Level 2 Artifacts

 

Ashigaru Battle Armor (Artifact ••)

The elite ashigaru normally wear specialized armor whose design dates back to the First Age but can still be produced today. This lightweight armor, equal in protection to a reinforced breastplate, is enchanted to aid the wearer in various ways. The armor sharpens the wearer’s senses, negating penalties for darkness less than “utter blackness” and adding two dice to all Awareness dice pools. Enchantments and filters protect the wearer against poison and disease, adding two dice to Resistance dice pools and completely shielding the wearer from breathed toxins for up to an hour. Finally, the armor can camouflage its wearer, blurring her presence and adding two dice to the wearer’s Stealth dice pool when moving or three dice when stationary.

Mortals must spend one temporary Willpower to activate the armor — this Willpower is treated as committed and effectively lowers the character’s maximum temporary Willpower. Additionally, wearers age one extra week for every season or part of a season the armor is used. Exalts must commit 4 motes to use this armor, but otherwise suffer no effect. Ashigaru armor is built using a mixture of Magical Materials and First Age alloys, and Exalted wearers gain no Magical Material bonuses. Ashigaru battle armor requires maintenance every 150 hours of operation. Every 10 hours of missed maintenance disables one power at random.

 

 

Automaton Assassin (Artifact ••)

Automata assassins are clockwork creatures disguised as jewelry — most often rings, earrings or decorative belts. They take the form of small insects, spiders, snakes or other creatures of appropriate size. Inactive, they appear to be meticulously detailed works of art, often of great beauty.

The first automata assassins were built before the Usurpation as part of the plan to kill the Solars and were of much greater potency. All of these were believed destroyed in the subsequent ambush, but they took a heavy toll on the Anathema before the devices were destroyed. Since that time, the Exalted have found it impossible to duplicate those earlier automata and have resorted to more subtle creations that depend more upon stealth than raw power.

The controlling Exalt must invest 5 motes of Essence to animate the jewelry, which unfolds and moves as a perfectly articulated replica of the creature it resembles. For one scene, the automaton moves according to the Exalt’s mental directions, and she can focus her senses through the item, seeing through its eyes and hearing through its ears. Automata carry a terrible poison of magical origin, which they can inject with a bite, although each such bite costs the controlling Exalt 2 motes of Essence. As usual, an Exalt who is investing Essence into an automaton not of her type pays double the investment cost, but the bite costs only 2 motes regardless of the automaton’s type.

Automata assassins are rare, but popular among the Terrestrial Exalted, who often use them to create “openings” in the ranks.

 

Bag Of Harvested Plagues (Artifact ••)

The illnesses that have slain the dead can, in turn, be let loose upon the living once again. This black silk sack is three handwidths across and is embroidered with the names of sicknesses from across Creation with black silk thread and the hair of those who died from contagious fevers. It has two main functions: to “trap” a disease and to “release” it. To “trap” a disease, the bag must be held to the mouth of one of the dead who died from such a disease, and the owner of the bag must spend a mote of Essence. This has no effect on the dead himself. Up to five different diseases may be held within the bag at any one time, but multiple applications of the same disease have no effect.

To “release” a disease, the holder opens the bag and shakes it in the direction of a living person, from a distance of five yards or less. The victim’s player must make a separate Stamina + Resistance check for each of the diseases in the bag, as they cannot be released one at a time, but must all be discharged together. Should the victim’s player fail his check against the Virulence of a particular disease, then the victim contracts it. No other living people nearby will catch anything from the bag, though they are at normal risk of infection from an illness-ridden victim. This artifact cannot trap or release the Great Contagion. Nothing less than the Well of Udr could hold such a thing, and any attempt to trap the Great Contagion in a bag of harvested plagues will destroy the bag.

 

Bone Bridge (Artifact ••)

This chain of human vertebrae, linked together with dried human sinews, is flexible enough to be worn as a belt or coiled around a forearm. Its true purpose, however, is to form a convenient bridge over rivers, marshes, or gaps in the ground. The owner must attune to it, which requires committing 5 motes of Essence, but once this is done, she can use it freely. All that she needs to do is to cast it down in front of her, over a river or chasm or soft ground or similar gap, and the chain of vertebrae will grow and arch into a curved bone bridge three feet wide. The bridge can span a gap of up to 100 yards, but no further. It will remain solid and in place until its owner places her hand on it and wishes for it to resume its smaller form, and she can do this from either side of the bridge — or even while standing on it. It will then shrink, returning to being a chain of vertebrae in her hand. If people should still be on the bridge at this point, they will fall.

 

Bone Harpoon (Artifact ••)

This barbed harpoon is carved from the bones of a dead behemoth, inlaid with soulsteel, and is paired with a soulsteel gauntlet. Most of the time, only the gauntlet exists, but at a moment’s notice, the wearer of the gauntlet can summon up the harpoon. The harpoon may be used in hand-to-hand combat, and it has the statistics of a dire lance under those circumstances. However, it has another use.

If thrown so that it strikes a target (the throw must connect, and the target must suffer at least one level of damage), then the user can spend a mote of Essence to invoke the harpoon’s true power. A soulsteel chain shimmers into existence between the gauntlet and the harpoon, and it promptly tightens, dragging the target to a mere three feet away from the harpoon’s owner, at which point the chain vanishes, leaving the butt of the harpoon in the owner’s gauntleted hand. The harpoon may be thrown again, or it may be used in hand-to-hand combat, as the owner wishes.

In order to drag the target to him, the Harpoon’s owner must oppose his Strength + Melee to the target’s Strength + Endurance. If the player of the harpoon’s owner scores equal or more successes, then the target is dragged across to the wielder of the harpoon, though this does not cause additional damage. This takes a full combat turn. If the target’s player scores more successes, then the target can remain where she is standing, though the harpoon is still in her flesh and the chain still exists. The harpoon’s owner may attempt to drag her to his feet again next turn, or he may choose to let the chain vanish and retrieve the harpoon at his leisure.

 

Bracelets Of Passionate Artistry (Artifact ••)

These hammered soulsteel bracelets are several inches wide, stretching halfway up the forearm, but always precisely fit their owner, however large or small his arms. They raise the owner’s Craft, giving him a bonus of one die to all rolls involving works of art or craft that he creates while wearing them. If he is working in an area where he actually has a specialization (such as Soulsteel or First Age Weapons) then he gains a bonus of two dice, as the bracelets respond particularly well to directed and focused passion for crafting.

The bracelets are made of soulsteel that has been hammered from the ghosts of craftsmen and is unornamented other than the single small soulfire crystal which is set in each bracelet. When their owner is working, the bracelets croon in wailing occult harmony as they remember their joy in craftwork. The bracelets can be separated, but they must both be worn to be effective. If one is destroyed, the other immediately shatters and falls to dust.

 

Bracer Of Crystal Bolts (Artifact ••)

This large bracer is made of a single piece of clear rock crystal set with orichalcum inlays. This weapon holds two bolts also made of enchanted rock crystal. With a thought, the wearer can fire these bolts, and by spending 1 mote of Essence, the character can draw the bolts back to the weapon (they actually fly to the weapon).

If either of the bolts is damaged or broken, it will repair itself within a few hours, less for minor damage. Committing 4 motes of Essence activates the bracer and causes it to resize to fit the wearer and allows the wearer to fire it. It can then only be removed by the wearer or upon her death. This bracelet has a setting for a single Hearthstone. Bracers of crystal bolts use the Thrown Ability to attack, and Thrown Charms can apply to attacks with them.

 

Bracer Of The Hawk (Artifact ••)

This bracer ― they are rarely found in pairs, though it has occasionally been known to happen ― has a creature of pure Essence (like a cherub) in the shape of a hawk woven into its metal, which can be summoned and commanded to serve the owner. The bracer of the hawk appears to be normal steel bracer of the highest quality, with the design of a screaming bird of prey working into it in one of the Five Magical Materials. The owner must commit 2 motes of Essence to the bracer to attune it to himself. Once that is done, he need merely concentrate on the bracer and command the hawk to emerge.

The hawk spirit takes its body from the metals of the bracer: It is made of steel, with great winds edged with orichalcum, moonsilver, jade, starmetal or soulsteel. The magical bird has a high intelligence, though not quite at the human level, and is capable of obeying detailed orders. If it returns safely to the owner, then it can reenter the bracer: however, if it is slain outside the bracer, then the bracer becomes no more than a useful piece of armor, and the hawk spirit is lost forever.

The bracer of the hawk has a setting for a single Hearthstone.

 

Candelabrum Of Remembered Kin (Artifact ••)

Sometimes, the dead wish to see how their living kin fare. And, if they are willing to pay the price, there are ways of doing so. This slender, five-branched candelabrum is made of soulsteel, set with garnets and onyx from the mines of the Underworld, and it offers the dead the chance to briefly see their families again. When candles of a certain formulation are placed in the candelabra and lit in a certain way, the smoke rises from the holders on the four outer arms and the innermost socket and forms a circular window in the air. This window, which is a full yard in diameter, will display the particular family member of whom the candle-lighter was thinking, for as long as the candles burn, even if the family member moves around during that period. The power of the artifact can be protected against by countermagic or by spells that block scrying and sorcerous spying.

The candles must be made from a particular mixture of pounded ash, juniper berries and melted wax from used funeral candles, with wicks of linen taken from the shrouds of members of the family in question. Another family member must light the candles and must be directly linked by blood to the descendant (or ancestor, if still alive) who is the target of observation. The candles will burn for a maximum of half an hour. If blown out before that time is over, they can be relit and reused. The candelabrum itself may be used a maximum of five times a day, assuming that the owner has sufficient candles for his wishes. Those who are observed through it may, on a successful Perception + Occult roll at a difficulty of 7, smell juniper and ash in the air and see a faint shadow of smoke hovering where no smoke should be.

 

Chain Shirt (Artifact ••)

While most warriors prefer to go into battle in the heaviest armor they can comfortably wear, the danger of being shot by assassins or down by commandos has led some Exalted to use protection that can be worn in civilian settings. Like any other form of artifact armor, chain shirts can be made of orichalcum, moonsilver, starmetal, jade or soulsteel. Each of these items has the same modifiers as any other armor made from that material. Like any other chain shirt, this armor can be discreetly worn under coats, robes or other bulky clothing.

