ArtifactRelay/Drugs
Artifact Relay
The twenty-fifth theme is Drugs
These are those formulas that through internal alchemy or more rarely by reshaping the structure of the body to change essence flows, alter both essence users or mortals alike.
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- Erudite Calabash - David.
- Artifact: •
An ornate calabash of jade and meerschaum, the bowl of the Erudite Calabash is nearly a foot in diameter, and were the gracefully-arched stem straightened it would surely reach a yard. The Erudite Calabash is a smoking pipe! It will never go out unless there is nothing left inside to smoke, and it lights itself by means of brass sparrows posed around the bowl, who spout fire down onto whatever smokeables are placed within. Most anything that will fit inside may be placed in the Erudite Calabash and smoked, with wide variations in fragrance and flavor, but one thing remains constant - the smoker who patiently puffs away is enlightened! Written words placed in the pipe are engraved upon the smoker's memory, and the smoker can divine the origin of all the matter consumed by the flames. Mechanically, this process grants the character two automatic successes on any roll relating to whatever the smoker last smoked in his Erudite Calabash. This effect lingers until the smoker smokes something else.
- Data-Inversion Snuff - Moxiane
- Artifact: ••
- Commitment: N/A
This strange compound is made from a mixture of blue jade powder and certain dried rare leaves from the forests near the Pole of Wood. It has a heady aroma that recalls random knowledge to anyone who catches it, but the full effect is achieved by snorting it strongly. Once so inhaled the snuff affects the character's mind making knowledge that was obscure seem easy and commonplace - with the side-effect that information normally readily to hand becomes almost impossible to track down. This effect inverts the difficulties for any Lore or Occult rolls involving the recall of specific information, so that a roll that was normally difficulty 5+ becomes difficulty 1 and a difficulty 1 (or even 0, for no roll necessary) becomes a 5. The effect lingers for a scene; characters under the influence of the snuff can be variously difficult or entertaining to interact with.
- Vision Drops - IanPrice
- Artifact: •••
- Commitment: 5m
By coalescing a liquid mixture of prayers to gods of prophecy and oaths of protection, one can bake the liquid over the fires of passion into a candy-like substance - that is what these drops are. Placing one in the mouth produces a taste much like sour candy, with the tang of watchfulness and the sweetness of hope. A mere mortal can enjoy this heavenly candy, but to those who wield Essence it grants the ability to attune to the candy. For as long as it lasts (from sunrise to sunset), an attuned wielder is protected by an invisible hope. If events turn out in a climactically bad way (defined by the player; death of the character or one of his friends always qualifies), the alchemy of these drops parts before the character's eyes, revealing that he has had a vision of what would happen (Essence) minutes in the future. That means, effectively, the player has the ability to re-play the last (Essence) minutes with the character having full knowledge of what would have occurred. This gives several benefits, including but not limited to:
- Automatic success detecting any ambushes which play out as they did before.
- (Intelligence) bonus dice to re-do any failed Social attack or defense which still occurs.
- (Wits) bonus successes on a Join Battle roll which occurs similarly
- Other benefits helping the attuned weilder avoid his dark fate, even if events play out very differently, such as a coincidental botch for an assassin trying to find the missing targets for his ambush.
- Seeds of the Bronze Tree - DarkPhoenix
- Artifact: ••••
- Commitment: N/A / 8m
Despite the name, the four dots for this artifact does not, in fact, purchase the Seeds themselves, unless the player so wishes; each Seed is worth Artifact 1 and they require no comitment. Instead, the player gets the Bronze Tree itself which, for a commitment of 8 motes, produces 3 Seeds every season, at regular intervals. If the player so wishes, the can spend a willpower point to force the tree to produce a Seed early, although this reduces the next season's harvest by 1 each time, and thus, can be done no more than 3 times a season. If done the full 3 times, the following season will produce no Seeds at all, even if willpower is spent, and the Tree can not be forced to harvest early again until the season after.
The Bronze Tree was created by a powerful mortal thaumaturge, living in isolation in a cave to the West, on an unchartered island. He was a powerful alchemist, and as such, was sought out by many for his miracle cures. Growing weary of using his own power to help people all the time, he spent a great many years forging the Bronze Tree, so he would always have a cure readily at hand should someone seek him out.
