Hearthstones/TelgarAbyssal

Abyssal HearthStones

These are the Stones of the Abyss, given powers of darkness and death. Someday I might split these into the theorectical aspects of Prayer, Ghost Fire, Blood, Jade and Bone...but probably not. Only if I actually have written as many Abyssal stones as I have Terrestrial. Unlikely. Anyway.

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Level 1

Salt Star

 Manse •
 Tiggers: Drawing

Used to bind or ward ghosts and other creatures of the Underworld, the Salt Star allows whatever item it is set into to draw a line of pure salt when dragged across a solid surface. The salt produced by the Star is perfectly normal salt in all respects. The Salt Star can only produce enough salt to draw a hundred feet of lines in a day. Each day the amount of salt the Star can produce resets. Salt Stars take the form of a large salt cube about two inches in all dimensions. In the light, a dull starburst can be seen in the cube's center.

Gravechill Stone

 Manse •
 Trigger: Concentration

Forever surrounded by the dank chill of the Underworld, this Hearthstone passes to its owner the ability to blight the living world with his presence. The touch of the Stone's owner will cause plants to wither and rot, sicken small animals and ruin food or drink. The taint of the Stone's power is not strong enough to kill large plants like oak trees or do more then inconvenience creatures bigger then a housecat but it can be used creatively to do considerable harm. If used for intimidation purposes, add 2 dice to such rolls. The Gravechill Stone takes the form of a clod of frozen dirt about the size of an apple and smells strongly of rotting leaves.

Bloodstone

 Manse •
 Trigger: Constant

Simple enough in form and function, the owner of the small red Bloodstone can survive in perfect health without water or food so long as he drinks the blood of living creatures. To survive purely on blood requires a minimum of 4 quarts of blood every week which is about the amount of blood contained in the average human body. Some who use the Bloodstone's powers claim that they come to favor the taste of blood over that of normal food and drink.

Level 2

Stone of Burned Prayer

 Manse ••
 Trigger: Nightfall

This transparent cube of rock crystal forms in Manses that contain crypts or temples which frequently receive offerings from the mortal world. Every day at nightfall, the Stone produces enough offerings to equal a Resources 1 sacrifice. It is worth nothing that the Stone of Burned Prayers does not create this wealth, but summons it from un-tended or un-directed offerings elsewhere in the Underworld and that using it may result in an angry ghost knocking at your door.

Stygian Tear

 Manse ••
 Trigger: Immersion

A glistening teardrop of frozen ebony water the size of a chickens egg, the Stygian Tear is eternally moist and chill. When immersed in water the Tear renders the water lifeless, sterile and turns it the transparent, glassy black of obsidian. The water tainted by the Tear is colder then ice and sucks the life from anything touching it. The transformation is permanent, though the Tear can only affect ten gallons of water at a time and in moving bodies of water like lakes, rivers and oceans the tainted water is quickly dilluted to harmlessness. Tainted water, if ingested, has the same effects as arrow frog poison.

Level 3

Dead Man's Star

 Manse •••
 Trigger: Concentration

Spawned from the darkness of the Starlight Crypt, Dead Man's Star is a glittering, uncut diamond that always forms in the exact center of the Manse's floor. By gazing into the Star's depths its owner can see the shape of the Underworld's skies and perform astrology based on them no matter where he is. Such astrology rolls gain 3 automatic successes. If the Star is set into a proper Artifact it removes its owner from Fate for as long as he is attuned to the item the Star is set in. In games where being outside Fate is not of considerable benefit, this Hearthstone's rating is 2.

Ghostface Gem

 Manse •••
 Trigger: Feeding the stone

Taking the form of a flawless human skull made of a stone so dark that it seems to devour the light around it, the Ghostface Gem allows its owner to disguise himself as one of the dead. If any part of a dead body is placed in the mouth of the skull it will be devoured and the Ghostface wraps its owner in an illusion that persists until the next nightfall. For as long as the illusion remains the Gem's owner appears to be the ghost of the person whose remains were fed to the stone. The difficulty to pierce the illusion is set at a base of 4, but it can be increased by appropriate disguise powers or rolls should the user wish.

