Artifacts/DorchadasFourDot
Promise Keeper and Dream Weaver</i>
Orichalcum
Speed +1, Accuracy +3, Damage +4L, Defense +2 Rate: 5 (including material bonus)
Artifact •••• each
Commitment: 5 each (orichalcum)
There are few surviving weapons from the First Age that claim the honor of a Primordial's heartsblood--these weapons can claim two. According to legend, they were forged by Autochthon itself for a Solar whose name is lost to history. Despite his best efforts, that Solar was not up to the task of bearing them, and they passed down from champion to champion, among whom were two heroes of the Primordial War, who used their powers to slay the enemies of the gods. Unfortunately, the dying curse of the Primordials sank into the daggers when they were used to slay them, and it soon became obvious that the daggers made the users increasingly unstable. The cause was--correctly--attributed to the Primordials, though the exact mechanism was unknown, and so the daggers were given to the Twilight caste to study. After a large amount of experimentation and interrogation of demons, a method was found by which to fully contain the curse, or so the Twilights believed. They did not wish to simply destroy the daggers since they were a valuable object of study, so the process was attempted, and it soon became possible to wield them again without any adverse effects. Or so the Twilights thought...
The daggers appear as normal orichalcum daggers, though the entire surface of each is finely carved with images of the Celestines and the Elemental Dragons. There are large black marks on the daggers which no amount of cleaning will scrub away, however--according to legend, these are the bloodstains of the fallen Primordials.
By itself, each dagger is a powerful weapon, though their true power only comes out when they are wielded paired. Alone, each has the same attributes (given above), though their abilities differ. Dream Weaver can, with the expenditure of 4 motes of Essence, wreathe the wielder in concealing illusions. These illusions add the user's Permanent Essence to the difficulty of any attempt to detect them, including detection attempts enhanced by Charms. If desired, the wielder can instead, for the cost of an additional 2 motes, cause the illusions to affect another target, which raises the difficulty of any action that target takes by the user's Permanent Essence unless the target rolls more successes on a Willpower roll than the wielder's Manipulation--this is a dice action, as it represents the target attempting to shake off the sensory distractions. Both of these effects last for a scene. The wielder also gains an extra die on any attempt to penetrate an illusion.
If Promise Keeper successfully does any damage to a target, for the next lunar month, the wielder may reflexively spend a mote of Essence to know exactly how far away that target is and in what direction. This does not function across world barriers (for example, for targets in the Underworld when the user is in Creation), though the wielder will learn that the target is not in the same reality as themselves. The wielder also gains a bonus number of dice on all rolls against the target equal to (wielder's Permanent Essence - target's Permanent Essence), to a minimum of one. Both of these bonuses only apply to the last target damaged by Promise Keeper. Finally, the wielder may, once per scene, spend a point of willpower to gain two successes on a roll instead of the normal one.
When wielded together, the true power of the weapons reveals itself. As long as the daggers are wielded together, the wielder has two fully independent actions, as per the rules under Charcoal March of Spiders Form, at his disposal. He may forgo these actions if he wishes to use an Extra Action Charm. Also, the paired daggers cry out for the blood of the Primordials they slew, and the wielder may roll Perception + Awareness to detect demons within a mile (difficulty equal to the demon's Permanent Essence). If used against a demon, the daggers do Aggravated damage, and any demon destroyed by these daggers is irrevocably gone, as if Ghost-Eating Technique had been used to kill them. In addition, each of the characteristics of each weapon, excluding Rate, increases by one.
When the daggers are used against demons, however, the flaw in the Twilights' containment rituals reveals itself. Any time a demon is killed by the daggers, the killer must roll Willpower with a Difficulty equal to the demon's Permanent Essence. If this roll is failed, the wielder immediately gains a number of points of Limit equal to the difficulty of the roll, and if it is botched, the wielder immediately Limit Breaks. There is no penalty for success on this roll.
<i>Answerer</i>
Orichalcum
Speed +7, Accuracy +4, Damage +9L, Defense +1 Rate: 5 (including material bonus)
Artifact ••••
Commitment: 8 (orichalcum)
Answerer was forged in the First Age by the Dawn Caste known as Dancing Ruby Phoenix to serve as her weapon after she finally mastered the craft of artificing. Its form is that of a simple Reaver Daiklaive, with its name written on the hilt in the characters of the Old Realm and no other ornamentation. Ruby was a great believer in form following function, and thought that it was not much use decorating a object so highly when its only use would be to kill others. The legends told about it in the First Age stated that it could ignore any armor and pierce any defense to allow the weilder to strike at her foes.
Answerer has several powers beyond those of a normal Reaver Daiklaive. Its most basic power is the ability to pierce armor. While it is not able to ignore all armor like the legends describe, the power is still potent--Answerer ignores an amount of armor soak equal to the user's Melee rating. This may be increased to double the user's melee rating for one attack by spending two motes of Essence per extra point of soak ignored. This only functions on armor. Another power is that dematerialization is no protection against Answerer's attacks. Every attack made with Answerer is treated as though the user were under the effects of Spirit-Cutting Attack.
Its greatest power, however, is its ability to utterly destroy mortal weapons and armor. Every time the user of Answerer successfully damages someone who is wearing non-Artifact armor, that armor's bashing and lethal soaks are reduced by the user's melee. If this would reduce the soak to below zero, then the armor is destroyed, but the mobility and fatigue penalties still remain until the wearer has a chance to remove the damaged armor from themselves. Similarly, any weapon used to parry Answerer is cleaved in twain and rendered useless. A successful parry will still prevent a hit, but the parrying weapon will be useless for any further combat.
Answerer has a setting for a single hearthstone.
<i>Shamira</i>
Orichalcum
Speed +12, Accuracy +3, Damage +9L, Defense +4 Rate: 4 (including material bonus)
Artifact ••••
Commitment: 7 (orichalcum)
The Eclipse Caste Ashraielle was not a warrior. She rarely fought except when she had to, but a dozen lifetimes of mediation had taught her the value of battle. As such, she asked her Circlemate Shining Star to make her a weapon with which to defend herself when she took up arms in defense of the Realm. Though it took her some years to find the time, Shining Star finally made a spear for her--the weapon of the Eastern tribes that Ashraielle had been born to. The spear was not the weapon of a warrior--it was primarily designed to keep its wielder safe in combat--but Ashraielle was not a great warrior, and she was greatly pleased by the gift.
Shamira, which means "Protector" in the language of the Eastern tribes, is powerful, but its powers are primarily focused on defense. The spear has the following powers:
- When the weapon strikes another (either in an attack or a parry), the wielder may reflexive spent a number of motes up to their stamina. Each mote adds two to the difficulty of a knockback check that the target must immediately make. If it is failed, the target is knocked back a number of yards equal to the wielder's Willpower with a flash of golden light. This can break a chain of attacks.
- Anyone who wishes to attack the wielder must roll Valor. This power only applies when hostilities begin (not for each successive attack), and it does not function on anyone with a Permanent Essence higher than the wielder's. The cosmetic affect of this power is that the wielder appears to be taller and more terrible than she really is, similar to the Fair Folk power Fearsome Mien.
- If thrown, it returns to the wielder for no cost at the end of the round.
Shamira has a setting for a single hearthstone.
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