the box snaps shut. The character loses a
point of Willpower but is otherwise unharmed, and the player can make an
Intelligence + Lore roll to guess at the box’s function. If that roll fails,
the box opens to Yozi. Worse yet, it cannot be closed until a certain Old Realm
phrase is uttered over the box… and the only person who knew this phrase was
Starless Sky.
Mantle Of Brigid (Artifact N/A)
The Mantle of Brigid is a millennia old
silk cloth, threadbare and worn, that bears the image of a woman’s form. Many
believe the woman in the image is Brigid, the Magic Bearer. Is it really the
cloak that she was given in the East, or is it an elaborate forgery, a hoax
perpetrated by some clever sorcerer-artist? Modern researchers have completed
thousands of days of intense research on the mantle. In fact, it may be the
single most studied artifact known to the Exalted. Yet, the controversy over
its validity rages.
The mantle is a seven-foot long, six-foot
wide section of the finest scarlet silk, faded and worn with centuries of use
and embroidered with hair-fine orichalcum thread. The image upon it is that of
the silhouette of a woman. Believers in the mantle claim that the image could
have only been made by the constant flow of Essence out of the wearer and
through the cloth over the course of years. Investigators claim that the weave
of the silk is consistent with the weave of cloth fragments attributed to the
era in which Brigid lived. Critics claim that the image is faked or the result
of water damage and that there is no way to accurately match cloth weaves for
cloth of that age. In addition, disbelievers state that even the finest silk
could not have survived since the time of Brigid. Believers say that this just
further supports their claims.
Currently owned by the Empress, the
so-called Mantle of Brigid was her personal possession and a regular part of
her wardrobe, at least when working magic. She certainly had good reason to
protect the mantle, if its history is to be believed. According to the tales,
the artifact has survived earthquakes, fires and floods. Believers claim that
the cloak will extend its resilience to its wearer and that the truly worthy
wearer will gain, in addition, some small share of Brigid’s access to Essence.
These claims have not been put to the test in the modern era.
Skywolf (Artifact N/A)
Skywolf is one of a group of similar craft that form the backbone of
the Lookshy Sky Guard. Although Skywolf is less than two centuries old,
her sister ships were built during the Shogunate, based on plans for mid-range
First Age skyremes. Nearly 300 feet long, Skywolf was
designed to support ground operations and to carry troops and supplies to the
battlefield. Only six of these great warships are known to have survived the
Contagion (or to have been produced since), and all of them belong to Lookshy.
Rumors persist of sky pirates armed with a Skywolf-class craft operating
in the
In flight, Skywolf vaguely resembles
a steel-and-jade alloy killer whale, but the resemblance is fleeting. A
deckhouse rises from its mostly flat dorsal deck, equipped with numerous tiedowns for cargo or warstriders. The ventral hull is
curved and comes to a point — skycraft usually land in large pools of water or
calm inlets — and a thick ventral “fin” housing weapons and an observation deck
hangs below it. To port and starboard are four armored housings carrying potent
Essence turbines that power the massive vessel. When operational, these engines
can temporarily drain an area of breathable Essence in mere days, and so, the
ships are normally kept powered down when not being prepared for a mission or
in the air. It takes a full day to bring the engines up to operational power. Skywolf
and her sisters can float and can operate as ocean-going craft, after a
fashion, although they are ungainly and slow in the water.
Unlike most of her sister ships, Skywolf
retains her original armament. Combat between aerial warships was not
unknown in the First Age, but it was uncommon enough that it was not a primary
consideration — as a result, most of Skywolf’s
weapons are designed to be able to engage ground targets. A forward weapon
mount holds a pair of lightning ballistae (Hearthstone powered) facing forward,
and the ventral fin mounts four medium implosion bows, one firing in each
direction (port, starboard, fore and aft). Four light implosion bows (two port
and two starboard on mounts allowing one on each side to fire either forward or
aft) and two forward-facing warstrider fire lances are mounted on the top deck,
allowing for fire against aerial targets (or while the craft is in the water).
Additionally, firing ports located throughout the hull allow the ship’s troops
or Dragon-Blooded to use personal weapons against the enemy.
Skywolf requires a crew of 20, including five Dragon-Blooded, and
normally carries two scales of ship’s troops in addition to any embarked ground
forces. The exact amount of passengers and cargo carried varies — Skywolf can
carry a wing for short periods of time, but she normally carries three talons
when traveling more than a week from Lookshy. Some of her sister ships,
partially rebuilt for cargo capacity, can carry a wing comfortably for long
periods of time and are the primary means of deploying large units to the
redoubts from Lookshy.
Skywolf’s operation is labor intensive, requiring one hour of
maintenance for every three hours of flight or every five turns of combat.