Rusting Iron Ingot

 Manse •••
 Trigger: Constant

Coveted by the Dragon-Blooded and, in fact, everyone, as a defense against Necromancy the Rusting Iron Ingot is often cultivated in small Shadowlands. Though appearing only as a snub-edged rectangle of rusted iron the Ingot is a potent defensive talisman. Its owner is constantly under the effects of the spell Iron Countermagic. All Shadowlands Circle spells directed at him are violently shattered. This effect does not break already existing Shadowlands spells.

Level 4

Weakstone

 Manse ••••
 Trigger: Concentration

This irregular glowing green stone pulses with an internal light in a slow, regular rythym. When touched to any Artifact the Weakstone decreases the effects of that Artifact significantly. Artifact weapons and armor are treated as if they were made of normal materials for purposes of Charms and Spells. Unless the Artifact’s owner succeeds on a Stamina + Lore roll with a difficulty of 3, attunement to the Artifact is broken. Finally, all attacks against Artifacts and inanimate objects do double damage before soak.

World-Shadow Gem

 Manse ••••
 Trigger: Constant

This Hearthstone is sought after by Deathknights forced to operate outside the Underworld for its strong connection to the deadlands. The Gem's connection to the Underworld is so strong that it wraps its owner in constant shadow, preventing Creation from ever holding sway over him. The Gem's owner is considered to be in the Underworld at all times even though he can physically walk Creation's surface. In essence the owner of the World-Shadow Gem is his own Shadowland though the effects of the Gem do not extend beyond the owner and his personal possessions. The World-Shadow Gem takes the shape of a razor-edged obsidian rhombus.

Level 5

Black Magic Pearl

 Manse •••••
 Trigger: Constant

The owner of the Black Magic Pearl is proof against all but the strongest and most knowledgeable necromancers. At all times the attuned master of the Pearl is under the effects of Onyx Countermagic. Necromanctic spells of the Iron Circle are extinguished if directed against him and spells of the Onyx Circle shatter violently against his protections. Each time it destroys a spell, the iridescent blackness of the Pearl glitters with blue and purple Essence.

Stone of Bereaved Prayers

 Manse •••••
 Trigger: Constant

A perfect cube of ivory is either white, grey or black depending on the time. This Hearthstone forms only in the Underworld, never in Creation-bound Abyssal Manses or even those in Shadowlands. Through its power, it can allow its master to skip the most vital step in the economy of prayer: praying. Instead of waiting for prayers of the grieving family to arrive, the holder of this Stone benefits simply from grief itself. The grief is drawn into the stone, causing it to turn black. When 1 full dot has been accumulated the stone turns ebony black and the grief collected inside the stone is purged, returning the stone to pristine white. In the purging, a Grave Goods offering worth 1 dot of Resources is created. This offering can take any shape the owner desires. It is possible to wait for further grief to accumulate by simply spending a willpower when the stone is black. This causes it to wait to release the grief, causing the final release to be equal in value to the number of 'saved' dots. This number can not exceed 5. It takes about a week for 1 dot of Resources to accumulate.

Seed of Blackened Thorns

 Manse •••••
 Trigger: Sexual intercourse

This stone is formed in the heart of an ancient and venerable Manse of Wood that was long ago corrupted by the Lover. Her nemesaries and other servants worked many years to transmute the place of life and vitality into a twisted mockery of itself. The Hearthstone of that Wood Manse was a stone of healing, by sharing life with another in a variety of forms, the owner could transfer some of his own life to another. Now the twisted Stone of the Black Bramble Palace allows only the creation of abomination through mockery of life. Taking the stomach turning form of a rotting, throbbing knot of blackened and weathered thorn vines, this Hearthstone will accept no artificial setting what so ever. It must be swallowed or otherwise placed in the living body of its owner. Once within, the changes it makes are utterly impossible to detect, the result is obvious only when the bearer has sexual intercourse with a dead body of at least human size. Within a day of the act's completion, the corpse will animate and transform. Its bones will be replaced with rotting hardwood, its flesh with dead lichens and moss and its blood will transubstantiate into thick, black sap that burns whatever it touches. These creatures survive until destroyed and count as both living and undead for all effects. They are also considered Wood-aspected, for Charms and magics that involve elemental aspect. Storytellers are encouraged to create the statistics for these abominations based upon the type of corpse used in their creation.