WeepingStar/Artifacts

I'm working on stuff to put in here, but most of my descriptions need polish.

Level Four

Unfurling Wings of the Carrion Flower

Artifact ••••
Soulsteel Smashfist/Long Powerbow
Smashfist: Speed +3 Accuracy +2 Damage +3L Defense +1
Powerbow: Accuracy:  +3 Damage: +3 Rate: 2 Range: 350
Requires: Smashfist: Strength •• Powerbow: Strength •••
Commitment: 5 motes.

For the most part appearing to be an exquisitely crafted, cunningly articulated, delicate Soulsteel gauntlet covering the arm from the first knuckle of the fingers all the way up to the elbow, this mighty weapon seems at first glance to simply be an unusually delicate and artistically ornate but otherwise normal Smashfist whose only interesting feature is that it possesses an unusual number of Hearthstone slots, with one on the back of the hand and two on the upper forearm, one in line with the thumb and the other in line with the smallest finger. It is only to those privy to it's secrets that it's full power is understood. Clenching his or her gauntleted fist, the knowledgeable wielder may draw an arrow along his or her inner arm, unlocking hidden catches and nocking the arrow against a black string cunningly hidden amongst ornate filigrees. With an almost-silent clicking of moving pulleys and gears and the quiet creak of bone, the long, segmented, almost alien arms of a Soulsteel Long Powerbow, made of bleached bone and delicate black Soulsteel, unfurl themselves from within the workings of the Smashfist, both arms decorated with a single Hearthstone socket near the grip. These hearthstone sockets are actually the same ones that were located on the forearm in the weapon's primary form. The powerbow will remain unfurled and combat-ready until such a point that the wielder unclenches their gauntleted hand, at which time the bow will immediately fold back into place.

In both forms, this weapon has the standard abilities of an Artifact weapon of it's type, and depending on the form that it is in, the wielder is able to use both Brawl/Melee charms (Smashfist) and Archery charms (Powerbow). Due to the delicate workings and precision-calibrated pulleys and gears of the bow, it only requires a Strength of ••• to wield, without sacrificing any of it's power.

Level N/A

Resplendent Armature of Mortification

Artifact N/A
Soulsteel Clawed Gauntlet
Speed +2 Accuracy +2 Damage +6L Defense +2 (not including material bonus)
Requires: Stamina •••, Brawl or Melee •••••
Commitment: 8 motes, plus Hearthstone (Level 3 or higher)

The Resplendent Armature of Mortification is a terrifying weapon with the unique and dubious honor of being forged from a sphere of Soulsteel that was vomited forth from the Mouth of the Void itself. The origin of this ingot is unknown, but it exhibits a disturbing hunger reminiscent of the Oblivion from whence it came.

In form, the Armature is a left-handed gauntlet that covers the arm from fingertips to mid-bicep intricately wrought in a disturbingly biological shape and covered in threaded, screw-like spines. The Soulsteel from which it is wrought is of deepest, only dimly reflective black, with an iridescent sheen that roils and shifts like oil on water. While no howling, damned visages show themselves within the black steel, the reflections of those who gaze into the Armature's surfaces are twisted in agony and death.

When uncommitted, the Resplendent Armature of Mortification is an unwieldy, heavy gauntlet, and serves very little offensive purpose, it's many spines damaging the wielder as often as an enemy, though it can be used as a parrying assistant in a pinch. It is when one dons the Armature and commits the requisite 8 motes of Essence to it that it transforms, the threaded spines suddenly and painfully screwing themselves into the flesh, dealing only two Health Levels of Aggravated Damage, but leaving the wielder in howling agony for a full day and night as Soulsteel tendrils weave their way through flesh and bone. Long, viciously serrated claws burst forth from the wielder's fingertips, merging with the soulsteel of the Armature but anchored to the wielder's very skeleton, claws that can be retracted (albeit painfully) at will. Long, whipcord-thin tendrils of Soulsteel tipped in barbed hooks unwind themselves from the biomechanical curves of the gauntlet, moving or returning to their quiescent state at the will of the wielder. This is a terrifying weapon, and when fully deployed, provides a +2 to all social rolls involving Intimidation.

