The Book Of Air/Unique Artifacts

Diamond Feather, Queen of Swords

Once, near the ending of the High First Age, there lived a Solar of the Twilight Caste who was in love with the Wyld and its endless possibilities. Having mastered virtually every Wyld interaction charm available to the Solar Exalted, as well as much of the unusual Quicksilver Hand of Dreams Sidereal Martial Art, he had little to fear from either the Wyld or its denizens. The same could not be said for the mortals living near it, however...

The Exalted had proofed Creation reasonably well from the ravages of Those Beyond, but occasionally, some incursions occurred anyway. On discovering the soul-emptied remains of a settlement in his territory, the Solar of our tale flew into an intemperate rage and, eschewing any reinforcements, plunged into the nearby Wyld for justice and vengence all by himself.

He found the local Raksha court easily and fell upon it like a thunderbolt. Recklessly laying about himself with his power, he devastated all he came across, Noble and Commoner alike, and pulled down their Gossamer castle about their heads. The Nobles got the worst punishment, as he stripped them of their Wyld nature and cast them forth into Creation as the humans they once mocked as they fed upon them; of those former Fae, most committed suicide, the remainder quietly assimilated into Creation's Fate and died in due time, and one lived heroically enough to Exalt; but this is not his story. Only their beauteous Queen was spared, bound in Gossamer chains forged of the Twilights' wrathful dreams...

As his rage cooled, he soon realized that, in engaging the full power of his Quicksilver Hand of Dreams charms, he had traded justice for a heavy price, for all knowledge of his existence was now lost to his fellows. Rather than return in such a state, he instead worked his will upon the ruins of the Fae court around him, erecting a new palace upon the reshaped grounds, and producing new servants to attend him and his captive Queen.

Doubly-caught, for she, in the dramatic nature of her kind, soon fell madly in love with her captor, as only the Fair Folk can. But no matter how she plied his heart, she truly knew that she could stir it not. And so, finally, she used the last charm she would ever willingly use, the Extinction of Desire.

Now little more than a literal puppet queen in reality as well as fact, she never saw that in sacrificing herself for her love, she had finally gained the one thing that she now lost all chance of having. Only now did the Twilight come to realize the feelings that had slowly blossomed from his contempt for his prisoner...Now that it was too late.

Still, he could perform one last tribute to her: Using Lore Wyldshaping Charms along with Gossamer Understanding and all that his Queen had taught him of Glamour crafting, he went to work upon her now mindless-body, breaking it down and reshaping her into his greatest masterpiece, the ultimate expression of his lifespan of Exalted craftsmanship, the weapon Diamond Feather!

Diamond Feather is a Reaper Daiklave fashioned of the purest crystal; it is almost transparent, but one can barely make out images in its striations. As the blade draws blood, it becomes stained, and the wielder realizes that the ever-deepening hues tell the engrossing story of the blade's history. Indeed, the blade evokes a compelling fascination upon those who use it, such that they seek to slay more and more with it in order to see how the tale ends. Of course, it never does...

Diamond Feather has other properties, as well: Those attuned to it gain and give mutations in battle. Each charm-assisted strike inflicts its normal damage and in addition, a random deficiency or debility upon the target. When this occurs, the sword also inflicts a pox or affliction upon the user, who can't control how he is mutated, but is usually changed in a beneficial (if occasionally ugly) manner. Fair Folk affected by this power find themselves calcified very quickly.

Diamond Feather is a Wyld Artifact, and as such is considered outside of Fate; interestingly, it also renders its user as such, making them invalid targets for Sidereal Astrology or other effects that depend on Fate. In Shaping Combat, it is a Sword Shaping Weapon of exceptional power and grants its user an automatic Background of Style 5. It has fallen into the hands of both Fae and Creation-born, but never tarries, somehow always becoming lost, perhaps always yearning for the hand of its creator and true master...

As for what became of him, the tales differ. Some say he lasted well past the Usurpation, watched the Lunars flee into his territory and either aided them or simply hid from them. Most agree that he took up his Queen of Swords into battle against the most fearsome of Wyld Behemoths and monstrosities, until finally being struck down by an overwhelmingly powerful Unshaped. But only a few whisper that he waits and watches still, and that perhaps he sent her into the world to see what they would make of his gift...Only time will tell.

DURANCE BELT (Artifact ***)

Even the mightiest martial artist can be felled by a lucky blow. In the First Age, competing martial artists sometimes wore these Artifacts to extend the duration of a public bout, to be sure to give the audience their money's worth...

Durance Belts are large and flashy belts made primarily of White Jade, but chased with Orichalcum, Moonsilver and Starmetal. They resize to fit the wearer upon commitment of 5 motes of Essence, but provide no Magical Material bonus. They have 5 Hearthstone settings, artfully arranged, tho they don't require any to be filled to work.

An attuned Durance Belt floods protective Essence through the body of its wearer, increasing Bashing and Lethal Soak by 8; this counts as Natural Soak, and stacks with any sort of armor. However, this increased Soak ONLY works against MA attacks (including MA Charms and weapons with the M tag).

This Drawback makes the Belt unreliable in actual life-or-death combat (unless one can be somehow certain one is only fighting martial artists who can only rely on their skills), but in the fallen Age of Sorrows, fighters will take whatever advantage they can get...