 

Chair Of Guilty Sorrows (Artifact ••)

This throne-like chair is carved from solid black marble and ornamented with silver and white jade and starmetal. When one of the dead sits in it, the chair glues itself to him, clinging to his legs and buttocks and back with a supernatural strength and forcing him to remain there. Once it has a victim trapped, serpent heads carved on the arms of the chair open their mouths and begin to intone a list of all the victim’s crimes in life, drawing on the victim’s own feelings of guilt and shame. Once they have gone through a full list of all the victim’s wrongdoings, they begin again. These “crimes” are those for which the victim actually feels personal guilt, rather than any sort of universal moral truth. If the victim’s Essence + Willpower is 10 or more, then the chair cannot read his guilt and will not trap him.

In order to remove himself from the chair, the victim either must confess to each crime as it is listed by the chair or must be forcibly torn from it. If he confesses to all the crimes, then he can simply get up and walk away. If he tries to rip himself loose or to have friends rip him loose, then all those involved in the attempt may combine their Strength + Athletics (by adding it together) and will need to score five or more successes against a difficulty of 7. For each success less than a total of 10, the victim takes a die of lethal damage due to parts of his body remaining stuck to the chair (natural soak only), and he always takes at least one level of lethal damage. Sapphire or Adamant Countermagic will also break the chair’s hold, but only for a minute. After that time, the chair attempts to reassert its hold on the victim, and if he has not been removed, it will clasp his flesh again.

 

Cloak Of Vermin (Artifact ••)

This rich cloak of black fur is, in fact, composed of the ghosts of hundreds of plague rats, woven together by sorcery and still metaphysically rife with malice and hunger. With a single word, the wearer of the cloak can transform it into a seething mass of yellow-toothed rats and set the rats on his enemies. Particularly sadistic wearers of this cloak in the past have even pretended that the cloak was a gift to a friend or lover and waited till it was set around the other person’s shoulders before calling forth the rats of the cloak to devour her. The rats can be directed at a particular target, but they only know how to attack and cannot perform any complex maneuvers.

Treat the swarm of rats as a single creature with the statistics of a great cat but automatically doing both biting and clawing attack every turn to a single target. Even if the rats are slain, the cloak will still reform at the owner’s wish and will be fully functional again at the next dark of the moon. Only flame, sorcery or Charms can permanently destroy it.

 

Compass Of Immanent Strife (Artifact ••)

This compass is forged of orichalcum and starmetal, and once installed in a ship’s helm, infallibly points toward the largest current battle within 50 miles. Should there not be any ongoing battles within that distance, then the starmetal needle hangs loosely in the compass, swaying idly with the waves. The size of a battle is gauged by the power of the participants and then by their number. A fight between a handful of Solars and Abyssals will trump a sea battle involving a dozen ships, though the needle will show notable hesitation in making up its mind. Should the steersman sail toward the battle, following the compass’ direction, then he will benefit from a favoring wind until he reaches the battle, giving the ship an extra dot of speed.

 

Courier Drone (Artifact ••)

Generally reminiscent of large metallic dragonflies about three inches long, these automata provide one of the most common means of delivering messages between Autochthonian cities. The drones can only carry a quarter-pound of weight in their spindly legs, but this is more than sufficient for bearing tiny brass scroll tubes or memory crystals. The automata navigate by Essence, able to track the emissions of metropoli across all of Autochthonia. Upon arrival, they follow the broadcasted neural signals of the ancient Alchemicals to a designated drop site. Because of this navigation system, they would be blind and confused outside the Realm of Brass and Shadow, though new models could be designed to orient using the dragon tracks of Gaia’s pattern-woven souls. More importantly, the automata are highly nimble and capable of flying at a top speed of 300 miles per hour. These automata possess Intelligence 1, Perception 3 and Wits 3, and as automata, courier drones have no Virtues; they never fail Valor rolls and never succeed at any other Virtue checks. Courier drones generally travel through tram veins whenever possible, employing their small size to dodge around passing trains. Alternately, they can flit through grates into air ducts, although these passages are generally more dangerous and, therefore, are used only as a last resort.

A less common version of this device exists for exploration and military purposes (also Artifact ••). Instead of orienting on any city, these drones can only fly back and forth between two rings. The drones can infallibly track their target beacons in real time so long as they are on the same plane of reality, using the best possible means of reaching the current destination if both are within Autochthonia. Wards that block scrying also inhibit navigation if the destination beacon is brought into a warded area. In such cases, the drone finds a place to land and waits until it can sense the destination to resume its journey.

All courier drones respire living Essence through their wings in order to remain functional. If they pass inside an Autochthonian blight zone or a shadowland during the day, their top speed drops to 50 miles per hour. In the Underworld, they can fly at this reduced speed for one hour, after which their flight becomes erratic and they land, ceasing all function until they are exposed to living Essence for a full hour. Repairing a damaged drone takes an hour of work and costs Resources •• per health level. The technician must have an appropriate Craft (usually Clockworks) at ••••.

 

Crossbows (Resources •• or •••, or Artifact ••)

These weapons have long been associated with the followers of the Machine God, ever since the Mountain Folk developed them in the primeval era before mankind. By the time that humans began using weapons, the Jadeborn had long since moved on to more advanced devices, such as Essence cannons, so the Conclave generously shared the designs for crossbows with the early mortal followers of Autochthon. After the Primordial left Creation and took these followers with him, the geased and weakened Mountain Folk turned once more to using crossbows because they could no longer maintain the glorious arsenals of the past. Much later, the Haslanti uncovered preserved copies of the weapons from the ruins of a city once belonging to the Great Maker’s people. They have closely guarded the designs for these weapons, so crossbows remain extremely rare in Creation. In Autochthonia, matters are quite different. Conventional bows are all but unknown except in exile colonies and are viewed by military engineers as a quaint archaism. Even powerbows are viewed with similar disdain by Alchemicals, who prefer the Essence cannons and pneumatic bows of their own Charms or the deadly artifacts known as assault crossbows.

In all varieties, the main advantage of crossbows is that they do not depend on their user’s Strength for power. With a little training, even the weakest conscripts or children may attack with the same devastating force as archers who have spent years building their muscles. Furthermore, the vast majority of arrows used by Autochthonians are armor-piercing bolts (considered target arrows), extremely useful against metal-skinned gremlins. Broadhead bolts are far less common, given how ineffective they are against automata and rogue machine gods. Most rare of all, Autochthonians occasionally employ a cruel form of bolt with a spring loaded tip that opens into a three-bladed claw as the projectile leaves the bow. These are useless against hard targets, but inflict horrible rending wounds against flesh (same rules as frog-crotch arrows). These so-called razor bolts are expensive and take more effort to produce, but they are sufficiently demoralizing that sentinels favor them for policing and most cities keep a supply on hand. Unfortunately, crossbows are slow to reload (maximum rate of 1) and suffer from poor range compared with conventional bows. Exceptional bows cannot improve their rate. Similarly, Archery Charms cannot overcome the rate limitation unless they are specifically developed for that purpose.

The four main types of crossbows used in Autochthon are personal weapons, rare wrist-mounted models favored by assassins (often loaded with poisoned darts), siege models intended for use against large targets and the aforementioned assault crossbows used by the Alchemicals. The last have an attunement cost of 5 motes and generally provide the same Magical Material bonuses as powerbows. Jade models do not add to rate, but instead, propel their arrows like flashing thunderbolts, gaining a speed of +2 and adding 30 yards to range.

 

Daiklaves (Artifact ••)

Elaborately decorated and with double-edged blades over four feet long and six or more inches wide, daiklaves are the traditional weapons of the Exalted. Daiklaves are forged from steel alloyed with one of the Five Magical Materials and are far too large to be wielded by mere mortals. However, in the hands of an Exalted, the material of the sword resonates with the character’s anima, making the blade light and wieldy, despite its impressive size. Each daiklave is unique, its shape partly a product of the smith’s desires and partly dictated by complex astrological factors. By long tradition, each is also named and treated as an honored companion to the Exalted who wields it.

A daiklave is deadly in the hands of any Exalted, but in the hands of one of the Exalted attuned to the Magical Material used in its construction, it is especially deadly. Such an Exalted can use the weapon as a conduit for her anima. The blade is not simply an extension of her body, but an expression of her will and her divine nature.

In addition to their inherent powers, most daiklaves have a setting for a single Hearthstone. Beyond this setting and their inherent magic, most daiklaves bear no additional enchantment. However, some daiklaves, normally those forged for nobles or noted heroes, are woven with other sorceries. Such enchantments are much more common on relics of the First Age than on modern jade-alloy daiklaves.

 

Dragon Sigh Wand (Artifact ••)

Carved from red jade in the likeness of an openmouthed dragon and inlaid with a fine tracing of orichalcum, these two-foot-long artifact firewands do not require ammunition. Instead, the jade conducts the user’s Essence through an array of crystal lenses in the throat of the barrel, unleashing a torrent of scarlet flame from the mouth. Attuning to a Dragon Sigh Wand costs 5 motes, and the devices are specifically designed to resonate with all magical beings in spite of their predominantly jade construction. Owing to this universal design, the weapons also do not receive the usual Magical Material bonus for jade weapons. Attuned users need only point the wands in the direction of their enemies and spend 2 motes per blast. Ruby capacitors in the device store up to 12 motes that the bearer can use as an alternate power source for blasts. Recharging these artifacts requires touch and a simple action costing 2 motes per mote restored. In addition to their other limitations, dragon sigh wands require adjustment of their delicate lenses after every scene in which they are fired. Failure to perform such maintenance can result in a misfire or even a catastrophic explosion. Aligning the crystals requires five minutes of undisturbed work and a successful Intelligence + Craft (First Age Weapons) roll at difficulty 3.

For every five additional minutes spent adjusting the lenses, the player adds an extra die to this roll (to a maximum of three bonus dice). Each failed or missed maintenance roll cumulatively adds 1 to the difficulty and Essence cost of attacks made with the poorly aligned weapon, until the third successive failure or missed repair imposes the effects of a botch. On a botch, the weapon becomes extremely unstable. If fired, the wand does not produce a stream of flame, but instead, unleashes a spherical conflagration inflicting the weapon’s normal damage on everything within two yards (including the user). The weapon itself remains unharmed by the explosion.

