Mnemosynis/ObsidianPearls

Obsidian Pearls

Obsidian Pearl
Artifact •••••

Obsidian Pearls were gifts from the Elemental Dragon of Water during the Primordial War. Within them they held the expanse of the bottomless depths and were used to imprison some of the most powerful of the third circle demons in the West. The great armies of the Exalted couldn't march across the water to fight them, and entire fleets were lost to the demons who could command the waves. The Obsidian Pearls were the answer to this, and only nine were made. They were the size of a man's fist, and impossibly black, seeming to contain the depth of the entire ocean within.

One was shattered before they could be used, two were lost in the West and never activated, and six were used to capture demons. Of those, three were lost in battle in the West and were not recovered. The demons in the other three were cast into Malfeas once it was created, and those Pearls were taken to the holds of the Old Realm. Two were lost during the Usurpation and lay in Solar tombs, and the remaining one currently rests in the Cloister of Wisdom and is regarded as a holy relic of mysterious origin. Current surviving myths about the Pearls primarily come from the West, and are sketchy at best. Most just remember them as great weapons against the darkness and know nothing of the threat some of them still contain.

System: The Obsidian Pearls, when activated, draw demons into them and imprison them in the crushing depths within. The environment inside, while painful to demons, will not actually kill them. The Pearls can hold either one third circle demon, three second circle demons, or seven first circle demons. The cost to activate the Pearl depends on the level of the demon being being pulled within:

First Circle Demons: 20 motes, 1 willpower, 1 health levels
Second Circle Demons: 35 motes, 2 willpower, 3 health levels
Third Circle Demons: 50 motes, 3 willpower, 5 health levels

If any part of the mote or willpower cost cannot be paid the character can take additional levels of damage to offset the difference, where one health level equals either 10 motes or one willpower. The Pearl can be used against demons up to 100 yards away. Note that imprisoning a demon does not bind it to the character's will in any way. Typically a demon would be released into a warded circle from where it could then be banished back to Malfeas. Releasing a demon costs 1 willpower.