Revision as of 04:53, 31 December 2004

Ikselam's Abyssal Hearthstones

Abyssal stones channel the powers of darkness, entropy, and despair.

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Level 1

Deathmask Gem

Manse •
Trigger: Feigning death.

This cold, egg-shaped gem looks like it is made of marble. When attuned, it allows its bearer to feign death very convincingly; his heartbeat and breathing don't actually stop, but they become so slow and faint as to be almost undetectable. He also stops producing body heat -- this can be dangerous in cold environments, as prolonged use may lead to actual death from hypothermia.

Mechanically, the Deathmask Gem adds 3 automatic successes to any roll having to do with playing dead. Using it in cold climes may require a Stamina + Resistance roll versus hypothermia, at a difficulty set by the Storyteller; this is environmental damage. The resisted effect is 2B, the failed effect is 5B, and the interval is ten minutes.

The gem's power immediately ends if the character attempts any kind of physical action.

Ghost Lantern

Manse •
Trigger: None.

This cylindrical, matte-finished gem glows with a pale green light. When attuned, it causes all ghosts who approach the bearer to glow with a similar radiance. This causes immaterial ghosts to be become visible, but does not allow interaction with them without the appropriate magical powers. Materialized ghosts' entire bodies glow; if a ghost is possessing a person, or animating a dead body, only his eyes will glow.

Level 2

Blood-Lust Jewel

Manse ••
Trigger: Licking or kissing a wound. 

This teardrop-shaped gem is colored a deep, opaque carmine, like congealing blood. If its wearer touches his mouth to an open wound, the wounded person will experience a surge of ecstatic, intensely erotic pleasure. When this power is used, the target must make an immediate Temperance check. If she gets even one success, she has managed to suppress her body's reaction and is able to act normally. If she fails, her mind is clouded by pleasure and all her actions for the remainder of the turn are at -2 dice. A botch means that she has been totally overcome by the sensation, and is unable to act at all for the remainder of the turn.

This power may be used while an Abyssal is drinking blood from a victim.

Gemstone of Murder

Manse ••
Trigger: Killing.

This multifaceted carmine gem is slick to the touch, and reeks with the coppery smell of freshly-spilt blood. When attuned, it allows its bearer to feed on the Essence released by violent death. Every time he kills any living creature of mouse size or larger with his bare hands, he regains a number of motes equal to its permanent Essence score. If he kills an intelligent being, he doubles the number of motes regained.

No motes are gained for "killing" spirits unless they are permanently destroyed.

Level 3

Gemstone of Creeping Rot

Manse •••
Trigger: Exhalation (Simple).

This lenticular stone looks to be composed of obsidian, mottled with pale markings that phosphoresce faintly in the dark. When attuned, it allows its bearer to breathe forth a cloud of spores that quickly spread into a carpet of horrid, creeping slime mold. Exhaling the spores consumes the character's dice action for the turn. The mold rapidly expands to cover an area up to fifty feet in radius. It smothers and kills any plants that it engulfs, and swiftly rots through wood and other organic materials. Any wooden object covered by the mold loses one point per turn from both its lethal and bashing soak values; this cannot reduce its soak below zero.

In addition, anyone who accidentally ingests or breathes in the mold's spores risks a grisly death as the mold germinates and spreads through their innards. Treat this as a disease with treated/untreated morbidity 2/4, and difficulty of treatment 2. Treatment generally includes a regimen of herbal tinctures to kill the mold, followed by purgatives to flush it out of the patient's body. Contagion-Curing Touch can cure the mold with a difficulty 1 roll. The mold's virulence is 1 for someone who just walks through it, 2 for someone who touches it, and 4 if it actually gets in the nose or mouth.

After its initial period of rapid growth, the mold continues to spread, albeit at a much slower rate. It immediately withers away if exposed to fire or direct sunlight (Solar anima banners at the 8+ mote level count as direct sunlight).

[#ShadowSewingStone] Shadow-Sewing Stone

 Manse •••
Trigger: Dexterity + Crafts roll.

This many-faceted lens appears almost insubstantial, like a piece of solidified smoke. When attuned, it allows the bearer to manipulate shadow as a tailor manipulates cloth and thread. Shadows can be pulled off the ground or walls as sheets, braided into rope or nets, and suchlike. Things made out of shadow can be assumed to have roughly the same strength as silk, but of course weigh nothing and float through the air like drifting spiderwebs. Most shadows are rather transparent; very deep shadows are fully opaque, but are no stronger or heavier than lighter ones.