Repairing a botched alignment takes an hour of undisturbed work and increases the difficulty of the maintenance roll to 5. Fortunately, any further failures or botched repair rolls do not make the weapon more dangerous. A successful repair roll keeps a dragon sigh wand functioning normally or repairs the effects of any previously failed or missed maintenance rolls.

Smaller foot-long versions of this weapon type exist, also rated Artifact •• for a single wand or Artifact ••• for set of two. These models cost 4 motes to attune, 6 motes for a matched pair, and only store 8 motes in their ruby capacitors per wand. These variants trade a slightly reduced damage for an effectively doubled rate when used as a pair.

Dragon sigh wands of either size are permitted as style weapons by Righteous Devil martial arts.

 

Dragon Tear Tiara (Artifact ••)

Another common decorative item, these tiaras and circlets were forged from all the Magical Materials and incorporate all the motifs of Hearthstone amulets, above. Regardless of the material from which they’re forged, all tiaras provide the same benefits.

Each has a setting for a Hearthstone located directly over the character’s Caste Mark. Dragon tear tiaras require the commitment of 2 motes of Essence to activate the Hearthstone and the tiara’s own magical powers. When activated, the tiara adds 1 die to the character’s Perception for normal perception rolls. This bonus increases to 3 dice when the character is attempting to perform geomancy, astrology, detect spirits or otherwise perform tasks that require occult sensitivity.

 

Essence Cannon (Artifact •• to •••••)

The design of the Essence cannon is very old, possibly the oldest ranged weapon not powered by human (or Exalted) muscle. Essence cannons are inefficient and clumsy in application — but they are also easily maintained, easy to build and capable of great power when built large enough. As more elegant or versatile weapons have succumbed to the passage of time or lack of maintenance, the Seventh Legion finds itself increasingly turning to Essence cannons.

Essence cannons are very simple in operation — an Exalt pumps in motes, and out comes a beam of raw, focused Essence. This blast is a concussive pulse that smashes anything it hits — damage is bashing, but the player of any target hit must make a Stamina + Athletics roll against difficulty 3 to have his character remain standing. If directed against a nonliving target, the weapon inflicts half its damage as lethal damage.

The great advantage of Essence cannons is their rugged and simple nature — they require little maintenance beyond cleaning and, when broken, can be repaired even during battle — the only parts that can break are the Essence lenses, and these are easily replaced. For this reason, most of the non-powerbow artifact ranged weapons in use in the Realm today are Essence cannons of various types, mostly built by the Mountain Folk.

Small Essence Cannon: The small Essence cannon is a heavy brass and steel tube lined with Essence lenses, normally mounted on a wooden stock with crude sights. Fired over the shoulder, these weapons were sometimes used for riot control or for capturing wanted targets without permanently harming them. A handful of surviving First Age versions have an Essence reservoir built into them that stores 30 motes — these are Artifact ••• and have a commitment cost of 5.

Medium Essence Cannon: Medium Essence cannons are large enough to require a two-man team to fire — although some Exalts are strong enough to carry them into position, they are too long to fire effectively. If individuals try to fire the weapon, apply the same penalties as for using oversized weapons. Some warstriders carry one mounted on one shoulder or as a handheld weapon — if mounted, this weapon adds • to the warstrider’s Artifact rating.

Large and Very Large Essence Cannons: Normally used only as fortification weapons, not even warstriders can use them effectively. The weapon’s blast affects everyone within 10 feet of the impact point.

 

Essence Dice (Artifact ••, ••• for health levels)

These dice have been carved out of bone, inlaid with ebon shadow taken directly from the pupils of the eyes of helpless ghosts and treated with Arcanoi that allow those who use them to transfer Essence between each other through a bet. This works for both the living and the dead. Wagers must be between the owner and another person or between two people with the owner standing as arbiter, and the owner must state the terms of the wager clearly before the dice are thrown. The dice absorb Essence from those who have made the wager, using a form of Filling the Precious Vial, and then, they restore it to the person who wins the wager. Any Essence that the winner cannot hold is lost. The dice are found in sets of two to ten, but they need not all be used at the same time. A maximum of 5 motes of Essence can be wagered on any one bet.

A much rarer form of this artifact can also hold health levels of lethal damage as part of the wager, so that ghosts can bet their very existences in hopes of winning more Essence or healing their wounds. A ghost who destroys herself in this way, by gambling away all her health levels, automatically casts herself into Lethe unless restrained with soulsteel chains or otherwise destined for Oblivion.

 

Essence Pulse Grenade (Artifact ••)

Some elite Warriors carry artifact grenades constructed of jade and crystal. These reusable spheres store a charge of elemental Essence at their core. When activated by pressing a combination of jeweled buttons, the orbs hum with power and detonate after the desired duration (any time from a turn to an hour) or when a squeezed button is released without disarming (a “dead man’s” switch). The explosion does not damage the grenade, but instead, releases its stored Essence in a deadly spherical pulse. Recharging a grenade is a simple action costing 6 motes (these are not committed), but this process also requires the insertion of a unique jeweled key as a security precaution. Building a replacement key is possible, but it’s beyond the technology of any of the Nameless Hordes. Depending on the type of jade used, this blast manifests as an appropriate form of elemental energy. Red yield 10L fire damage exactly as pyromantic grenades, setting objects aflame. Blue project a stunning corona of lightning (20B, ignoring the soak of any non-magical metallic armor). White orbs emit concussive force (20B, all targets in blast range must resist knockdown at difficulty). Black release a 10L damage freezing pulse that temporarily reduces the Dexterity of all victims in range by two dots, unless their players make a reflexive Stamina + Resistance roll (difficulty 3). Victims with zero Dexterity are frozen in place and cannot move. Lost Dexterity returns at the rate of one dot per hour. Green emits poison gas that inflicts no damage, but every living being in range must test for exposure to a toxin comparable to arrow frog venom. The conjured fumes dissipate after a single turn.

 

Essence Union Dart (Artifact ••)

Exploiting the connection between an Exalt and the Essence he commits to an artifact, while perhaps unorthodox, can certainly be effective, as these darts demonstrate. An Essence union dart is specifically designed to forge a strong bond with whoever attunes to it — and is barbed to maintain a different sort of strong bond with a target.

After successfully attacking with an Essence union dart, the character may use the link between herself and the dart to make further ranged attacks against that target with other weapons. Such attacks ignore penalties for cover or concealment and increase the target’s dodge difficulty by an amount equal to the attacker’s Essence. These effects persist for a number of hours equal to the attacking character’s permanent Essence. Essence union darts use the statistics for throwing knives but have a base damage of 0L. It costs 2 motes of Essence to attune to an Essence union dart.

 

The Enchiridion Of All Knowledge (Artifact ••)

Author: Auspicious Plume

Despite its grandiloquent title, The Enchiridion is in fact a short work. Created through the use of supernatural scrivenery, The Enchiridion includes far more information that its pages should be able to contain. Much like an almanac or a large dictionary, the book describes a wide variety of topics, from history to geography to theology, in an extremely curt and to-the-point fashion. What the book lacks in depth (and that is considerable), it makes up for in being an excellent primer to many topics relating to the First Age. Anyone who wishes to know, for example, the population of Rathess in the time of Auspicious Plume could find that information in the pages of The Enchiridion. The book abounds with such trivial information, being devoted to raw facts rather than anything like true understanding.

 

Fingerbone Bracelet (Artifact ••)

This pale bracelet is woven from fingerbones, which are, in turn, linked together with thin dry sinew and tanned human skin. To make it work, the wearer puts the heel of her hand against a lock that she wishes to open, and spends a mote of Essence. The fingerbones pry themselves loose from the bracelet and wriggle down her hand to the lock, where they attempt to open it. The bracelet is thwarted by magical locks, but it can open any normal lock, from the complicated settings on a Guild strongbox to the simple padlock on a shed door. It takes one minute to open a lock, assuming that the artifact is not thwarted by magic, however complex the lock is. Once the lock is open, the fingerbones return to the bracelet and cling there once again. In the event there are several locks on the same door, multiple applications of the bracelet will be necessary to open them all. The fingerbone bracelet is quite a well known type of artifact, and people who openly wear such a bracelet are often suspected of larcenous intentions automatically, whether or not such suspicions are justified.

 

Face Of Discretion (Artifact ••)

Crafted for the servants who attend to the guests at Cynis parties, these upper-face masks are intended to make the help as unobtrusive as possible during the festivities without limiting access to their mouths. They are unadorned and white, to be as depersonalizing and standardized as possible.

Any rolls to perceive the identity of the wearer of a face of discretion are made at +3 difficulty. A face of discretion can operate for two hours before requiring 22 hours of dormancy. This period of dormancy can be decreased to 11 hours if the face is stored in at least one gallon of the mingled, fresh vital fluids of three or more mortals. The blood or other material used in this process can only be used once. These masks require no attunement.

 

Fire Claw (Artifact ••)

This unusual and deadly item is made in the form of a fancy orichalcum bracelet set with a large red stone. It fits perfectly on the wrist of one of the Dragon Kings and is not uncomfortable when worn by an Exalt. Whenever the wearer expends 2 motes of Essence, a curving blade of golden sunfire springs forth from the bracelet and arcs in front of the wearer’s hand (this is a diceless reflexive action). Looking like a cross between a narrow-bladed scimitar and a great and deadly claw, this weapon was favored by many Dragon King cult members. The claw endures for one full scene, and so long as the wearer expends 2 motes every scene, it can be made to exist indefinitely. The claw is designed so that it is impossible for the wearer’s hand to be injured by the claw curving above it. A wearer must commit 5 motes of Essence to use this item. This item contains a setting for a single hearthstone. The Fire Claw is used with the Melee Ability, and it cannot be used as a claw-type weapon for the purposes of Tiger Style or Lunar natural fighting techniques.

 

Grave-Prison Chains (Artifact •• To •••)

The dead are notoriously difficult to keep as prisoners, a fact which drove the Deathlords to the creation of a method to control such unruly captives. The results were the grave-prison chains, a dreadful set of shackles and chains whose appearance hints at the power they contain.

