Miedvied/RingOfYun

Ring of Master Yun</b>
<b>Artifact • • • • •
Commitment: 10 motes or 3 willpower (if mortal)
Requirements: Martial Arts 2, Compassion 3, Temperance 3

The Ring was forged in the early days of Creation, when the Celestines still looked carefully over Creation and the Primordials idled their time away with the Games of Divinity. Created by the Five Maidens working in concert, and forged from the golden heart of the Unconquered Sun's greatest champion, a ring was forged to act as a blessing on any that would wear it.

The Ring is a great power, but acts only as a gateway to the power within one's self, not as a source of power itself. An intelligent man becomes a genius; a strong man a titan, and every effort carries in itself the determination that could plow through a mountain. The Ring gives its bearer many powers, but its bearer is most powerful when using his own true abilities.

The Ring will grant its bearer immunity from aging (though not other sources of death), and +4 dice to all dice rolls. Moreover, the wearer will gain an additional +2 dice on all of his favored abilities, and an additional +2 dice on all abilities that he has at 3 or above, and a further +1 die to Martial Arts. None of these bonus dice count towards the Attribute + Ability cap imposed on charms. Furthermore, the ring grants its bearer the benefits of the Prodigy (Martial Arts) merit. Further benefits include the Ambidextrous merit, the ability to ignore two dice of wound penalties,

The Ring will eventually pass itself on, however; the time will come when it chooses to be taken by a new possessor, allowing it's current bearer to rest from the world. At that time, it will select someone else with at least Martial Arts 2, Compassion 3, and Temperance 3 (it will generally seek out the person with the highest average Virtues in the area, though it will never choose someone with less than Comp 3, Temp 3, and will never choose an abyssal.) When such a selection has been made, the current bearer usually undertakes the training of his successor in the Martial Arts that will be necassary to defend the ring from darker forces that would wish to take it by force. When enough time has passed (usually a few months), the master passes the ring on to his pupil, and passes on from the world (he will never leave behind a ghost.) There is nothing forcing the master to pass the ring onto a new student, save for his own virtue.

Though the Ring is not likely to be identified on sight (requiring Past Lives 4+ or Savant 4+, Lore 3+ and Occult 2+), the story of it's power is passed on throughout history - turning young men into great warriors, turning great warriors into the wandering warriors for justice that single-handedly topple corrupt satrapies and cast down tyrants. It is no coincidence that it tends to fall into the hands of Solars.

Known as it is (and, like any great Solar, it can be corrupted), it is most aggressively hunted by Abyssals and Sidereals that know of its existence. Though it cannot be forcibly taken from a living bearer (even the bearer himself cannot pry it from his own finger until it has chosen a new bearer), there is nothing to stop them from attempting to kill the current bearer, and prying it from his cold, dead finger. It can be presumed the ring would desire a new bearer as soon as possible, but there's nothing to force the corrupter to give it away.

Characters with the Vice or Callous flaws, or with a rating of 1 in any Virtue, will never be chosen to be the new bearers.

The ring is known as The Ring of Master Yun after it's most recent Master; it has no true name of it's own, and it's current name is likely to be lost as soon as it next changes hands.

It is rumoured among scholars of lost First Age Lore that a counterpart to the ring exists, identical in all ways, and that when worn in tandem, both rings cease to provide all of their blessings to their host, and instead grant him complete immortality (a 10A/35L/35B increased soak, soak with full stamina, regenerate all bashing and one lethal health level a round [even after death], and a bonus to Stamina equal to the sum of the character's two highest Virtues, as well as total immunity to aging.)

It is believed that someone of greatest Virtue will destroy the rings upon wearing them, freeing the heart of the Solar that was used to craft them, and truly open the gates of power in his own soul (a permanent increase of the character's highest Virtue to his Martial Arts rating, even if it exceeds his permanent Essence.)

Comments

Yes, I was watching The Power Within and I ripped it off, in a vague sort of way (given that the movie's pretty much ... not Exalted, not even a little.) - Miedvied