Revision as of 04:42, 30 December 2004

Ikselam's Air Hearthstones

Air is the element of creativity, dynamism, the intellect and the unseen.

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Level 1

Breathless Jewel

Manse •
Trigger: Taking one deep breath.

This spherical, milky blue hearthstone is very light, and appears to be hollow. When attuned, it allows its wearer to hold her breath indefinitely. This does not require extraordinary concentration, but it does require the bearer to take a deep breath first. The effect ends if the bearer falls asleep or unconscious, or the air is expelled from her lungs (for example, by speaking).

Gossiping Stone

Manse • 
Trigger: Talking to the stone. 

This shimmery white sphere seems to whisper quietly to itself. When attuned, it passes on everything it hears to its siblings, enabling communication over a distance. When a character speaks directly to the stone, all other Gossiping Stones which formed at the same Manse will repeat what he said. This reproduction is not instantaneous, and not totally accurate; it may take a minute or two for the other stones to pass on the message, and they may also have misheard it. If several people are talking to several different Gossiping Stones from the same family at once, their words are likely to become hopelessly garbled in transmission.

Gossiping Stones hear about as well as the average person (Perception + Awareness of 4), but only ever listen to what is said by the people to whom they are attuned. Each Gossiping Stone has its own distinctive voice, and will generally relay messages at the same volume as the original words.

Gossiping Stones always form in groups of two or more.

Puff-Fish Gem

Manse •
Trigger: Inhaling deeply.

This mottled beige sphere is very light, and is covered in short spines. When attuned, it allows its bearer to inflate himself like a puffer fish. The character takes a deep breath, inflating his chest like a balloon. Due to the tremendous quantity of air contained in his lungs, he can hold his breath for ten times as long as normal. He also becomes very buoyant, capable of supporting up to 200 pounds of ballast in addition to his own body weight. Finally, when he lets out his breath, he can do so quite forcefully; he can blow as hard as a large bellows for an entire turn before his lungs are empty.

The powers of the Puff-Fish Gem cannot be used if the character is wearing inflexible armor on his torso, and is likely to cause him to burst out of less-sturdy garments. Fully-attuned moonsilver armor is the notable exception to this rule, as it deforms to accomodate changes in its owner's body shape.

Tiny Screamer

Manse •
Trigger: Theft. 

Each of these pure white globes is marked with what appears to be a pair of sculpted lips. When attuned, a Tiny Screamer will issue a warning whenever someone tries to take the artifact in which it is set. If someone not attuned to the artifact touches it, the stone's "mouth" will open, and, true to its name, begin issuing earsplitting screams. Exactly how far the sound carries depends on the situation; the level of sound produced is equivalent to that of an adult human screaming at the top of his lungs. The stone will continue howling until the "thief" is no longer touching the artifact.

Tiny Screamers sound just like screaming people; they even pause now and again to draw breath. Each one has a slightly different voice, although ones which all come from the same Manse will usually all sound like the same gender.

Level 2

Gem of Puzzles

Manse ••
Trigger: Puzzling over the stone.

Although it starts out as a small cube, each face divided into nine squares colored different shades of blue, the Gem of Puzzles' appearance changes whenever its power is employed. When attuned, it becomes capable of assuming the form of a puzzle, whose solution will provide insight into matters at hand.

Up to once per day, when the bearer of the gem has failed an Intelligence roll, she may activate the Gem of Puzzles. It quickly takes on a new, often unusual-looking form, becoming a puzzle. Sometimes, the object of the puzzle is obvious; other times, figuring out what constitutes a solution is half the battle. Regardless, the character makes another Intelligence roll, using the same Ability as the failed roll. Successes scored on this roll become bonus dice when she next attempts the failed task.

It is possible to make multiple rolls using the Gem of Puzzles; most of the puzzles either have multiple solutions, or else their solution causes a new puzzle to become apparent. As long as the character scores at least one success on the Intelligence roll to use the gem, she may make another. Each roll takes one hour, and successes are cumulative. The character must stop as soon as she fails a roll, or accumulates a number of successes equal to the size of her dice pool.

Bonus dice granted by the Gem of Puzzles persist may be used at any time before the character next sleeps, but they must all be used on the same roll, and that roll must be to perform the exact same task that she failed at earlier (not just the same kind of task). These dice do not count toward dice-pool caps.

Jewel of Spirit's Delight

Manse ••
Trigger: None.