Grave-prison chains normally consist of five shackles — one each for the ankles, wrists and neck of the prisoner — but sets have been modified to fit prisoners of inhuman form. Each shackle is connected by chains to two other shackles, as well as to a ring designed for attachment to leads and staples. The manacles and chains are a uniform dull gray marked with mottled patches of rust and other stains, and there is small black stone set into each shackle. Every set of grave-prison chains has its own unique key, and no key will open more than one set.

Prisoners held by the chains lose more than freedom of motion, though the shackles certainly restrict that as well. What is more damning is that any ghost bound with the chains is no longer able to spend Essence and, thus, cannot use any of his Arcanoi. Any attempt still extracts the Essence cost (along with any associated Willpower or other costs), but no effect is achieved. Careful observers may see the stones on the shackles flare with dark light at these times, but there is no other effect, visible or otherwise. A few rare sets (Artifact •••) will allow the prisoner contained within to use Essence at the chains’ owner’s discretion. These sets of chains are marked by having red, rather than black, stones on the manacles.

Unless a prisoner is released, there is only one method of escape from grave-prison chains: Oblivion. Ghosts who are destroyed while in grave-prison chains descend directly to Oblivion, with no chance to accept Lethe. For this reason, they are the preferred tools of the Deathlords. After the chains have been worn for one scene, they extract a 5 mote attunement cost from their victim. Their powers are effective even before they attune themselves, however.

 

Hairpin Blade (Artifact ••)

This slender, white-jade hairpin is, on closer inspection, an artfully carved miniature model of a full daiklave, though a mere five inches long. If its owner commits 5 motes of Essence to it, she can use the hairpin’s full powers and, at a moment’s notice, lay her hand on it and expand it to a full daiklave — as such, it has all the normal statistics for a jade daiklave, though it does not have any sockets for Hearthstones. The hairpin blade remains at full size for the rest of the scene or until the owner chooses to shrink it back to hairpin size again. It may also be concealed elsewhere in the body beside the hair, if the owner so chooses, or even carried in a piercing of the flesh.

 

Harrowed Daughter’s Paleskin Cowl (Artifact ••)

This morbid garment was crafted by Ledaal Verro under the eye of Ragara Bhagwei as a tool for Ragara Bhagwei’s use. Using shamanic principles adapted from barbarian tribes, the flesh of the previous Shoat of the Mire was flensed from her carcass and cured in a preserving elixir that strengthened the physical substance of the skin and awakened its latent magical properties.

The Cowl enables it’s wearer to pass unnoticed by ghosts, the walking dead and other denizens of the Underworld. While wearing the cowl, its owner will be treated as if he were one of the dead by creatures of the Underworld. Any attempt to detect the character as being anything other than a common ghost or walking dead by such beings has its difficulty increased by 3, and any attempts by the character to disguise himself as a creature of the Underworld gain three automatics successes. The mask also grants the character’s player a three-die bonus to all Social rolls pertaining to inhabitants of the Underworld.

Neither of these bonuses apply to Abyssals or Deathlords. Furthermore, while the Cowl is worn, the character may perceive unmanifested ghosts. The terrifying and morbid mien of the Cowl is unsettling to the living, however, and the character suffers a 3 dice penalty to all Social rolls not related to intimidation while dealing with the living. The Cowl requires a commitment of 4 motes to use.

 

Healing Orchid (Artifact ••)

While humans made use of the potent healing properties of the blue and purple life flowers, the Dragon Kings created the rare and potent healing orchid. This plant is designed to grow on living flesh and can be used by Dragon Kings, mortal humans and Exalts. Dragon Kings and Exalts must commit 4 motes of Essence to keep this plant healthy. However, mortal humans must instead eat three times as much food as normal whenever this plant is active. Normally planted on the arm of the wearer, this plant is a finger-thick vine that encircles the wearer’s arm, bearing several dozen thumb-sized leaves and half a dozen small emerald-green flowers. This plant allows the wearer to heal far faster than normal. Exalts wearing this flower heal one level of bashing damage per hour or one level of lethal damage every three hours. This flower also allows Exalts or Dragon Kings to roll two additional dice to resist poison, disease or infection. UnExalted humans and Dragon Kings who wear this wear flower must have a Stamina of at least 4 to support the plant, but it allows them to resist infection and to heal both bashing and lethal damage as speedily as an Exalt’s normal healing rate. So long as the wearer is alive, the plant will survive and function normally, although it will lose its flowers in extremely cold climates.

 

Hearthstone Bracers (Artifact ••)

Another common survivor of the First Age that is still manufactured by the Dragon-Blooded, Hearthstone bracers provide powerful defensive bonuses to the Exalted who carries them. These bracers come as a pair, one of which has a setting for a single Hearthstone and the other of which is imbued with magical power. These powers only work for an Exalted of the appropriate type.

Hearthstone bracers require the commitment of 4 motes of Essence to activate — 2 for each bracer. A bracer must be worn with its mate and will not activate unless worn as a pair.

 

Hilt Of The Bloody Sword (Artifact ••, ••• if Hearthstone setting)

This is a hilt without a blade, a carved masterwork of white jade veined with dark crimson. To transform the hilt into a full sword, the wielder must dip the hilt into freshly spilled blood. The Hilt will suck up the blood and form a blade of dark-red, shimmering crystal. This requires a quantity of blood equal to a health level’s worth of lethal damage, which may come from the hilt’s wielder or from any other donor, willing or unwilling. The resultant sword has the statistics of a jade daiklave. It returns to its normal form at the end of the scene or whenever its wielder so desires, the blade dissolving back into blood again, leaving only the hilt. Some of these hilts have a setting for a Hearthstone, but they are far rarer than the normal sort.

 

Inkbrush Of The Heart’s Desire (Artifact ••)

This delicate, white-jade inkbrush contains a variant on the Arcanos Extension of the Friendly Gaze. To use it, its owner must have an uninterrupted line of sight toward the target — though she may be at a distance of up to 100 yards away and the target need not know of her presence — and must spend an hour painting the target on a blank surface, using the inkbrush. The player of the painter must then roll her character’s Perception + Craft (with any modifiers for painting) against a difficulty of the target’s permanent Essence. The number of successes scored is the number of the target’s Fetters that appear around him in the painting. In the event of only some of the Fetters appearing, then the strongest appear first until the total number of successes is reached.

The Fetters appear as they were in the target’s memory of them, rather than as they may currently be in the world of the living. Any clear surface may be used for this art, from expensive silk to plain canvas or leather to the wall of a room. Once the painting is complete, it does not change and is as durable or as fragile as the surface on which it is painted.

 

Light Implosion Bow (Artifact ••, ••• if Hearthstone or reagent powered)

These fearsome weapons are First Age relics whose workings remain beyond the full understanding of any savant or engineer of the present day, though their use is simple once the operator becomes familiar with their functioning. The player of a character without prior experience with these devices must make an Intelligence + Lore check at difficulty 3 for his character to decipher the controls. Resembling a ballista mounted atop a heavy gimbaled pedestal, the mechanism appears to be made of a dark, glossy, wine-red wood, with elaborate inlays and fittings of the Five Magical Materials and adamant (an incredibly strong, glassy material used during the First Age).

When properly used by a character capable of channeling Essence (any Exalted type and also Fair Folk and possibly others), these weapons launch projectiles of pure Essence. (Characters unable to channel Essence cannot operate these artifacts.) They are fired using Archery and have +3 accuracy, a rate of 1 and a range of 500. Before firing, the user may select the type of damage to be done, and the amount is dependent on how many motes of Essence the user channels into the weapon. For 1 mote, the projectile inflicts either 7B or 5L damage (depending on the control settings) on everything within a 10-foot radius of its target. In naval combat, these settings allow for attacks against rigging with the weapon, and it can also be used against units or troops. For 2 motes, the range and area of effect remain the same, but the damage settings increase to 15B or 12L.

The weapon’s pedestal must be mounted securely to a solid surface for it to fire, but the bow has an arc of fire extending 360 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees vertically (30 degrees below and 60 above horizontal).

Some versions are powered by Hearthstones, and some by alchemical reagents. Typically, however, an implosion bow is manned by one of the Dragon-Blooded, who powers it with his own Essence.

Light implosion bows must be maintained, though they are less demanding that the more powerful lightning ballistae. An implosion bow must be overhauled every 100 shots by a character with Lore ••• and Occult ••. The overhaul includes the replacement and repair of some mechanisms made with rare components. It costs Resources •••, and the components are unlikely to be available outside of the Realm and the largest Threshold cities.

 

Lightning Box (Artifact ••)

A strange item: a sturdy glass box containing a metallic helix within several brass armatures. The helix itself is constructed of layer upon layer of various metals and pale-blue/purple jade, each material gathering the ambient Essence of lightning from a one-mile radius and shunting it into the next layer, which does the same. This process is repeated until the ambient energy of storms is spun out through copper plates on the back of the box and into the attuned character that bears it.

A character commits 3 motes of Essence to attune to a lightning box and must wear it on his person or attach it to his armor. He is immune to all electrical damage, and all lightning in a one-mile radius will move to strike him. An Aspects of Air wearing a lightning box recovers Essence as if he was in a meditative state, but only during electrical storms.

Lightning Boxes require maintenance by a character with Occult •••, Lore ••• and an appropriate Craft •• Ability after every 90 days of daily wear. This service requires at least a professional field toolkit with tools valued at Resources •• and consumes Resources •• worth of trace jade and other common materials.

 

The Loom Of Cobwebs (Artifact ••)

Though the Sidereals would deny it, this loom surely owes something to the pattern spiders. The frame of the Loom of Cobwebs is carved from ivory and inlaid with chips of human bone, and the shuttles — which move by themselves, on command — are ebony spiders with deep garnet eyes. When fed with bobbins of raw silk and human hair taken from corpses, the Loom produces a tapestry showing the future of a given target, who must be either dead or an Abyssal. It depicts an event from the target’s future, which will occur within a year. The owner of the Loom has no control over when or where the event will be, and if he attempts to read the same target’s future again, he may receive the same tapestry as a result or a complete different one.