Fortunately, most of this work can be done while the craft is in flight, but
for every 100 hours of in-flight maintenance, she requires a day of refitting
in dry dock. In-flight maintenance is fairly simple (Repair 2). The Legion can
build aerial warships resembling Skywolf, but they are massive
undertakings even for Lookshy — nearly all other production of First Age or
Shogunate-era weapons and armor ceased when Skywolf was built, and it is
expected the impact on production would be worse today.
The Sword Of Ice (Artifact N/A)
This legendary blade is said to be tied not
only to the past but also to the future. Brigid, the First Sorcerer, reputedly
bore this sword, cool to the touch and constructed of purest crystal, until the
day of her death.
Extreme in both its beauty and its power,
the weapon seemed to grow in its abilities even as Brigid expanded hers. The
sword served not only as a form of offense, it also served the Mother of Spells
as advisor and confidant. It is unclear if the power of speech was inherent to
the sword, was the result of some spirit bound to the blade or was some
reflection of Brigid’s own power and personality, but no matter which, it was
her most trusted friend and ally. Upon her death, the weapon is said to have
melted into water on the spot and soaked into the ground around its fallen
mistress’s body.
True believers in Brigid take the legend
one step further. They assert that the sword will re-form when Brigid’s true
heir appears in the land to claim it. This true heir will take up Brigid’s
sword of ice and, after dispatching her foes, lead Exalted and unExalted alike
into a new era of magic. In this new era of magic, feats of sorcery beyond even
Brigid herself will be performed, and the face of the world will be changed
forever. If this tale is accurate, clearly no true heir has yet claimed the
blade. But the believers claim that the signs are there, in the stars, on the
sea and in the deep places of the earth: The time of the heir is coming.
Jade Hand (Artifact Varies)
In addition to granting the wearer (who must
have lost a hand by accident or design) a normal range of motion and use of the
missing limb, a jade hand acts as a conduit between the wearer and the Essence
of a Manse. Only the Dragon-Blooded can wear a jade hand, and even then, the
hand must be of the appropriate type of jade as determined by the Exalt’s
aspect. When using Charms based upon the Aspect Abilities of the element with
which the hand is associated, the jade hand reduces the total cost in motes of
Essence by a number equal to the hand’s Artifact rating. For example, Shuri’s
jade hand is rated Artifact 3, so the total cost for using any Charm associated
with an Air Ability is reduced by 3 motes. In no case can the jade hand reduce
the cost of activating a Charm below 1 mote of Essence, nor does it have any
effect on Willpower expenditures to activate Charms.
All jade hands possess sockets for the
placement of a Hearthstone. Because of the connection between the hand and the
element for which it was made, only a like Hearthstone may be set in the hand.
If there is a cost to activate the stone, the jade hand does reduce the cost in
motes of Essence to activate it just as if it were a Charm of the appropriate
element. This ability even extends to the cost of attunement for weapons of the
appropriate jade type for the Dragon-Blooded who wears the hand.
A jade hand may possess additional features,
as well. Some are crafted with clawlike nails,
allowing the wearer to inflict lethal damage with unarmed attacks. Others are
designed larger than the wearer’s natural hand, allowing the wearer to wield a
large weapon, such as a grand daiklave, in one (the jade) hand. If the jade
hand possesses such a trait, the Artifact rating of the hand is increased by
one, but it does not increase the number of motes of Essence by which it
reduces the cost of Charms and other aspect magic. The hand must be attuned to
the wearer and requires a commitment of 1 mote of Essence per dot of Artifact.
Rumors persist of similar hands crafted of
the other Magical Materials, such as starmetal and soulsteel. If such creations
exist, they are likely very rare, very powerful and very well hidden and
guarded.
Vessel Of The Pyre (Artifact Varies)
Vessels of the pyre are the only known
method of transporting pyre flame, and the best method of using it as a weapon.
Each pyre vessel is an earthenware jug with a thick, heavy stopper, unadorned
and unlovely. Most are small enough to fit in the hand, though some are as tall
as a man and as wide as a doorway. Each can be filled with pyre flame, as
workers using special soulsteel funnels and other implements can shovel the
stuff into the vessel without much risk of harm. Once the pyre flame is inside
the vessel and the stopper is sealed, it can be transported safely.
A vessel can also be used as a deadly
projectile weapon. Whether flung by hand or hurled by a war engine, a jug full
of pyre flame splits open on contact, spreading its contents all around the
immediate vicinity and on any bystanders therein. The dead are careful in its
use in siege warfare, however, as a citadel that has been brought down by
vessels of the pyre is likely to be worthless as a possession of the victor.
Its main use, rather, is as a weapon of terror.
The size of the vessel determines how much
pyre flame it can hold and how much damage the flame does on impact. Full
vessels can be stored for untold centuries without any harm to their contents,
though in such cases their keepers tend to seal them with wax to prevent
spillage.