Artifact Relay

The eighteenth theme is Gifts To Children

In such dark times as these, who would trust something so priceless in the hands of one so young? Perhaps it is a family heirloom, passed on by tradition; perhaps it is a First Age relic of no apparent interest to adults; perhaps its new bearer is no ordinary child. Regardless of circumstances, these artifacts are given with the intent to shape their new owner's upbringing, or else make it a little more enjoyable...DeathBySurfeit

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Doll of Wonder by -Miles

Artifact •
Commitment Cost: None

This small doll appears to be an ordinary cloth doll until close inspection reveals the small ruby colored eyes. When given to a child, and that child looks directly into the eyes, the child will be mesmerized for a number of hours equal to the essence rating of the creator (usually fae). The child will stare into the eyes and forget need for food, water, sleep, etc. until the duration expires. This can be a very useful toy for parents to use on children to keep them quiet during times when guests are around, but can be very dangerous if a child wanders off into the woods and then looks into the eyes of the doll. Vigorous movement of the child will break the mesmerizing effect. Children who have looked into the dolls' eyes many times will start reporting disturbing dreams, though these are usually written off as childhood imaginings.

Warmstone by - Paincake

Artifact ••
Commitment Cost: None

This simple device was once akin to a child's comfort blanket. Much like a duckling, once 'impressed' upon a youngling it remains the owner's until the time of his death. The device is exactly the temperature of the owner's skin and is somewhat tied to the owner's moods, providing a soft glow of the exact right color to set their mind at ease. The glow is perhaps enough to read by, comparable to a strong candle flame, varying with the need of the owner to a dim flicker. Created in the first age and nearly universally used for comfort, the artifact grows up with a child into adulthood. At a young age, it would provide a barrier against darkness or a warm presence at the small of the back. As the years go by, it provides a dizzy array to complement pleasure and joy, and in adulthood deep contemplation can awaken a serene glitter that can stimulate the mind and heart. These items are rarer now than they have been for ages. This is because violent death or extremes of hardship tax the egg-sized jewels beyond their capacity for empathy, and they fail at their owner's greatest need.

With a successful Int+(Ability) roll, the item adds an extra die to an action, aiding its owner with its simple confidence-boosting once per scene. It can also be used once per story to reroll a Virtue check, (For children only, though Storyteller can determine this.)

Soul Disruptor (Cradle of the Mind) by - Paincake

Artifact •••
Commitment Cost: 45m
Minimum Essence: 7

A small tiara with a diamond set at its center, elegantly woven from finger-thick bands of Moonsilver and hair-thin lines of Starmetal. For the artifact to function the diamond at its center must actually be a powerful (4 or 5) Hearthstone, and the essence to attune the item actually belongs to a different person than the child who will wear it. Finally, only Celestial Exalted can attune to the item, and only by expending twice the number that will be invested.

Called by the deceptive title 'Cradle of the Mind' by its original inventor, the Soul Disruptor is an item of singular evil. In the days of the Solar Deliberative its use became the center of a Creation-shaking trial and lead to the execution of several powerful Solar Exalted and one of the highest ranking members of the Bureau of Destiny.

The lifespans of the Celestial Exalted are measured in Millenia. Mortals are flickers in the mind's eye, God-Blooded and the Terrestrial Exalted mere footnotes on the pages of history, turned past and gone.

Yet there can grow in the heart of even the longest-lived Celestial the fear of Death and what comes after.

When placed upon the brow of a newborn infant as it draws its first breath, the owner attuned to the artifact makes an Int+Occult roll, Difficulty 5. When succesful, the artifact bonds permanently with the infant, and the child gains a bonus to all Mental and Social rolls equal to their Essence+2, to a maximum of the artifact owner's Essence-3.

At any point in time the Exalt who owns the Soul Disruptor can sacrifice 6 points of permanent Essence.

At this point the person gifted with the Soul Disruptor dies, their spirit not merely evicted from the mortal coil but utterly dissolved. (Exalts are immune. God-Blooded save with their Essence against a difficulty of 4.) They gain the person's physical traits, appearance.. and Permanent Essence. The Exaltation shard will not truck with being shifted from the body it inhabits in such a manner, (It considers the person dead and reincarnates as normal.) a complication that the hurried hands of its creators did not deem a terrible inconvenience. They lose all charms and spells, but may teach them to others and gain a mere mortal lifetime to live.

This may puzzle most, until the implications of Sidereal divination used in concert with the device are considered.. an infant destined with Solar Exaltation was a ripe and tempting target for the truly vile in the days of the First Age, and this is the reason for the death of the ancient Sidereal Exalt Jue Che-Ju, who with the aid of Solar Twilight craftsmen created the device. Only two ever were made, and the art of their creation was given to the Maiden of Secrets by the Unconquered Sun himself. One of the two items was annihilated, its pieces turned to slag and ash and never reused. The other has disappeared from whence it was kept in the Celestial City of Yu-Shan, warded by sorceries and Godhead and guarded by a hundred Celestial Lions. None among the Celestial Incarna have yet turned their eyes from their Games since its theft, and chances are they would not notice if they did.

Most Relentless Assassin by ~ WillCoon

Artifact ••••
Commitment Cost: 6m

The Assassin is, essentially, a tiny needle of starmetal and moonsilver, but it is rarely seen in this form. It shifts of its own volition between a number of shapes - small trinkets for the most part, it has found it useful to be a fork, a nail, a ring, and several other shapes. All of its shapes, however, bear an image of a raiton with gleaming claws. Currently it is a locket, entrusted to a child of house Ragara.

