Greymane/DeshaneStuff

Glory of Sain-Wanno: The Crown of the Burning King

Artifact: 5
Commitment: 8motes
A king needs a crown as a country needs a king: the one is the glory of the other. It's nature is often a reflection of the one who wears it. Simple or gaudy, iron or gold, majestic or intimidating; in any form a crown takes on almost a life of it's own.

In the Crown of the Burning King, one finds no exceptions. A diadem crafted from red jade, it curves in a single plate over the brow and then separates into increasingly smaller plates of jade, both edged and linked together by tubular bands of gold. It is a thick and rugged piece of headwear, nearly more a protector for the forehead than a status symbol. Yet, it is glorious. Each plate is adorned with socket for a single hearthstone, enough space for four in total, and the center piece holds the Heart of Pelmia, the largest and most singularly perfect fire opal in the world – ripped from the chest of the volcano goddess Pelmia at the moment of the Batief children's triumph. The Crown seems almost to breathe as light reflects off it's surface, throwing back the glow in a halo of sparkling red and yellow.

The Crown was a creation of Osha of Warm Tears, the two-natured goddess of steam and rain, who took Pelmia's place at the head of the Sighing Sky Court. Made in remuneration to Sain-Wanno, it was to replace the traditional crown of the Twenty Lands, lost when King Keyair sacrificed himself to Pelmia's flame. The Crown of the Burning King was to be the glory of Sain-Wanno and the Batief line. All of the remaining volcano goddesses and the Batief children sacrificed something to the Crown. For some, it was a material treasure, such as the golden chain crafted from the hair of Urang Smokingheart's long-dead Anathema lover. For others, the treasure offered was not one that could be held in the hand. In a moment of both closure and grief, the Batief children all gave up the passion that had driven them enough to destroy one of the most powerful goddesses of the West. The heart of the treacherous goddess was placed at the center in honor of the former king and to remind any spirits at court what becomes of those who seek to make slaves of Sain-Wanno again.

Powers of the Crown
Merely wearing the Crown of the Burning King adds a single dot to a characters Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina. A native of Sain-Wanno increases this to two dots and a member of the Batief royal-line to three. Mortals of Sain-Wanno who wear the crown are instantly transformed to Heroic Mortals and mortal members of the Batief line, over the course of several years, will transform yet further into elemental-blooded beings closely aligned to flame. After the first year, they effectively become an Inheritance 0 elemental-blood. Their Inheritance rating rises by 1 for each year there after, up to a maximum of 3. Exalted members of the line or those with a supernatural heritage of some other source gain no extra benefit from prolonged wear.

Natural fire recognizes the rulership of the wearer without question. By regarding an open flame intently for a few seconds, he can sculpt that fire into nearly any shape his mind desires, limited only by the force of his personality. This grants the wearer an effect similar to the Spirit Charm 'Affinity Elemental Control' (Storyteller's Companion pg 58) which he can evoke at will without cost. The wearer roles his Charisma + Essence in place of Valor + Essence, but the success to effect ratio remains the same. A player may attempt to stunt this roll. While it requires no essence activate this power, it does require a moment of intense concentration and so is still considered activating a Simple Charm in combat.

Elementals of fire must bow to the wearer of the crown as well. By expending 15motes, the wearer can bind nearly any fire element in his sight to his service for a year. Elementals with Essence scores lower than the wearers are helplessly compelled to serve. Those with an Essence equal to the wearer may attempt to resist by rolling their Willpower at a difficulty equal to the Charisma of the wearer. Success allows them to evade the service and keeps them safe from it's power for a single year, but failure binds them as any. This power cannot affect elementals whose Essence score exceeds the characters. When bound, the elementals are effectively enslaved to the wearers will. They will follow nearly any order without question, though will never do anything willfully suicidal. They can only be released at the whim of the wearer. Once an elemental has been freed from service, it cannot be bound again for a year. It should be warned that once an elemental is released, it is free to seek retribution for any past grievances and one must always be careful when evoking this power upon the unwilling. A character may control as many elementals in this fashion as he has points of Permanent Essence.

Wrappings of the Igneous Heart

Artifact: 3
This artifact takes the form of a matching pair of skin-tight ankle braces and finger-less gloves. The jade in it's construction is unusual, red jade deeply ingrained with flecks of black volcanic glass, with palms and soles starkly shaded in a slightly thicker layer white jade perforated to leave the red/black layer below visible. Woven into a cloth like texture, it has a feel that is rougher than normal jade though not unpleasant. Normally inert, even without the binding power of Essence, they have the unusual property of spitting forth swarms of sparks when rubbed against most surfaces, including one another. These bright flickers of flame never seem to seer or ignite near-by materials, but make for an impressive display.

The entire set can be instantly and reflexively attuned for 4 motes, 1 mote for each piece. Once activated, the portions of red jade begin to smolder with a heavy light like the molten stone pooled in the heart of a volcano. The wearer then gains 8 points which can be distributed among the statistics of his unarmed attacks. No more than 3 points can be added to any one stat, but otherwise the wearer can choose to assign the points as he pleases.

Burning intensely, the sparks normally produced cling around the Wrappings rather than fading into the air and smoke coils upwards from beneath the wrappings whenever held to any surface. When an attack is made, they flare intensely and irresistibly draw the attention of the foe or swarm into an opponents eyes, subtracting a number of dice from their defensive pools equal to their Perception. This is a visual effect. If the target is unable to see it or is not using sight in their defense, they will not be penalized.

Dancing Dragon-Tail Oil

Artifact: 2
This deep red liquid comes in a hexagonal tube of crystal which rests between a pair of serpentine dragons crafted from red jade, their tails curling together to form the base and their sinuous backs arching to form a handle. They hold the vial's stopper between their clawed hands and hang their heads above the opening in a curious fashion, their mouths opened wide and roaring. The oil itself is smooth and warm, scented faintly but pleasantly of cinnamon. Rubbed into the skin, it soaks in deeply, the warmth growing to sooth joints and loosen stiff muscles. The result of this leaves the character far more flexible and swift, adding +2 dice to any Athletics rolls for the purpose of acrobatics and +1 to all of his Dodge rolls. The recipients skin takes on an extremely healthy, vibrant glow as well that compliments the gleam of the oil, adding a single dot to his Appearance. It takes a full minute to properly apply the oil and it's effects wear off after half an hour.

Each bottle of Dancing Dragon-Tail Oil contains enough oil for five applications. Once empty, it can be refilled by channeling 5 motes of Essence into the dragons. Left alone with the stopper off, fresh oil pours from their open mouths into the vial and refills it completely in 24 hours. Moving bottle or interrupting the flow of oil instantly causes the dragon's to stop and the motes must be re-spent to activate it again.