The Loom does not require too much in the way of ingredients, and a single head’s worth of hair is sufficient for one tapestry. The resulting tapestries can be removed from the Loom and may be kept for as long as the owner wishes, though they are as fragile, as one would expect items woven of hair and silk to be, and are extremely flammable. The Loom takes a whole day to weave a tapestry, but it may be used continuously if the owner has sufficient raw materials. Incidentally, Abyssals react rather poorly to having other people attempt to divine their futures without permission, even using so simple a tool as the Loom of Cobwebs, and investigate rumors of such artifacts with extreme prejudice.

 

Mask (Artifact ••)

These seemingly plain ivory face masks have played an important part in Exalted political and emotional intrigues since the First Age. A mask can allow an Exalt to alter her appearance to look like anyone she wishes and to completely control the emotions that her face shows. This has the effect of adding four dice to her Intelligence + Larceny pool for any attempt at disguise. However, the artifact must be attuned to in order to take advantage of its powers, and this costs the normal 5 motes for a Level •• item. When attuned, the mask also grants an extra four dice to any attempt to misdirect another as regards to the wearer’s true motives, such as during certain Presence, Socialize and Bureaucracy rolls.

 

Morning Star Guide (Artifact ••)

One of the rarest and most invaluable things one can find in the lands of the dead is a truly reliable guide. Wracked by monstrous storms, largely uninhabited and tied to the ever-changing Labyrinth, the Underworld is a very easy place to get lost in. This, then, is why morning star guides are so highly prized among the dead and why those who bear them are among the most sought-after guides in the Underworld.

In appearance, a morning star guide is unremarkable — simply a wrought-iron lantern with an oddly shaped crystal inside. The lantern is strangely light, however, and always feels warm to the touch. But these are but minor properties of a greater wonder. The true power of the artifact comes from the crystal, which grows only in the deepest pits of the Labyrinth. Many are mined by the Deathlords or the nephwracks and shaped by skilled ghosts enthralled into their service.

A morning star guide costs 7 motes of committed Essence to attune to. To use it, the character must hold it up and spend a single mote of Essence. Once it is activated, the owner merely concentrates on his destination. Once he’s firmly fixed it in his mind, the morning star guide will shine brightest when held in the direction of that goal and grow steadily dimmer if turned away from it. Once a destination is locked in, its sense of direction is infallible, and it takes another mote to reset it to a new one. The morning star guide always illuminates the shortest path, not necessarily the safest. It may point across pits, bogs, pyre flame eruptions or other hazards, unconcerned for the safety of the one using it.

Note that morning star guides cannot be dimmed, but they can be hooded. However, the searing brightness they produce carries for a long way in the gloom of the Underworld and can serve as beacons for brigands, hungry ghosts and worse. Most morning star guides can’t be used for navigation to anything other than a fixed location, but a very rare few (Artifact ••••) can find individuals and objects.

 

Onyx Soul Window (Artifact ••)

Carved from obsidian and bound in place with crimson ribbons, this circular lens is set in front of either the left or the right eye, and requires a commitment of 5 motes of Essence for attunement. Once it is set in place and attuned to, it provides automatic and constant use of the Spirit-Catching Eye Technique Arcanos  and use at will of the Sensing the Delicate Strands Arcanos at the usual price for that Arcanos. Wearers often choose to conceal it, while keeping it at hand for quick use, by wearing an eyepatch over it. This artifact does have one important flaw, however. Its wearer will always be visible to other ghosts as though they were using Spirit-Catching Eye Technique, however much he tries to conceal himself. The only way of preventing this is for the wearer to remove the onyx soul window from his eye. Even though he remains attuned to it, he can now go unseen.

 

Patch Hide Armor (Artifact ••, ••• for no loss of Appearance)

There are many ways for a ghost to armor herself in the Underworld, and this is one of them. The wearer has the skin peeled from parts of her body, and raw hide torn from spectres deep in the Labyrinth is fastened in its place with soulsteel rivets that pattern their way across her body. This process may render the ghost surprisingly attractive, if the hide was taken from a pallid alabaster-skinned spectre, or it may make her vile and unappealing, if it came from some scaled, rotting creature of foulness. In either case, it makes her tougher. In return for a permanent commitment of 3 motes of Essence, and a great deal of pain, the ghost gains a bonus of 6L/4B to any other soak she may have. It also most often results in an Appearance penalty of -2, due to the abhorrent resulting patchwork appearance. Versions without the Appearance penalty are Artifact •••.

 

Powerbows (Artifact •• or •••)

Beautifully ornate weapons, powerbows are to bows what daiklaves are to swords. These weapons are made from a laminate of horn, rare woods and the Five Magical Materials. Crafted by the Exalted for their own hands, these baroque and ornate bows far overmatch any merely mortal weapon. But, like the daiklaves, powerbows must be invested with Essence to function — otherwise their mighty limbs are too stiff for even the mightiest of the Chosen to bend. Short powerbows require the wielder to commit 4 motes of Essence, while long powerbows require the wielder to commit 7 motes. All powerbows have a setting for a single Hearthstone.

Unlike normal bows, powerbows do not have a maximum Strength. They are linked with the Essence of the firing character, and their construction is such that they yield to those who are weak and stiffen when their wielder is mighty. Instead, they add to the user’s Strength for the purposes of determining damage.

 

Reaper Daiklave (Artifact ••)

Where the reaver daiklave, with its great chopping blade, favors striking power, the reaper daiklave favors speed and defense. The reaper daiklave is a great slashing sword — a perfectly balanced, four-foot-long, four-inch-wide, inch-thick, gently curved razor, ground to a fine point. Favored by those Exalts who prefer finesse and speed over raw striking power, the reaper epitomizes the ideal that the warrior who hits first rarely has to worry about how hard his opponent is going to hit him. A reaper daiklave requires 5 motes to attune. Reaper daiklaves are popular amongst the Dragon-Blooded of Lookshy, who prefer the elegance and speed of the blade over the more common reaver or grand daiklaves.

 

Reaver Daiklaves (Artifact ••)

Daiklaves are dual-edged weapons, and despite their size, they are agile in the hand and lighting swift. Yet, some Exalted are disinterested in fast and nimble blades, preferring instead raw killing power. The weapons favored by these Exalted are cleaver-like single-edged blades, four-feet long and, in some cases, a foot wide, with square or angled tips. Slow and clumsy compared to normal daiklaves, these weapons are brutally powerful, capable of shearing through even the heaviest armor. Like normal daiklaves, reaver daiklaves typically have a setting for a single Hearthstone. During the First Age, reaver daiklaves were most popular among the Dragon-Blooded and the Lunar Exalted and remain favored weapons among these groups to this day.

 

Ring Of Flies (Artifact ••)

This chased garnet band is, on closer inspection, carved with the tiny figures of thousands of blowflies crawling over one another. By spending 5 motes of Essence, the wearer of the ring can manifest in a shadowland, or even in Creation itself, as a throbbing swarm of blowflies. While this swarm can use Arcanoi or spells, it has no solid substance and cannot make any physical attacks or use any weapons. It can, however, travel freely and rapidly, moving at the speed of a fast horse and can deform its shape sufficiently to enter under a door or through a partly open window or anywhere else that flies can travel. It can also speak with a droning voice composed of the buzzing of its members.

This manifestation is extremely weak. The mass of flies is treated as having the normal Strength, Dexterity, Stamina and Dodge of the character, but if a single blow connects with the swarm, the flies will be scattered and the ring’s effect broken. Sorcery, fire or Charms connecting with the swarm will also break it asunder. Normal winds are insufficient to scatter the blowflies, but gale-force winds will do so, unless the swarm can find cover first. When the ring’s effect is broken, the wearer is forced to return to his natural state as a ghost. If currently in a shadowland, he is safe enough, but if in a living part of Creation, he is cast into the corresponding part of the Underworld and cannot use the ring again until the next dark of the moon.

 

Sacrificial Gem (Artifact ••)

Sometimes, the dead wish to intervene to aid the living, especially when they see their living kin or lovers suffering from the resentments of little gods. One of these gems will allow a ghost to bear some form of minor curse or spell that has been directed at a living person whom he wishes to protect. The effect cannot be more than a single dice roll’s worth of penalty in a particular area or the persistent loss of a single Attribute point. The ghost who is using the Gem suffers all the effects of the penalty that would otherwise be inflicted on its natural victim. This ceases if the ghost chooses to restore the curse to its natural owner (though he cannot then sacrifice himself a second time) or if the curse or magical effect is somehow lifted from the original victim, such as by the little god forgiving her for her offense.

Sacrificial gems are faceted gems the length of a woman’s finger, clear when not in effect and obsidian-dark when working. They are usually set in some form of jewelry, such as a bracelet or necklace or belt buckle. To take effect, they require an arcane link to the person currently suffering from the magical effect in question, an emotional or familial link of some sort between the ghost and the victim — a ghost cannot sacrifice herself for a target for whom she knows or feels nothing — and full knowledge of the curse that is currently affecting the target. If the curse is too serious for the gem to transfer, then nothing happens.

 

Sailcutter Chakram (Artifact ••)

Crafted of cold wrought iron with an edge of the Magical Materials, these paired chakram are, in the hands of a skilled thrower, the bane of ship captains everywhere. When used against living opponents, the sailcutter chakram are merely highly effective weapons of their kind. However, their true power is displayed when used against the rigging of a sailing vessel. Against the sailcutter chakram, rigging has no soak, and each success adds two additional dice of damage when used versus rigging. Like most artifact thrown weapons, a sailcutter chakram returns to the wielder’s hand after use. It costs 3 motes to attune to each of a pair, and these weapons must be used paired, for a total attunement cost of 6.

 

Seed Of The Immaculate Blood (Artifact ••, ••• for red seeds)

When Sextes Jylis, the Immaculate of Wood, was walking the Realm and replanting the stricken forests, he is said to have stepped upon the discarded daiklave of an Anathema. Twisted by the malice of its departed owner, it cut his foot to the bone, and he shed three drops of blood, which gave birth to a new variety of fern. Even today, the seeds of this fern are sought after by sorcerers and savants who know its rare properties.