The Assassin arranges fate such that it is frequently getting lost or misplaced and found again by others, usually in a new form. Over time, it moves from place to place, drawing ever closer to its goal.

Tomorrow, when the child meets in passing the one known as Iron Talon, the Assassin will shift into its true form and fly at Talon's heart. It will make a 17-die Thrown attack, likely unexpected, with a base damage of 1L. Talon must make a successful Stamina+Resistance roll against a difficulty of 5 if the attack hits, regardless of damage sustained, or her heart will be torn from her body. If she receives no magical healing within one round, she will die. Immediately healing one or more health levels will stabilize her at Incapacitated with a permanent loss of one point of stamina.

The needle will, having fulfilled its duty and lost its raiton image, attempt to return to its owner by the same method of shape-shifting and fate manipulation, but anyone who recognizes its nature when it is no longer trained on a target may forcibly attune to it, breaking the original owner's attunement, and put it to their own use. If an attuned user selects a target, the Assassin gains an image representing the target's name, and is promptly lost, on its way towards their heart. It attacks at the owner's unaugmented Dex+Thrown, plus appropriate specialties and a bonus equal to permanent Essence, and the difficulty to resist death is the owner's Essence.

Krogoth the Devourer, Friend to All Children by ~ FlowsLikeBits

Artifact •••••
Commitment Cost: 15m

Korogoth appears to a silvery white Chillikin(p121, Wonders of the Lost Age). As was discovered during the Upsurpation, this is not exactly true. Very few Krogoths survive to the present time, most were destroyed with their charges. Those few that survived had their charges destroyed before they could react. This caused their instinct for self preservation to kick in, and they ran. Krogoths have the standard Chillikin abilities, but in addition to that, when they detect danger to their charges, they transform into a much more dangerous form(speed 3/-0 DV action). This form is as large as space allows, up to 30 yards tall when in a sufficiently large volume. In this form, Krogoth grows a large carapace, and huge claws.

Krogoth was designed to protect the Golden Children, and as such, children do not fear it. Even when when in Krogoth form, children will clap their hands gleefully and climb all over it. This is perfectly safe, as Krogoth will protect them to the best of it's ability. Krogoths act like normal Chillikin when un-attunded. They requrie the additional essence of attunement to access the Krogoth form.

Name:Krogoth
Nature: Caregiver

Attributes:Strength 10, Dexterity 7, Stamina 8 Charisma 7, Manipulation 3, Appearance 6 Perception 5, Intelligence 3, Wits 5

Abilities:Athletics 3(Feats of Strenght +2), Awareness 3, Dodge 5, Martial Arts 5,Investigation 2, Linguistics 1+, Lore 1(Frist Age +1), Medecine 1, Performance 4, Presence 1, Socialize 2, Stealth 5, Survival 4 Standard Chillikin abilities.

Virtues: Compassion 5, Temprence 2, Valor 4, Conviction 3

Krogoth essentially has +3 specialization in (Protecting Ward) in every applicable ability.

Virtues:Compassion 3, Conviction 2, Temperance 3, Valor 1
Virtue Flaw: Red Rage of Compassion (Compassion)

Willpower: 9
Health: -0 x 2,-1 x 4 ,-2 x 6,-4,Incap
Essence: 4
Essence pool: NA

Charms and Mutations: Grace of the Infinite Revolving Spheres (Krogoth reduces flurry/splitting penalties by 10 and the DV penalteis by 5 for each action)
Giant - E:tL
Surpassing Excellence - Krogoth gains +4 dice to his MA ablitity when protecting a ward (This gives +2 DV also)

Combat:
Join Battle: 8
Soak: 20L/20B/10A (Carapace)
Dodge DV: 7 (11 when protecting ward )
Parry DV: 7 (9 when protecting ward )
Attacks: Krogoths innate weapondry is equivilent to an attuned Orichalum Third Arm Glaive(In STC), with his tail taking the role of the Sash.

Note: Statwise, Krogoth is a 5 dot behemoth, with the Chillikin powers costing 5 mutation points.

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Comments:

Nice device, Paincake, but I've a question: if the device was intended to be used with a host destined for Solar Exaltation, and the artifact does not slay an Exalted bearer, what's the use of it? Given that the host dies in the process, this would destroy the destiny, as it's linked to the soul (unlike the body of Terrestrials). Consequently, it's useless both before and after Exaltation of the parent...DeathBySurfeit

Since it destroys the soul, I'm guessing that rather then come undone, the fate is devowered by the inerloper. - Dasmen

That was my assumption, I'm not terribly versed in Exaltation Lore. I imagine an artifact terrible enough to be used for that purpose has a work-around for that. Any suggestion? Paincake

Why not make it an Exalt shard transfer mechanism? Without Lytek to preen over it, the resultant Shard would keep a considerable amount of its former possessor's personality and memory behind. It's not quite reincarnation, but it's certainly pretty close...DeathBySurfeit, who incidentally thinks that the Most Relentless Assassin is a brilliant Siddy / plot device artifact

ArtifactRelay/GiftsToChildren

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Artifact Relay

The eighteenth theme is Gifts To Children

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