This glittering, multifaceted gem resembles a teardrop-shaped diamond. When attuned, it becomes incredibly interesting to spirits, distracting them from doing anything other than admiring it. Any god, elemental, ghost or demon who sees it must roll its Perception + Awareness. Each success on the roll applies a cumulative -1 penalty (to a maximum penalty of -5) to all that spirit's dice pools for the remainder of the scene, or until the jewel leaves its sight. The spirit can shake off the fascination for a scene by expending a point of Willpower.

Lightfoot Gem

Manse ••
Trigger: None.

This cloudy gray lens is almost weightless; when dropped, it flutters down like a feather. When attuned, it causes its owner's feet to never quite touch the ground. The character always hovers a fraction of an inch above whatever surface she is standing on, and exerts no force upon it unless she deliberately stamps her feet, lands from a fall or jump, or the like. As a result, she usually leaves no footprints, even on the softest surfaces, and will not trip pressure-sensitive switches unless she literally falls onto them or pushes them on purpose.

Although it prevents the character from sinking into mud and any other mostly-solid material, the Lightfoot Gem does not allow her to walk on liquid. She can still drown, or be trapped by quicksand (which is largely water). The Storyteller has final say on which types of surfaces are not solid enough to allow the gem's power to function.

Stone of Fog

Manse ••
Trigger: Exhaling (extended dice action requiring no roll).

This blue-gray sphere feels cool and slightly damp to the touch. When attuned, it allows its bearer to produce masses of thick fog. The character takes a deep breath and exhales slowly and steadily; as her breath leaves her lungs, it immediately billows into a huge, dense cloud of fog. The fog spreads extremely rapidly; each turn of exhalation allows the character to increase the radius of effect by ten yards.

Using this hearthstone's power counts as a dice action requiring no roll. Exhaling for more than one turn requires a Stamina + Endurance roll; each success allows the character to exhale for an additional turn. After this period is over, she must spend a turn catching her breath. If the character stops breathing out, further use of the stone's power will not increase the size of the fog bank unless she exhales for longer than she did when she initially created it.

The fog is perfectly mundane, and has no special properties beyond reducing visibility (Exalted, p. 237) and other qualities possessed by normal fog. It slowly dissipates over the course of one scene unless renewed. Very dry environments may cause it to disperse more quickly, at the Storyteller's discretion.

Level 3

Crosswind Jewel

Manse •••
Trigger: None.

This powder-blue tetrahedron seems to resist being brought near other hearthstones, repelling them gently but noticeably. When attuned, it distorts the flows of Essence around it in unpredictable ways, making it difficult for other hearthstones to channel the power of their Manses.

All non-Air-Aspected hearthstones within 10 yards of the Crosswind Jewel count as being one level lower than they actually are for purposes of Essence regeneration. Whenever the bearer of such a stone wishes to benefit from its special power, he must reflexively roll the stone's rating versus difficulty 2. Success means the power activates as normal; failure means that nothing happens. On a botch, the stone becomes inert for the remainder of the scene. For stones whose powers are always active, the roll occurs once per turn.

This power affects all non-Air hearthstones, even ones attuned to the bearer of the Crosswind Jewel.

Eye of the Tornado

Manse •••
Trigger: Concentration and blowing on the stone (Simple).

This gray lens is marked with striations which appear to swirl around and around, spiraling toward its center. By concentrating while blowing strongly on the stone (and sacrificing his dice action for the turn), the person attuned to it can cause a small but powerful tornado to burst forth from it and pick him up, carrying him about at tremendous speeds. The whirlwind summoned from the stone lasts for one scene, and functions as the spell Stormwind Rider (Exalted, p.219) except that it cannot carry any cargo besides the character and any equipment he is wearing.

The Eye of the Tornado's power may only be used once per day.

Gem of the Dreamer's Leap

Manse •••
Trigger: Jumping.

This gray hearthstone is feather-light; when dropped, it falls as slowly as a soap bubble. When attuned, it allows its bearer to travel in lazy, dreamlike leaps. Mechanically, the character becomes immune to falling damage, and multiplies his maximum jumping distance by ten.

If he jumps more than five times his normal distance, either vertically or horizontally, it takes the character several seconds to complete the leap; he remains airborne from the time he jumped, until his initiative on the next turn. He is fully capable of taking actions while sailing through the air, and can even alter his course in mid-leap. His maneuverability is limited to slow, broad arcs; sharp turns are not possible. The Storyteller has final say on whether a desired course correction is feasible. If the character lands, strikes, and then immediately makes another long jump, it counts as a fly-by attack.