Use of this power requires a Dexterity + Crafts roll. This is a normal roll if the user wishes to do something simple like pull a shadow off the wall and hide under it, or grab a handful of shadow and swirl it about in order to confuse attackers. It is extended if he wishes to perform fine manipulation, such as braiding a shadow rope or stringing a shadow sheet across a corridor in order to hide a door. Anything made from shadows will immediately disintegrate if touched by fire or strong light. Non-Abyssal anima flares at the 8+ level can be assumed to produce "strong light"; regular torches do not.

Stone of Two Worlds

Manse •••
Trigger: Crossing a shadowland border. 

One side of this lens-shaped hearthstone is the white of bleached bone; the other half has the pallor of white jade. When a character attuned to it exits a Shadowland, whether she emerges in Creation or the Underworld is determined by her choice, rather than the time of day. Besides the character herself, the only beings affected by this power are any Familiars she may have.

Stone of Wraithly Substance

Manse ••• 
Trigger: None.

This white, tetrahedral stone is slightly porous, as though carved from bone. When attuned, it exudes a weak aura of death energy. As long as it is nighttime, all ghosts within five yards of the character automatically materialize at no cost, and cannot dematerialize until they leave the area of effect or day breaks, at which point they immediately become incorporeal unless they use another magical power to stay solid. In the daytime, ghosts within the area of effect may materialize at half cost.

Level 4

Gem of the Whistling Void

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

This dead-black orb looks like it is composed of some kind of shiny black mineral, but it is really a thin crystal shell surrounding an empty hole. A person attuned to it can, with a thought, cause the shell to break and be sucked into the hole, along with anything else that will fit.

Activating the Gem of the Whistling Void is a reflexive action. Once active, it begins to suck air in, producing the characteristic whistling sound for which it is named. The wind produced by this suction is powerful enough to pick up very light objects up to about three yards away; if they are small enough, they will be pulled into the hole. Heavier objects will only be sucked in if they are held very close to the hole.

The hole opens into the Mouth of the Void; anything which falls through it is lost forever. However, it is only about an inch in diameter. Up close, the hole's suction is powerful enough to pull in flexible or fragile objects, but strong, hard objects can block it. There is no limit to the volume of material the hole can consume.

The gem's power persists until its bearer wishes it to stop, at which point the crystal coating regrows and the hole falls silent.

Stone of Fear

Manse ••••
Trigger: None.

This cubical black stone bears markings resembling screaming faces on each of its sides. When attuned, it begins to emit a high, almost inaudible keening, which sets teeth on edge and fills anyone nearby with a sense of unease and fear. Its owner receives a three-die bonus to any rolls involving intimidation. In addition, anyone within twenty yards of her who is capable of feeling fear must make a Valor check each turn they are within the stone's area of effect, or suffer a cumulative one-die penalty to all dice pools (excluding Virtues). A botch on the Valor check inflicts a cumulative two-die penalty. If the total penalty ever reaches five dice or more, the victim is overcome by fear and must make another Valor check. If he succeeds, he may attempt to flee. If he fails, he must roll Stamina + Resistance or fall dead (if he is mortal) or unconscious for the remainder of the scene (if he is an Exalted or other magical being). On a botch, he automatically dies or is rendered unconscious.

This power does not distinguish friend from foe, but the stone's owner is unaffected. Its effects immediately cease if a victim leaves its area of effect, or scores three or more successes on any of his Valor rolls to resist its effects.

Stone of Spirit Shackles

Manse ••••
Trigger: Killing.

This ring-shaped hearthstone appears to be made of black wrought iron. When attuned, it becomes a prison for the souls of those slain by its bearer. Every time the character kills a sapient, living being, he may choose to draw her soul into the stone. The victim will remain trapped in the stone until it is destroyed, or until the character chooses to release her. Her entire soul is imprisoned; she will not rise as any kind of ghost, and if she is Exalted, her Exaltation will not pass on to another, until she is freed from the stone.

The victim can sense everything that goes on around the stone, and may communicate telepathically with her captor, but may do nothing else. She is not bound to serve the stone's owner, but he may at any time attempt to bend her will to his by engaging in an extended, opposed Willpower + Essence roll. This is a dice action, and suffers the normal penalties for split actions if he wishes to do anything else at the same time. If he accumulates two more successes than she does, he may gain access to one of her Abilities for the remainder of the scene, using it just as though it were his; alternately, he may experience her memory of a single event. If he garners ten net successes, he has completely broken her will and gains free access to all her memories and Abilities whenever he likes. If the victim gets two more successes than her captor, she can shut him completely out for the remainder of the scene. If she gets ten net successes, she can take over the character's body; their souls swap places, and he is now the one trapped inside the Stone of Spirit Shackles.

