TrithneArtifacts/KnivesOfCecylene
Torturous Knives of Cecylene
- Vitrioline Tiger's Claws
- Artifact: •••
- Commitment cost: 1 Lethal Health Level, 4 motes of essence.
- Profile: Spd +2 Acc +3 Dam +5L Def +2 Rate 6
The Knives of Cecylene are a pair of Tiger's claws, made of Vitrioline and forcibly mounted onto the user's hands. They look like a pair of razor-thin wires coming out of a small, wirey cage that wraps around the wielder's hand gripping it tightly enough to dig into the skin. Whisps of green vitriol smoke follow the wires, showing a clear trail of their path when in combat. (Attaching the Knives causes a 1L penalty that cannot be healed until they have been removed.)
In addition to the typical abilities of Vitrioline weaponry, the Knives have a secondary effect made by merging demon-charms with the effects of Vitrioline, which causes any wounds inflicted by the Knives to burn with the intensity of the mad green sun of the Yozi's prison. Any time the Knives cause damage, each health level lost is shifted down by one level. So, 0 becomes -1, -1 becomes -2, and -2 becomes -4. After that point, the health level can drop no more.
For example: If the Knives caused 3L damage to someone with HL 0,-1,-1,-2,-2,-2,-2,-4,In, their 0 would shift to a -1, then 2 -1s would shift down to -2s, meaning they would now have -1,-2,-2,-2,-2,-2,-2,-4,In, and the those three levels are still taken as lethal damage.
This effect lasts until each particular health level has been healed, and heal at their new rate, not their original rate. When determining wound penalty, take the worst penalty dictated by checked off boxes.
Comments
I haven't yet figured an artifact or commitment cost for these, because I'm not overly good at such things. The idea for them just came to me whie plotting evilly, and are designed to work with the DBSInfernalExalted splat, although it wouldn't be inappropriate to create a Soulsteel version at all... - Trithne
How does this effect interact with mid-battle healing? As written, if people are healed of their wounds in the middle of battle, then get hit again, those wound levels drop to even lower... which can result in the weird-effect of being damaged, and getting less penalty.
Actually, that can happen at any time... Assume Righteous Oxen has taken ox-body 5 times, each to get 2x -1...
He has... uhh... well, -0,-1,-1,-1 and so on. He takes 3 lethal levels, and is now on *-1*,*-2*,*-2*,-1,-1... What happens when he's struck by the infernal's hench-slave (wielding an utterly normal weapon), and takes another lethal level... does he drop to -1 wound penalty?
-- Darloth
- Valid and incredibly amusing point. As added above, the wound penalty in effect is equal to the worst checked off box. - Trithne