The gem's power stacks with other jump-enhancing powers, following the normal rules for stacking multipliers (i.e., an Air Aspect using the gem with his anima power would increase jumping distance to twelve times normal, not thirty).

Gem of Intuitive Reaction

Manse •••
Trigger: None.

This clear icosahedral gem's facets sparkle constantly, seemingly independent of any exterior light source. When attuned, it heightens the bearer's intuition and reflexes, allowing him to anticipate and react to even the most unexpected turns of events. Unfortunately, it also shortens his attention span and makes him somewhat jumpy. Mechanically, the character gains a three-die bonus to all Wits rolls and adds 3 to his base initiative. However, he suffers a one-die penalty to any task requiring prolonged concentration.

Mockingbird Stone

Manse •••
Trigger: Kissing (Simple).

This hearthstone resembles a crystalline replica of its namesake's egg. When attuned, it allows its bearer to steal others' voices. The wearer kisses the target on the mouth, and inhales his voice into her lungs. The kiss must be held for an entire round for the power to take effect. For the next lunar month, she will be able to speak with his voice whenever she wishes; this is his actual voice, not an imitation. During this time, the person whose voice was stolen will be completely mute. The duration of this effect can be ended prematurely if the Mockingbird Stone's bearer kisses the target again and exhales his voice back into him. There is no limit on the number of voices that can be stolen at one time. Beings who have no mouths cannot lose their voices to the Mockingbird Stone, although ones who don't breathe can.

Voices stolen by the Mockingbird Stone can speak in any language known to the wearer or to the person from whom they were stolen. However, although the wearer can express herself fluently in a foreign language known to the target, she does not gain the ability to understand anything anyone else says in that language unless she herself has knowledge of it.

Stone of Crystalline Logic

Manse •••
Trigger: None.

This tetrahedral hearthstone is a cool, clear blue. When attuned, it allows its owner to almost completely subjugate his emotions and instincts to his rational mind. Mechanically, any attempts to manipulate or appeal to his emotions (magical or mundane) are at +1 difficulty, and he gains a three-die bonus to any pools having to do with reasoned argument or intellectual endeavour. Additionally, he can easily ignore the urgings of his heart, and need not spend Willpower to resist a Virtue (although he will still gain Limit for acting against it, if applicable).

Stone of Flexible Thinking

Manse •••
Trigger: None.

This colorless hearthstone looks like a crystal rod which has been somehow tied into a knot. When attuned, it makes its bearer's mind more agile, allowing him to easily approach problems from more than one angle. Mechanically, he gains one bonus die to all Investigation, Lore, and Occult rolls. In addition he may, once per scene, reroll any failed check involving a Mental Attribute.

Level 4

Cloudwalker Stone

Manse ••••
Trigger: None.

This lenticular white stone deforms easily when squeezed or prodded, lazily springing back to its previous form when the pressure is released. When attuned, it allows its bearer to treat clouds and other masses of water vapor as though they were solid. The character can literally climb up fog banks and walk across clouds. To her, the clouds will have a consistency similar to that of the Cloudwalker Stone; solid enough to support her weight, but soft enough for her to sink into if she stands still.

This power is not indiscriminate; it will never operate in such a way as to impede the character's movement or otherwise inconvenience her. She won't suffocate if she burrows into a cloud, won't have to fight to push her way through fog, and if for some reason she wants to fall through a cloud instead walking on it, she may do so without effort.

Coldstone

Manse •••• 
Trigger: Concentration (Simple).

This hexagonal white stone is freezing cold to the touch and rimed with frost. When attuned, it allows the bearer to suck the heat out of objects with a touch. To activate the power, the character must be touching the thing he wishes to affect; he then concentrates, consuming his dice action for the turn. Inanimate objects frozen by this power become quite brittle; for every turn the character maintains his freezing grasp, the object's soak is reduced by 2B/1L, down to a minimum of half its normal values (round down). At the Storyteller's discretion, certain materials may be more or less vulnerable to extreme cold than others; green wood may literally explode, while a wall of ice will obviously be completely unaffected.

The Coldstone's power can also be used to freeze liquids at a very rapid pace. When used on a body of water, each turn of concentration will produce an area of ice, thick enough to walk on, with a radius of approximately one yard. In running water, the ice floes will generally float off fairly rapidly; in still water, it is eminently possible to freeze a "bridge" all the way across. This tactic is somewhat problematic for the stone's user, however, since he must actually be touching the water he intends to freeze -- his friends may be able to walk over the frozen pond, but he himself is likely to find that his hand is stuck to the ice.