The Seeds of the Bronze Tree have powerful curative properties. If a character consumes one, the player rolls (Essence OR Stamina) + (Endurance OR Resistance OR Medicine), whichever is higher; 10's still count as 2 successes. For every success on this roll, the character can heal 2 levels of Bashing damage, 1 level of Lethal damage, or 1/2 a level of Aggravated damage, i.e. 2 successed heals 1 level of Aggravated. Consuming the Seed is a Reflexive action (in that it can be done at any time), but consumes the character's turn (or their next turn, if they've already acted), as the shock of the sudden cure takes up much of the character's attention.
- Yellow Castle Urn - willows
- Artifact: •••••
- Commitment: none
The Yellow Castle Urn can be found in the Yellow Castle of Zin Bei-La, the famous internal alchemist. It is approximately the size of a coffin, and carved of a single boulder of heliodor, streaked with fernlike formations of briarjade. Inlaid on its surface in tidejade are a series of alchemical formulae, describing various preparations to be mixed and manipulated inside the Urn.
Deciphering and following the alchemical formulae is a difficulty 3 task requiring Intelligence and Occult, and a Resources 3 expenditure to obtain the necessary ingredients, and access to a furnace and body of water sufficiently large as to contain the Urn. It takes seven days to perform one-third of the task, after which the alchemist must wait one moon, work for seven days, wait an additional moon, and work for a final seven days.
Basic success at the task creates an unremarkable alchemical preparation: Seven Bounties Paste.
Legendary success at the task reveals an esoteric interpretation of the formulae. To follow these properly, during the final week of preparation, the alchemist must enter the Yellow Castle Urn. He is then distilled in the furnace and quenched in the water and various other processes occur. This may require assistance, as the alchemist may not leave the Urn during this week.
When the week is up, the alchemist may exit the Urn. He will find coated on its inner surface a ruddy powder which may be pressed into a pill. This ruddy powder is the distillate of the alchemist's soul. A being consuming the distillate will find his soul replaced with the alchemist's; if the alchemist is alive at this time, consumption of the pill results in his immediate demise as his soul is violently translocated to another vessel. This soul transferrence leaves the alchemist's Essence channelling capacities intact.
Comments
I love this theme, and I have an awesome idea for a level 5 one, but I shall wait patiently - ArabianNinja, who is virtuous.
- Aww nuts, someone beat me too the punch I posted it, and willows had done it first. Well here it is any way:
- Portal Of Divinity - ArabianNinja
- Artifact: •••••
- Commitment: N/A
A mirror made of brightly polished starmetal wreathed in Orichalcum and guilded with Moonsilver and Jade, the Portal of Divinity, to those who do not understand it's nature, is simply a highly expensive and ornate mirror, but to those who have divined its purpose know that it can be used as a window in which they may watch the Games of Divinity.
By spending a point of Willpower, the mirror will glow softly for a second before a dark veil moves across the mirrored surface and reveals the glory of the Games of Divinity for a breif moment equal to an initiative step/tick of combat. To view more, the user must spend more willpower to fuel the Portal of Divinity.
Viewing the games through the Portal is far more addictive than the Dream Stones used to capture them. Any one mortal who glance the games, even for that brief moment, become gibbering wretches unable to do anything for [10 minus their permanent Essence] Turns. Terrestrial Exalts suffer in the same manner should they fail a Temperance check. Alchemical Exalts may add their permanent Clarity to their Essence if they fail the same Temperance check. Celestial Exalts may add their Wits to their Essence if they fail. Those who fall into the thrall of the Portal must roll their Temperance after they recover; if they pass, they are able to act normally but will be haunted by the memory of the Games of Divinity for [10 minus their Wits] days, causing a -2 dice to all rolls. Those who fail the check will do almost anything to witness it once again, but if the task is too far against their nature, they may roll their Convicion to overcome the addiction. Should the Temperance check become botched, the afflicted individual will do absolutely anything to watch the Games once more, be it to obey the commands of the one in ownership of the Portal of Divinity, or attack them with insane frevor.
More often than not those who have discovered the Portal of Divinity have found it along side the burned out husks of beings who have done nothing else but waste away as they watch the Games of Divinity unfold.
Essence users may spend 3 motes instead of Willpower to Power the Portal of Divinity.
I have to say I love all of the artifacts in this relay immensely.
-- Darloth