If a Seed of the Immaculate Blood is sown and carefully tended, it will grow into a pale fern that seeds twice a year, in spring and autumn. These seeds are dull green and sterile but may be compounded to create an ointment that restores five health levels when applied, even if the damage is aggravated. Once a century, on the last day of Calibration, the fern will give an out-of-season scarlet seed, which may be replanted to grow another fern with the same properties. This scarlet seed may also be dried and ground up with the seeds of 25 other types of plants. This process produces a small ball of dark thick sap, which smells of fresh woodlands. If this ball of sap is planted in fresh earth, a forest composed of all the plants that hand their seeds mingled together will spring up instantly for a half-mile around the spot. Buildings will be toppled or shattered, human and animals will be thrown aside, and elementals of Wood will flock to the spot, drawn by the natural power of their element.

 

Seven-Jeweled Peacock Fans (Artifact ••)

These fine folding war-fans have leaves of orichalcum inlaid with gem-work in seven brilliant colors and engraved with fine traceries. The fans must be wielded together as a pair. They have the same statistics as wind-fire wheels and require the same Abilities to wield them. Their construction grants them +1 to Speed, Accuracy and Defense. Characters must commit 2 motes of Essence to attune the fans to themselves.

 

Shadow Gloves (Artifact ••)

These gloves are of thin black leather, strangely warm to the touch. When donned, their wearer can use them to shape shadow itself into a solid form. While what the gloves produce will only last for a short time, it may remain whole for long enough to be of crucial value in a crisis. The elegance of the object produced depends on the wearer’s abilities, but crudely functional items are easy to shape — assuming that there’s shadow in the vicinity.

If the wearer wishes to use the gloves, he must be wearing them, and he must spend 3 motes of Essence for any object that he wishes to create. He then reaches into the most convenient area of shadow and pulls out a length of darkness as though it were clay. His skill in producing the desired result depends on the number of successes his player garners on a Perception + Craft roll against a difficulty of 5, but the character cannot benefit from more successes than he has points of permanent Essence. The number of successes required for whatever the user wishes to create is up to the Storyteller. A single success creates a rough bar of iron, a shapeless mass of dark cotton or a plain clay urn. Three successes create a well-balanced weapon, a helm or cuirass of dark iron or a necklace of onyx gems. Five or more successes could create perfectly crafted steel weapons, armor that kings among the living would beg to wear or a statue so beautiful that scholars would marvel at the artist’s skill. Items of up to the user’s size may be created of any material (except the Five Magical Materials), so long as they are black. All items vanish after 24 hours, whatever is done to preserve them.

 

Shadow Peacock Earring (Artifact ••)

When a ghost wants to influence others, he frequently wishes to do so without obviously using any artifacts or employing Arcanoi to change their way of thinking. One of these earrings — an inch-wide black opal disc, in a pale silver setting — can be worn and used inconspicuously, but has impressive effects on a victim.

When the wearer chooses to spend 2 motes of Essence, the earring begins to sparkle darkly and hypnotically, with shadows like eyes flickering inside the gem. It imperceptibly draws the attention of the person to whom the wearer is speaking and lulls him into a vague and suggestible state, making whatever the wearer says sound very reasonable. Plausible suggestions, such as, “We’re private emissaries here to see the Deathlord,” will be accepted, as will statements such as, “We’re not the fugitives. They must have gone that way.” The victim’s player should make a Willpower roll against a difficulty of 5 each turn, gaining a +1 for each turn of exposure to the effect. If the player gains 10 cumulative successes, then on the next turn, his character’s Willpower returns to normal, and the earring loses its influence. He will remember what the wearer of the earring told him as being the truth, assuming that it is not inherently implausible or contradictory. Bystanders will probably not notice any sorcery in progress (requires five successes on a Perception + Occult roll against a difficulty of 4 to notice that the earring is sparkling oddly) but may notice that the victim is behaving in an oddly suggestible fashion. What they choose to do about it may depend on the situation — soldiers on patrol are unlikely to directly question their captain, for instance.

 

Shield Bracer (Artifact ••)

Made as a single ornamented bracer, this item protects the wearer by guiding her arm to block missile and melee attacks. When activated, the bracer provides protection equivalent to a tower shield, reducing the number of successes from all melee attacks on the wearer by -1 and all missile attacks by -2. Anyone wearing this artifact cannot wear any other form of bracer. However, the user is not encumbered in any other fashion. Shield bracers contain a setting for a single Hearthstone. They require the commitment of 3 motes of Essence to activate the Hearthstone and trigger the bracer’s own magical powers.

 

Shieldstone Gauntlet (Artifact •• or •••)

This strange device looks like a web of straps and flexible articulated plates that fits over one hand like a fingerless glove. A larger plate covers the back of the hand, into which is set a large hemispherical ruby. A smaller, disk-shaped ruby sits in the center of the palm, surrounded by a ring of jade inscribed with runes. A shieldstone gauntlet is extremely light and unobtrusive, deliberately designed to accommodate any movement or use of the hand bearing it. At any time, an attuned wearer can use a normal dice action to hold up her palm or the back of her hand and activate the device. Whichever stone the character presents away from her body glows brightly, projecting a circular barrier of luminous force that expands into the shape of a shield. This barrier increases the difficulty of all attacks against the character by +2 and provides illumination about a third as bright as a torch. Deactivating this shield is a reflexive action.

The Artifact ••• version of the shieldstone gauntlet has all the above powers, but it also allows the character to devote a simple action to create a freestanding wall of raw Essence. The character points the palm stone at the area where she wants to create the barrier, while her player spends 1 Willpower point and a variable quantity of Essence. These immovable, two-way walls of translucent force have a soak of 3B/2L per mote spent and may cover a maximum area in square yards equal to half their lethal soak. Such constructs are considered inanimate objects for the purposes of Charms, save that damage against them is rolled rather than directly applied. For every level of damage sustained (or hour that passes), the barrier loses 1B/1L from its soak. When the lethal soak reaches zero or the creator desires, the barrier disintegrates into wisps of energy. Characters can shape a wall of force into any geometric configuration they can imagine, from simple walls to cages, but at least one point on the surface must be within a yard of the creator when the wall first materializes. A shieldstone gauntlet can only produce one force barrier at a time, whether a single wall or a shield.

Both versions of this artifact cost users 4 motes of committed Essence to attune to them and do not count as jade artifacts for the purposes of attunement.

 

Shock Pike (Artifact ••)

Shock pikes date from the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate and are still produced in limited numbers. Designed for mortal soldiers, they can smash enemy lines long before contact is made. A shock pike resembles a conventional, if somewhat short, spear. The staff is normally made of ebony or ironwood, and plackets of green jade, often in the shape of leaves, are inset into the staff at regular points along its length. When used in combat, the spear’s superlative balance and strength make it an excellent melee weapon, but its real purpose is as a ranged weapon.

At the cost of 2 motes of Essence, the shock pike can make an attack at range, exactly as if it had been used in close combat — this attack is normally a stab or a thrust, but it can be any attack that can be made with a spear (including stunts). This attack uses Melee + Dexterity, follows all the normal rules for melee attacks and is compatible with Melee Charms. The attack can be parried, but a parry attempt is at +2 difficulty because of the problems parrying an invisible attack.

Shock pikes store motes of Essence to power their use. A standard shock pike can hold 16 motes, although versions that hold 10 or 20 are known to exist, and a handful hold more than 20. Those holding more than 20 motes are Artifact •••, and none are known to hold more than 40 motes.

There exists a shock pike version intended for Exalts — this version doesn’t store motes, but is a generally more powerful weapon, with a range of ([permanent Essence x 10] + 50) yards. The Exalted shock pike has a commitment cost of 5 motes.

 

Skin-Mount Amulet (Artifact ••)

This artifact of Mountain Folk design often takes the form of a delicate ring of jade surgically implanted in the wearer’s flesh, although other Magical Materials can be used. The amulet serves as an enhanced form of Hearthstone socket, allowing the wearer to use such gems more efficiently than external artifacts allow. In addition to receiving the mystical benefit and increased Essence recovery for the Hearthstone, the wearer also adds a number of additional motes of capacity to his Peripheral Essence pool equal to the (rating of the Hearthstone x 2). Besides Exalted, only God-Blooded characters capable of channeling Essence and attuning to Manses may use skin-mount amulets. Neither type of character needs to pay any motes to commit to the device, as the surgical implantation bypasses conventional attunement.

Rarer forms of skin-mount amulets (also Artifact ••) permit a mortal to attune to a Manse and to receive the benefits of a Hearthstone set in the socket. Such characters even gain a tiny Personal Essence pool equal to twice the stone’s rating that they can use to attune to other artifacts (but not for any other purpose). An apocryphal legend in Lookshy speaks of a legendary Gunzosha warrior named Kan-Hai who was allowed to live a full lifespan through the use of a powerful skin-mount amulet, though it seems unlikely that the Seventh Legion would waste geomantic resources on any mortal, however heroic. Non-invasive Hearthstone amulets capable of being worn by mortals without attunement are extremely rare and almost unheard of in the Second Age (Artifact •••), as the knowledge of how to build these extraordinary devices was regrettably lost in the Great Contagion. The Dragon Fakharu owns at least one copy of such a wonder for his mortal lover’s use.

Implanting a skin-mount amulet requires complex surgery lasting at least an hour. Roll the surgeon’s Dexterity + Medicine (difficulty 7 - the patient’s permanent Essence). A botch kills a mortal patient or inflicts the effects of a normal failure to Exalted or God-Blooded. Failure inflicts one level of unsoakable lethal damage for every success by which the roll fell short of the difficulty. Removing the artifact requires the same procedure and imposes the same dire consequences for failure. A character can remove and exchange Hearthstones from an implanted amulet as easily as with any other setting.

 

Sky-Cutter (Artifact ••)

Virtually unknown outside the Haltan Republic and rare even in that nation’s borders, these exquisite arcing blades transcend boomerangs in the way that powerbows shame the finest weapons of mortal archers. Each sky-cutter is fashioned from a single two-foot piece of one of the Five Magical Materials, lovingly hammered or carved according to precise geomantic angles that focus Essence along its cutting edge. Unlike conventional boomerangs, a thrown sky-cutter always returns to its master’s hand at the end of the turn if it misses its target. In the hands of skilled Exalted, these weapons may return even after they strike an object. Such a feat requires success at a second, reflexive Dexterity + Thrown roll at difficulty 2. Failure leaves the weapon where it hit. Exalted must commit 4 motes of Essence to attune a sky-cutter.