Finally, the Coldstone can affect living beings. Since using its power consumes the character's entire dice action, it cannot legally supplement normal attacks; however, its use is explicitly permitted in a clinch or hold. Every turn the power is active, the target must roll to resist environmental damage. Treat this as though she were exposed to a supernatural ice storm (Exalted, p. 244) with an interval of one turn instead of one minute.

Gem of Ghostly Vapor

Manse ••••
Trigger: Concentration (Simple).

This egg-shaped hearthstone is marked with swirls of blue and white, which appear to move about if watched long enough. It enables its bearer to transmute her body into intangible mist at will. This requires concentration, and counts as the character's dice action for the turn. In gaseous form, the character can only be hurt by Charms or Sorcery, and only takes half damage (round down) from anything that does harm her.

While in her intangible state, the character can speak in a whisper, and use any abilities or powers which do not require a body, but cannot interact with the world around her in any other way. She can waft along at her normal movement rate and pour up walls or through tiny openings, but cannot actually fly. Her fog form is unnaturally difficult to disperse, but she may need to make Strength + Athletics rolls to avoid being blown about by strong winds.

When a character assumes gaseous form, only her body and the artifact in which the Gem of Ghostly Vapor is set become mist. Anything else she is carrying, including clothing, is unaffected and will immediately fall to the ground. The Gem of Ghostly Vapor's power can only be used once a day, and can last until sunrise or sunset, whichever comes first.

Orb of Leafless Winter

 Manse ••••
 Trigger: Concentration (simple)

This spherical gem looks and feels like it is made of ice. It has the power to cast forth an aura of chilly Essence, causing Wood Essence to grow sluggish. Activating this power takes up the user's dice action for the turn, and lasts for a scene.

The temperature becomes chilly within 100 yards of the stone, and plant life starts acting as though winter were coming. Deciduous trees' leaves will quickly turn and fall; flowers will wither or close up, and most non-evergreen plants will either die or go dormant. Plants native to tropical climes may actually die, at the Storyteller's discretion. Any mobile or inimical plants immediately become dormant; they won't do anything for the duration of the effect. This includes pollen-based effects, such as those produced by the flame blossoms of Chaya, or the Nymph's Blood bush. Once the effect ends, all affected plants swiftly bud and regrow their foliage, in a sped-up rendition of spring (this does not apply to plants which were leafless prior to use of the stone's power).

Wood-Aspected elementals, gods, and Dragon-blooded within the effect lose one die from all pools until they leave the zone of cold. Only those with Essence scores less than four are affected.

This power can be used once per day.

Gem of the Virtuoso's Voice

Manse ••••
Trigger: Singing.

The surface of this lenticular blue stone ripples visibly in response to nearby sounds. When attuned, it vastly expands the range of its bearer's singing voice, and allows him incredibly precise control over its pitch and modulation. Mechanically, he adds three dice to any Performance rolls involving singing.

The real power of this stone, however, is much more impressive. With a successful Perception + Performance roll, made at difficulty 3, the character can pitch his voice such that it resonates with objects of a specific material. Subsequently, he may make a Stamina + Performance roll to sing the precise note that will cause that material to shatter. Every success on the roll inflicts one level of lethal damage, soaked as normal, on all objects of that material within 10 times his Stamina in yards.

If used to damage living creatures (most commonly by singing the note that will make their bones shatter), the power inflicts one die of bashing damage per success on the Stamina + Performance roll. This damage cannot be blocked or dodged, and bypasses armor soak. Anyone taking damage from the sound must make a Stamina + Resistance roll at a difficulty of the number of health levels lost. Failure means that they are deafened until the damage heals; a botch means that they are struck permanently deaf. Creatures who cannot hear, or have plugged up their ears, need not make this roll.

This power cannot be precisely targeted; every legal target within range is affected, including the singer and anything he may be carrying.

Gem of Wind Dragon's Breath

Manse ••••
Trigger: Huffing and puffing.

This flattened, gray-blue hearthstone resembles a large dragon scale. When attuned, it allows its bearer to exhale hurricane-force winds. The character inhales deeply, then begins to blow. The wind affects everything within a 45-degree arc in front of the character, up to a distance of 30 yards. All characters within this area must make a reflexive Strength + Athletics check at a difficulty of the character's Stamina, or be blown five yards back and fall prone. As with knockback (Exalted, p.235), this will never cause a character to take a deadly fall.