This, however, is merely a side effect, and has little to do with the true powers of the Armature. Equally damaging to Ghosts, Spirits and Gods as it is to corporeal beings, each strike with the gauntlet's claws and hooks will not only deal damage, it will draw away the victim's Permanent Essence (minimum 1) in Motes, starting with their peripheral Essence, transferring them to the wielder, though this power cannot increase the wielder's Essence beyond it's maximum. If this reduces the victim's Essence below zero, a successful strike will instead draw away a point of Stamina, and bestows the victim's Permanent Essence (minimum 1) in Motes on the wielder. If this reduces the victim's Stamina to zero, the victim dies, their soul permanently drawn into the ravenous Soulsteel. Victims killed in this way will not return as ghosts, and Exalts destroyed in such a fashion will never reincarnate.

This, however, is not the most terrifying of the Resplendent Armature of Mortification's powers. On a successful Hold, the wielder of the Armature may make an attack roll during his or her next round to plunge the claws and hooks into the torso of his or her opponent, at which time every further round spent in the Hold will drain one point of the victim's Permanent Essence. This confers no bonus on the wielder, and should it reduce the victim's permanent Essence to zero, the Armature will begin to draw out Stamina as above. Should the victim die in this manner, however, Their entire Essence pool, as it would have been when they were at full Essence, is transferred to the wielder, whether or not that increases the wielder's pool above it's maximum. Essence gained in such a manner remains until it is used, and is distributed between Personal and Peripheral Essence in the same manner as it was in the victim.

The Resplendent Armature of Mortification has slots for five Hearthstones (One in the palm, one on the back of the hand, one on the back of the lower forearm, and two on either side of the upper forearm), but only four of these confer any bonus on the user. The fifth, of at least a Hearthstone rating of 3, is used solely to power the Armature, and should it be removed, the Armature will immediately and painfully pull it's screws from the wearer's flesh, and return to an inert, unwieldy state.

Comments

I'm not sure whether the Resplendent Armature of Mortification is an Artifact N/A or just a high Artifact 5. I made it N/A (and gave my Abyssal the Legendary Artifact Merit accordingly), just in case.

Also, if anyone hadn't noticed the similarities, a lot of the mechanics for the Armature are inspired by a weapon Ikselam made. Praise him. PRAISE HIM!

~ WeepingStar

Oh, its NA alright. Being able to forever reduce someone's Permanent Essence by multiple numbers with no way to resist other then to avoid the attack itself is pretty nice. And killing sparks is also fairly evil. So, yes, this is NA. - Telgar

I'm vaguely considering a roll of some sort to resist the initial engaging of the Armature's Permanent-Essence-Sucking powers. Or maybe it only works on people of equal or lower Essence. Any suggestions? ~ WeepingStar

Well, my personal stance on NA Artifacts is that they are inherantly unbalanced, by being level NA. So there's no point in even TRYING to balance them at all. They break the system, do things that aren't allowed, destroy the world, etc etc. So I have no suggestions. But of course, I don't let characters start with level NA Artifacts under any circumstances what so ever. Level NA Artifacts are for building whole chronicles around, to me at least. - Telgar

I'm with you on the "no N/A Artifacts" front. I'd never let something like this into a game, and would probably never play a game under a Storyteller who would. The Exquisite Armature of Mortification, and for that matter it's wielder, are mostly just me being struck with an image that needs to be put down on paper. Very few of my ideas ever see the light of the Unconquered Sun. ~ WeepingStar

I'm a big fan of this, but it could probably stand to have slightly higher bonuses: Perhaps Speed +2, Accuracy +2, Damage +6L, Defense +2? (Remember that normal Razor Claws have Speed +1 and Defense +2).
Just one question, though - is this actually meant to utterly destroy Essence shards? Because to date, even Oblivion itself can't do that, I thought. - FrivYeti

Oh, Obilivion can destroy ANYTHING! It's cool that way. - Telgar

Duly noted about the bonuses, FrivYeti. I think I'll increase them just a little, mostly because I don't want them to be any slower than normal Razor Claws. ~ WeepingStar