 

Slayer Khatar (Artifact ••)

Forged with the aid of earth elementals and made of steel alloyed with yellow jade and orichalcum, the slayer khatar is the ultimate destructive weapon. These weapons require no commitment of Essence and, indeed, can be used by any being, mortal or Exalted. However, it is in the hands of an Exalted that their powers truly blossom. They have no more effect on characters, even armored ones, than normal khatars. However, when wielded against objects, these weapons shatter and destroy them. All damage inflicted by a character wielding a slayer khatar against inanimate objects is doubled. This effect is compatible with abilities such as the Brawl Charm Sledgehammer Fist Punch.

 

Soulfire Mask (Artifact ••)

This is the most common type of defensive mask worn by the dead, and it can be found in many different shapes and versions all across the Underworld. Weaker and stronger versions exist, and masks of similar concept can be found ranging from Artifact • to N/A. Regardless of its appearance, this example has two universal stone mounts on it. If the character does not have any better stones for them, the mask comes equipped with two six-point soulfire crystals set in it.

By expending 3 motes of the mask’s Essence, the character may conjure up a crackling nimbus of energy that reflexively increases his soak by 4L/6B against a single attack. This may be done more than once for a given attack. By spending 4 motes, he can unleash the same blue-white arc against targets up to 20 yards away. The attack uses Dexterity + the Thrown or the Athletics Ability, whichever the wielder prefers. It has +2 Accuracy, a Rate of 1 and does 7L plus extra successes on the attack.

A ghost must commit 7 motes to attune to a soulfire mask. The mask has no inherent energy capacity, it must be set with soulfire or Essence-containing gems in order to function.

 

Soulgem (Artifact ••)

Every citizen of the Eight Nations receives one of these artifacts within a week of birth, by immutable and unanimous decree of the Tripartite. The procedure is agonizing but mercifully simple and swift to perform. A pair of needle-sharp soulsteel posts drive into the center of the infant’s forehead, piercing the skull and outermost edge of her brain. The pain is so intense that it does not immediately register, and during this moment of surreal calm, the surgeon applies the actual soulgem and touches it with a living nerve of the Great Maker. An Essence jolt leaps from the wire, fusing gem and posts and patient together. This point is the one at which she finally realizes her agony and loudly screams before blacking out. The scream of soulgem implantation is a distinct sound, at once feral and mechanical. According to the inquisitors of the Soulsteel Caste, no other form of pain they have yet devised triggers the same response. Placing a soulgem in an older mortal is also possible, with the only difference being that the individual remembers the surgery in vague nightmares for the rest of her life. Adult implantation is only done in Autochthonia in the case of the capture of second-generation exiles bred in the Reaches. Alchemical retrieval teams regularly raid colonies of their children, bringing the captives back to civilization so they can become productive members of the Populat rather than living in the squalor faced by their criminal parents.

After the breaking of the Seal of Eight Divinities, the Sodalities experiments on captured mortals in a variety of ways, including numerous attempts at soulgem implantation. All of these initial experiments kill the patients, an unfortunate side effect of the souls belonging to the Tapestry of Creation rather the Design of Autochthon. After hundreds of lethal failures, they finally perfect the process.

The function of a soulgem is very simple. When its bearer dies, the jewel absorbs her still-fused higher and lower soul and stores it until the spirit can be recycled. The Essence of a Celestial Exalt cannot be captured. Soulgems are as durable as Hearthstones, so even the worst industrial accidents cannot crack them or release their contents. Deliberately breaking one is a capital crime throughout all of Autochthonia. The Glorious Luminors of the Brilliant Rapture have more sophisticated artifacts and thaumaturgical rituals enabling them to extract souls from soulgems and feed them back into the Radiant Amphora. Autochthon returns these souls with each new birth, still “tagged” with the Essence signature of the last soulgem used to house them. This allows savants to track the lineage of each soul through successive incarnations.

To a lesser extent, soulgems also serve as visible status symbols in Autochthonian society. Exiles have their gems forcibly removed, leaving a terrible scar in their foreheads — and condemning their souls to Oblivion upon death, at least according to Luminor doctrine. In actuality, Autochthon recycles all souls released within him, as the highest echelons of the Luminors well know. When the souls of former exiles incarnate anew, they are made Populat with a falsified soul genealogy number but secretly watched throughout their lives for signs of repeated dissidence. Only after three lifetimes of good behavior is their file closed. Outcasts have concentric rings tattooed around their gems, indicating their crimes, though the type of gem depends on their social caste prior to becoming outcasts. Members of the Populat have round, polished onyx soulgems. Those of the Olgotary have rectangular orange topaz jewels. Theomachrats bear square sapphire stones. Sodalts wear diamond-shaped amethyst gems.

Unlike those implanted in mortals, Alchemical soulgems are flawless, many-faceted diamonds. The souls in these stones are never returned to Autochthon after death, but instead wait until their gems are placed in new Alchemicals to live again. In extremely rare circumstances, the Luminors transfer a mortal hero’s soul into a new Alchemical gem rather than feeding it to Autochthon. The process doesn’t always work, and failure confuses the genealogy tags, so the Luminors are loathe to do this except when absolutely necessary. Should some horrible tragedy break an Alchemical soulgem, the soul returns to the Radiant Amphora and is reborn in an infant. On such occasions, the Luminors have instruments to detect the presence of the hero among the nurseries. Once they find the child, he is immediately implanted with a standard gem (if this has not already happened), and he is painlessly euthanized. The gem is taken to Sodality laboratories where technicians ritually transfer the Alchemical soul to a new diamond soulgem that becomes its home.

Players do not need to spend Background points for Autochthonian characters to have soulgems. It is automatically assumed that everyone has one.

 

The Speaking Dagger (Artifact ••)

This dagger is soulsteel work, with all that that implies. It is set with a star ruby in the hilt and forged so that the crossguard is shaped like a closed mouth. It can be used to steal the voice from a dying enemy and then to speak with it. To use it, the wielder must slay the target (or at least deliver the fatal blow) with the Speaking Dagger, and then place the dagger in his victim’s mouth. The Speaking Dagger will devour the victim’s tongue and, together with it, the knowledge that the victim held in his dying moments. It cannot devour the tongue and knowledge of a being who had Essence •••• or greater.

At any point afterward, the Speaking Dagger’s holder may feed it with his own blood or ghostly plasm (one level of lethal damage) and 5 motes of Essence and command it to speak. The lips on the dagger’s crossguard will open, and it will truthfully answer any question that it may be asked, based on the victim’s knowledge and opinions, to a maximum of three questions. After that, the Speaking Dagger falls silent and cannot be questioned about that particular victim again. The Speaking Dagger can only hold one person’s tongue at any given time but can hold it for an indefinite period. If ordered to devour a new tongue, any previous knowledge that it held is discarded. If simply used in battle, it has the normal statistics for a dagger forged from soulsteel.

 

Spider Grippers (Artifact ••)

This item consists of a set of boots, gloves, elbow pads and kneepads that allow a character to cling to walls and other surfaces like a spider. The character can walk up a wall at (Dexterity + 12)/2 yards a turn. She can even climb sheer slick surfaces such as the ancient glass towers of Chiaroscuro. These items also allow the character to walk on narrow or slick surfaces such as wet mossy rocks or tightropes without risk of falling or to jump onto a rain slick ledge without risk of slipping. The character’s hands, feet, knees and elbows adhere to the surface being traversed unless she desires them to release. While using this item, a character can fight without penalty, even while clinging to a wall. Also, the character can safely climb while carrying any weight she could normally carry. While the pieces can be from various expensive materials, they are most commonly made as a set of black leather boots, gloves, elbow pads and kneepads constructed with a small amount of the Five Magical Materials, which automatically alter their size to fit the wearer. To use this item, or even to cause it to resize, the wearer must commit 3 motes of Essence to the gear.

 

Stamp Of Ultimate Authority (Artifact ••)

This stamp seal is made from all five colors of jade and is a favorite of both devious bureaucrats and con artists. This item can duplicate both the signature and any associated stamps, seals or similar marking that the user has ever seen. Although this artifact cannot reproduce the power inherent in magical seals or stamps such as the mark the Perfect of Paragon uses to control and monitor his subjects, it can exactly reproduce any purely mundane seal and can also create non-magical duplicates of magical seals or stamps. To reproduce a signature, seal or stamp, all the characters needs to do is commit 5 motes of Essence to the stamp, touch it to the document to be signed or stamped and spend 1 mote of Essence. The stamp then produces the desired mark in an instant.

 

Steelsilk Sails (Artifact ••)

Highly sought after by those who favor speed and agility in the wind and durability in battle, these rare sails were supposedly made out of the silk of wood spiders or other spider spirits. Gossamer fine and light but strong as metal, steelsilk is nonetheless very stiff and makes poor armor. The art of manufacturing steelsilk sails has been lost, and those who possess examples of it guard them highly, often keeping them locked up except when the ship needs speed above all else. Steelsilk sails are most renowned for their ability to withstand punishment. Storms that will leave silk sails in tatters, fires that will turn wet canvas sails into ash and weapons that would cut even reinforced canvas into ribbons all fail to damage steelsilk. Steelsilk sails add +1 to all Sail rolls for keeping control of the ship in a storm or for gaining or losing speed, and they allow a ship to sail two points closer to the wind and are all but impenetrable to mundane weapons. A ballista might punch a hole in a steelsilk sail, but arrows, knives, javelins and other weapons are turned. Sails made of steelsilk have 15B/10L soak, take 20 health levels to damage and 40 to destroy. The sails take only half damage from wind, waves and fire. Repairing steelsilk sails requires a Charm such as Crack-Mending Technique. No other way is known today to mend steelsilk once it is damaged.

 

Storm Sapphire (Artifact ••• for lesser stones or •••• for the black stones)

Storm sapphires are giant sapphires, most the size of a man’s fist or larger. The most powerful storm sapphires are black, but they come in all colors, with green sapphires (the least powerful) being the most common.

Storm sapphires have the power to quell storms, calming the sea and sky under even the most savage conditions. This power does not come without a cost, however. To stop a storm, an Exalt must power the sapphire with her own life force. Each use of a sapphire costs the user motes of Essence, Willpower and health levels as shown on the chart below. These health levels cannot be soaked or reduced if the stone is to work properly, although they can be healed normally.