The winds can also demolish flimsy structures, and carry off moderately light objects. All objects within the area of effect are affected as though by a feat of strength with a level equal to the character's Stamina. Unanchored objects will probably be picked up by the wind and blown around, while stationary objects may be damaged or destroyed. The Storyteller has the final say on which objects are affected, and in what way.

Gemstone of Perfect Clarity

Manse ••••
Trigger: Concentration (reflexive).

This clear stone is faceted in such a way as to draw the eye to its center, in which a single point of white light shines steadily. When attuned, it allows its bearer to achieve perfect unity of intent and action. Mechanically, he automatically acts first in any situation where initiative would be rolled, and cannot be surprised. This effect can be activated with but a thought, and lasts for an entire scene, but immediately ends if the character decides to hold his full action, or otherwise shows hesitation.

The Gemstone of Perfect Clarity can be activated only once per day. If it comes into conflict with another power which provides perfect initiative, the character with the higher regular initiative acts first.

Level 5

Jewel of the Immortal Mind

Manse •••••
Trigger: None. 

When directly examined, this multifaceted hearthstone appears to be colorless; when seen from the corner of the eye, it shimmers with pale, ever-changing colors. Inside the jewel live the minds of everyone who has ever died while attuned to it, and some who have not.

When a character attunes to the Jewel of the Immortal Mind, she immediately becomes aware that it is filled with many minds, and gains the ability to silently communicate with them. The disembodied voices tend to be friendly, or at least open to bargaining, since they can only perceive things outside the stone if its bearer invites them to share her senses. In return, they can offer her advice, or temporarily grant her their knowledge. This operates just as though the character had Whispers 5 (see Abyssals, p. 135), though it does not carry the same overtones of death and entropy.

If the character wishes, she may enter the hearthstone in her dreams. From the inside, it appears to be a vast but finite expanse of shifting gray mists, interspersed with idealized, half-completed landscape features and architecture. The minds inside the gem appear as they perceived themselves in life. They are not ghosts; some of them have never even been alive, rather being formed of the overlapping echoes of past gem-holders' personalities and intellects. These neverborn gem-dwellers tend to be eccentric at best, horrifyingly alien at worst. Their personalities and self-images also tend to be more poorly-formed than those of the "real" minds in the gem.

If the character dies while holding the gem, her mind lives on inside it. Shattering the gem causes great upheaval in the dreamscape within it, but does not destroy the contained minds; even if the Manse is altered or destroyed, the minds may manage to live on as strange, ghostly apparitions moving through the Essence flows of the Manse or Demesne.

Jewel of the Mind's Eye

Manse •••••
Trigger: Concentration (Simple).

This spherical stone is crystal-clear, and fleeting images of people and locations from all over the world flicker through it. When attuned, it allows its owner to project his awareness to any place he has previously visited, seeing and hearing everything that transpires there. The character holds the image of a known place in his mind, and enters a deep trance, during which he is totally unaware of what is going on around him; physical damage will rouse him, but little else can. For the duration of the trance, he may perceive everything that is transpiring at the target location, just as if he were physically present. He may move his viewpoint about freely, but not to any point which he was not holding in his mind's eye when he began meditating; this usually means that he will be limited to a single room, or an area of roughly 100 yards radius if he is not scrying an enclosed area.

This power may only be used once per day. Charms which detect immaterial spirits will register a ghostly image of the character at the point from which he is observing, and powers which block spirits from entering an area will affect him. The Jewel of the Mind's Eye can only be used to observe places, not people. If the target area has undergone drastic change since the character visited it last, he will find himself unable to scry it.

Stone of the Unseen Hand

Manse •••••
Trigger: Concentration (Reflexive).

This transparent, sky-blue sphere has five oblong indentations in it, spaced such that the stone is molded to the grasp of a slightly smaller than average hand. When attuned, it allows its bearer to reach out and touch objects at a distance. The character can affect anything within ten yards of herself. She moves her hands as though she were physically manipulating the object, and receives full tactile feedback; she can actually hurt herself if she tries to grasp something sharp, hot, or otherwise injurious. The character is treated as being in contact with the target for all purposes, including those of magical powers delivered through touch. Sentient targets will feel the character's touch unless she is very circumspect, but will not automatically become aware of its source -- though if they can see her, it will not be very difficult for them to connect her unusual gestures with the sensation of her hands on them.

There need not be a clear line of sight to the target; the character can grope around blindly if she so wishes, but this incurs the normal penalties for acting blind. The character's extended reach applies only to her hands, not any other part of her body, and she must actually reach out in the direction of the target in order to affect it. It is permissible to use the Stone of the Unseen Hand to launch unarmed attacks at range.

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