It is impossible to trap a spirit in the Stone of Spirit Shackles. Only one person at a time may be trapped in the Stone of Spirit Shackles. Once a soul is released, it immediately splits into its component parts and may become a ghost as normal. If the stone becomes deattuned, anyone trapped inside it will remain there.

Level 5

Apathy Stone

Manse •••••
Trigger: Concentration (Reflexive) and Willpower expenditure.

This lenticular gemstone is a smoky gray, and is laced with a multitude of internal flaws and fractures. When attuned, it can project a powerful aura of despair and lassitude, sapping the will of even the most stalwart heroes. To activate this power, the character concentrates briefly and expends a point of temporary Willpower; for the remainder of the scene, anyone within twenty yards of him who wishes to spend Willpower points for any purpose must expend double the normal amount.

This power does not distinguish friend from foe, but the character himself is unaffected.

Nightwalker's Gem

Manse •••••
Trigger: Deep night. 

This octagonal stone is a deep, unreflective black. When attuned, it harmonizes its wearer with the power of darkness and shadow. During the hours of true night, when the sky is untouched by sunlight, the character gains one dot of permanent Essence. This affects the size of her Essence pool, her ability to use and learn Charms, her resistance to certain magic powers, and all other things Essence is used for. However, she also becomes incapable of regaining motes of Essence while she is touched by direct sunlight. The only motes exempt from this rule are those granted as a result of successful stunts.

If an effect permanently reduces the character's Essence score while she is benefiting from the bonus dot the stone grants, the bonus dot is consumed first; this causes the stone to become totally inert until it has been returned to its Manse and left there for five consecutive days, after which it regains full functionality.

Stone of the Inescapable Oubliette

Manse •••••
Trigger: Touch.

This dead-black orb emanates a palpable chill, and seems to suck light in. When attuned, it can suck people in. This requires the bearer to touch the stone to the target and expend a point of Willpower. The target and the bearer then engage in a reflexive opposed Essence test. If the target wins or ties, she will be unaffected and will be immune to the stone's effects for a year. If she loses, her body and soul will be sucked into the stone and trapped there for up to the next lunar month. If she botches, she will be trapped in the stone forever unless its owner chooses to release her. Anything she was carrying, with the exception of clothing and attuned artifacts, will be left behind when she is consigned to the Inescapable Oubliette. If the stone's user botches, the target will be unaffected and will be immune to the stone's effects forever.

The only ways for a character to escape the stone are for the power's duration to expire, the stone's owner to decide that he wants to release her, or the stone to be destroyed. Only one person can be imprisoned in the stone at a time. Characters inside the stone don't become thirsty or hungry, but do need to sleep. A character who is sucked into the stone finds herself lying on a black basalt floor, inside a circle of wan light. In the center of the spotlight is a pedestal holding a large replica of the Stone of the Inescapable Oubliette. By looking into the gem, she can see what is going on outside it. Outside the spotlight is impenetrable darkness. What lies outside the circle of light is left up to the Storyteller's discretion.

Voice of Oblivion

Manse •••••
Trigger: None.

This onyx-black stone emits strange, unsettling noises just beyond the range of normal hearing. When attuned, it begins to speak in its owner's mind, filling her dreams with disturbingly compelling gibberish and eldritch visions of doom. These voices are often upsetting, but also informative; listening to the words, and letting them guide her actions, allows its bearer to draw upon the ancient wisdom of the Underworld, and the dead gods who reside there.

A character attuned to the Voice of Oblivion gains five dots of the Whispers Background. This can increase her Whispers above five.

Comments

What happens if someone shatters a Stone of Spirit Shackles while there's a soul inside? - Quendalon

The soul pops out just as if the stone's owner had released her. I believe this is implicit in the fourth sentence of the description. \\ _Ikselam

Yah, you are right, I missed that. Sorry! - Quendalon

I want to use the Blood-Lust Jewel</b>, but a little bit stronger. Please check it under HearthStones/WyldSpawn and comment on it.\\ WyldSpawn

I must recommend you for your Hearthstones, Ikselam. They're all very imaginative and well written. However, isn't the Stone of Spirit Shackles an all too easy way of catching an Exalted shard? Considering the problems the gods themselves have had of grabbing these fickle things, I would let the shard get away. Resplendence

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