The user of a storm sapphire can attempt to judge how strong the storm is going to be (a Perception + Occult roll) before trying to stop it. The difficulty of this task depends on the intensity of the storm, how quickly it springs up and whether or not the storm has magical foundations (difficulty starts at 2 and ranges up to as high as 5 for an extremely fast moving, powerful storm that comes upon the user unawares). Magically summoned or influenced storms are actually easier to predict and control using the sapphire. Reduce the severity of the storm by one level for purposes of determining how much it will cost to dissipate it, and reduce the difficulty of judging the storm by 2 (minimum difficulty of 2).

Lesser stones (green through light blue) can disperse most storms but can do nothing against the strongest ones. The power of a storm sapphire either works or does not. The darkest blue stones and black stones can disperse any storm, but the cost in life force is dependent on the storm — and the Exalted, spirit or God-Blooded using the sapphire will not know how much of her existence she will have to devote before choosing to battle the storm.

The creation of a storm sapphire involves the sapphire itself (which must be utterly without flaw), the blood of a Storm Mother and a wind spirit that has never seen a mortal before being captured. The enchantment takes a year and a day and must be performed on a ship floating in the clear waters of the uttermost West, out of sight of any land. Naturally, there are few in existence, and they are highly prized and sought after by Exalted ship captains and fleet admirals.

 

Veil Of The Anointed (Artifact ••)

When pressed against someone’s face, these thin, nearly transparent veils cling of their own volition. This does not interfere with breath or with sight, but others can no longer see the wearer’s eyes — instead of eyes, orbs of brilliant light now seem set in that person’s skull. A character who holds a veil for a day and commits 1 mote to it can remove it from others at will. He need only gesture, and it will fly to his hand, folding itself neatly on the way. Others must succeed at a Willpower roll or spend a temporary Willpower point in order to remove the veil from another’s face or from their own.

Anyone wearing a veil of the anointed perceives the perfected vision of Creation found in the Sea of Mind rather than its true form. However, this experience has limited duration. The veils permit any given person at most 28 visits to the Sea of Mind in his lifetime, each lasting up to a day and a night. After that, he may never visit the Sea by this means again.

Creating one of these veils requires that a mortal willingly give the crafter both of her eyes. The artificer then uses a loom of white jade to weave them together with water from the forest pool, the womb of an old man, the teeth of a mayfly and the spittle of a toad born in the sky. Arranging for these ingredients to exist requires some effort, but the remainder of the work is essentially mundane, and the Forest Witches produce a modest number of these artifacts for sale (or, more properly, as advertising) in regions not yet reasonable targets for banditry.

 

Visage-Distorting Mask (Artifact ••)

Some ghosts are able to change their appearance at will. The rest use a visage-distorting mask. Appearing as a simple clay mask crudely painted with a set of facial features, the mask looks to be nothing more than the work of a child. Once placed on a ghost’s face, however, the mask goes to work, melding with its wearer’s features and rendering him unrecognizable. Even players of ghosts who know the mask-bearer well must make a Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty 2) for their characters to recognize the ghost once they see her, while others stand no chance at all.

The mask’s effects last so long as the ghost wears the device. Generally, it can be worn for up to a week at a time, during which time the ghost can speak and otherwise act normally. Once the mask’s time span is up — or the ghost wishes to be rid of it — it simply pops off, looking a little the worse for wear. Each visage-distorting mask has between three and thirteen uses, no more, and can never be recharged. Once a mask has exhausted all of its uses, it shatters, and the broken shards rapidly crumble to dust. No two masks can bear the same set of features. Each is unique, and attempts to replicate older visage-distorting masks have always ended in twisted, monstrous disaster.

Attuning a visage-distorting mask requires simply lifting it to one’s face for an instant. That, and 3 motes of Essence, are all that is required.

 

Warstrider Implosion Bow (Artifact ••)

Warstrider implosion bows are lightweight, semi-portable versions of the light implosion bow mounted on First Age warships and skycraft. The warstrider implosion bow is built in two parts — a backpack-like device that holds Essence accumulators, reagent canisters and other mechanisms, and the implosion bow itself. The bow is connected to the backpack by a pair of flexible emerald cables that are as strong as steel (and as difficult to sever). The warstrider implosion bow has the same statistics as a normal light implosion bow, but it fires less often at high charges.

 

Wave-Stepping Boots (Artifact ••)

Footwear of this sort has been seen in various different forms — elegant sandals, silk slippers, polished half-boots, thigh-high leather with high heels — but always sizes itself to fit its latest wearer perfectly. While wearing them, the Exalt may walk upon seawater as though it was solid ground. This protection extends to the whole of his body. He literally cannot sink into the water or be pulled into it, though he can certainly fire missiles into the water or plunge a daiklave into it. Wave-stepping boots can occasionally be dangerous. Since the Exalt’s body will not sink into water, falling from a height onto the surface of the ocean risks damage as though the Exalt had fallen onto solid earth from a similar height. The Lintha have a somewhat similar, nonmagical item

 

Wavecleaver Daiklave (Artifact ••)

Wavecleavers are uncommon weapons, wielded mostly by Terrestrials of House V’neef and House Peleps, although most houses have a small number of them. Perhaps the shortest of daiklaves, rarely exceeding three feet in blade length, wavecleavers are perfect for work below decks where cramped quarters and low ceilings are the norm. Their thick blades and strong edges make them useful tools as well as weapons; even steel cables or chains will rarely withstand more than a single hack from the curved blade of a wavecleaver. Wavecleavers typically have sockets for two Hearthstones, as Exalted on the water are more likely to rely on the gem-like talismans for survival.

 

Whispering Fan (Artifact ••)

Made of charcoal and red feathers, with etched soulsteel struts, this fan can be used to send messages across the Underworld. Its holder raises it to his lips, unfolds it, murmurs a name to it followed by a message of 13 words or less and then waves the fan away from him. The message will speed the length and breadth of the Underworld and will be whispered into the ear of the recipient, who will hear it at that moment as clearly as though the whispering fan’s holder were standing beside him.

Unfortunately, while several of these fans exist, they are limited in power. Any sort of magical protection surrounding the person for whom the message is destined will prevent the message from reaching him, whether it is centered on him or merely around his vicinity. These fans can also only be used three times a day, and after the third use, they will shut themselves with a click and cannot be reopened until the next dusk. They will carry a message to someone who is currently in a shadowland if it is night in Creation and will work anywhere during Calibration. The feathers that compose these fans are taken from pyre hawks, who will attack anybody seen bearing a fan unless prevented from doing so by some other means.

 

Whistle Of Ghost Summoning (Artifact ••)

This whistle of silver and chased ivory (or some rarer bone) can be blown to summon local ghosts and require their presence. It can only be blown between the hours of sunset and dawn: If someone attempts to sound it during the day, it is totally silent. If it is blown once during the hours of darkness, it gives a delicate thin tone, signaling to all ghosts within a league’s radius that the holder of the whistle requests their presence. While the ghosts are not obliged to attend, many will come out of curiosity or respect for the holder of the whistle. If it is blown a second time the same night, the tone is a peremptory note like a military fie, signaling that the presence of all ghosts within a league is urgently required. This sound is uncomfortable to ghosts, and while it may draw their attention, it may also cause them to arrive in a less than friendly mood.

If it is blown a third time that night, it will shudder and quake in the hand of the bearer, then give a high pealing note like the sound of a trumpet of ice and steel that causes active pain to all ghosts within a league. This will usually bring any ghosts that have not already arrived, though they will be less than pleased. If used thrice in a night, then the whistle may not be sounded again for another 10 days. The whistle cannot break a binding that holds a ghost in a particular location. As the whistle confers no protection against the attacks of ghosts, the holder may wish to have some form of warding ready. Abyssal Exalted greatly prize such whistles and will do much to obtain them.

 

Windwall Terminal (Artifact ••)

Commonly used in First Age crowd control, these defensive devices have seen extensive use by both the legions and navies of the Realm. They allow for the creation and direction of a wall of intense winds, controlled by the manipulation of the small orrery-like device mounted on top of the blue jade-alloy pedestal that comprises the terminal.

The wind wall can be 20 yards long and up to five yards high and can be formed anywhere within 200 yards of the terminal. It can be shaped into a shallow arc both vertically and horizontally, but cannot form complex shapes. Any ranged attacks with a physical component that pass through the windwall are made at a +2 difficulty. Activating, deactivating, reshaping and moving the windwall requires a Wits + Lore roll and counts as a character’s dice action for the turn. These devices cannot be used where there is no wind, such as indoors or underground. The winds are not of constant direction and are incapable of driving ships. Windwall terminals require maintenance by a character with Occult •••, Lore ••• and an appropriate Craft ••• Ability after every 100 turns of active use. This service requires at least a professional-grade field workshop with tools valued at Resources ••• and consumes Resources •• worth of jade and other common materials.

 

Worm-Ridden Veil (Artifact ••)

This item, much in demand among those of the dead who wish to disguise themselves, appears to be a simple length of rotting gray silk, fraying at the edges and with its white embroidery stained and dirty from wear. However, when it is wrapped around the face and body and the wearer spends 3 motes of Essence, the veil swells and billows to become a draping shroud that manages to conceal the wearer from head to foot. The cloth itself, though smeared with cobwebs and apparently alive with grave-worms, somehow always falls at just the right angles to conceal the face and hands and any weapons smaller than a dire lance or a grand daiklave.

All that the onlooker can tell is that the person before him is roughly large, small or of medium size — everything else is hidden in the wind-blown folds of shadowy silk. The wearer’s voice is also modulated by the worm-ridden veil, distorted to a rasping hiss like the voice of a spectre. While Charms or sorcery can pierce the veil’s concealment, no mere mortal vision can do so. However, if the wearer of the veil launches an attack on someone or directs sorcery at anyone other than herself, then the enchantment is broken. On the turn after the attack, the veil shrinks and falls away to the ground, leaving the wearer as he would appear normally. If not dispelled by an attack, removed by force or deactivated by the owner’s own desire, the veil resumes its normal state at the end of the scene.