ShadowNet: Items (or Items & Artifacts)

What, you may ask, is the difference between an Item and Artifact? Well to tell the truth there isn't much difference between the two. Items are things that players create, or seek out, to assist themselves or to frustrate others. They also tend to be on the low end of the power spectrum. Artifacts, on the other hand, are mysterious things created by your GM. They usually have strange and unpredictable powers and a history that makes people seek them out, whether to own them or destroy them.

Items

NAME: Gauntlets of Weakness

DESCRIPTION: Gloves, either leather or metal, that alter their form to fit any wearer.

HISTORY: The Gauntlets were created to trap strong characters by conferring upon them Human level strength.

GAME INFO: Originally the Gauntlets were designed such that it required a person of at least Amber average strength to remove them, making it impossible for the wearer to do so.

POINT VALUE:

CONTRIBUTOR: The Black Sheep Squadron

NAME: Rings of Communication

DESCRIPTION: Rings of various metals designed to complement the wearer.

HISTORY: These rings were created at a time when Trumps were hard to come by and very dangerous to use. As an alternate mode of communication the Rings were slow and did not allow physical transportation but for the most part they were reliable.

GAME INFO: The Rings are powered by their wearers Psyche and are linked so that only another ring bearer can be contacted. The Rings were specifically designed to make psychic attack through them impossible.

POINT VALUE:

CONTRIBUTOR: Shawn Entsminger

NAME: Water Breather or Portable Gills

DESCRIPTION: It could look like anything.

HISTORY: This item is usually created by players to allow themselves to breathe underwater. On occasion smart players also build in environmental controls as well to prevent hypothermia.

GAME INFO: This kind of item can be designed in one of many ways. First, if the creator is a sorcerer as well as a conjurer they can build a spell into the item to gate air from another shadow directly into their lungs. Second, if the creator is just a conjurer then they could build the device to conjure the air for them. A third way to go about this is to design the item with a conferable alternate form which give the wearer functional gills.

POINT VALUE: 5-15 points

CONTRIBUTOR: J.A. Dettman

Artifacts

NAME: Anti-Trump Blanket

DESCRIPTION: A large quilted blanket checkered with different shades of green.

HISTORY: First found in Caine's rooms after his death, the blanket was considered unimportant, then people discovered its intended use and began to trade it back and forth at times when they wanted to get some uninterupted sleep.

GAME INFO: The Crux has a fixed amount of Bad Stuff which makes up the curse. Usually 10 points of bad stuff is sufficient to make someone want to give it away. The other part of the curse is that once it has been used it always returns to the last person who used it.

CONTRIBUTOR: Shawn Entsminger

NAME: Crux of Simeon

DESCRIPTION: A small crystal skull that fits in the palm of the hand. It has two jeweled eyes: the right a saphire and the left an emerald.

HISTORY: The Crux of Simeon is a cursed yet coveted item that is said to have been stolen from a powerful mage (some say Fiona though other smirk at the idea) centuries ago by Simeon the Thief. The Crux allowed its bearer to travel easily through shadow, to walk through walls and to make one invisible to others. Simeon had to have it. Unfortunately, the Crux came with a curse.

CONTRIBUTOR: J.A. Dettman

NAME: Crystals of Pendara

DESCRIPTION: The Crystals of Pendara are fairly large, about 3" in diameter, and come in all shapes and colors. In their home shadow they are the primary form of currency. Occasionally an exceptionally pure crystal, in color and shape, is found. These crystals can have very special properties to the magic-users of the shadow. After a secret procedure to attune them, they can be exposed to a power or effect and they will begin to absorb it. As they absorb some of the power or effect, they begin to glow. At some point in time the crystal will become saturated and will no longer absorb them but instead will repel them.

The Mage Guilds of Pendara usually use the crystals to protect themselves from magic or natural phenomena, such as fire, storms, spells, etc.. The color of a crystal seems to have an effect on what type of energy it can absorb and the magnitude of absorption and repulsion.

Some enterprising young shadow-walker may discover that the crystals will absorb and repel more than the simple magic and powers of Pendara but can, to a limited extent, absorb Pattern or Logrus energies. Sorcery and Conjurations could also be great possibilities for crystal use. Once, of course, when they learn how to attune the crystals to the various energies that they wish to expose them to.

HISTORY: Unknown

GAME INFO: Pattern: After 3 days in Amber or a number of years in a Pattern-controlled shadow a crystal will be capable of repelling the non-directed energies of the Pattern. (Ex. The reflections of a Pattern event or of a Pattern charged entity in other Shadows will be repelled or lessened in an adjacent shadow.)

Logrus: Same as Pattern. Effective against non-directed Logrus energies.

ShapeShifting: After about two weeks within a shape-shifter, a crystal will begin to repel any shapeshifting not directed by another will. It will resist the shapeshifting at Amber level Psyche. (ex. Involuntary Shapeshifting)

Trump: One week of exposure to Trump energies will saturate a crystal. It can then repel trump energies not supplemented by the psyche of another. It will resist as of AmberPsyche. This must be over-come before the Trump Energies will affect the user. (Ex. Trump-Powered Artifact).

Shadow Magic: The magic of shadows is easily picked up by a crystal so it only takes about a week to be filled. It will then repel the shadow magic even if it is directed by another.

Sorcery/Conjuration: About a months exposure to True Magic will be sufficient to fill a crystal and then it will perform the same as the Shadow Magic version. The key here will be the psyche of the person casting the spell as the crystal will resist with the psyche of Amber. This must be overcome before the spell can work against the cyrstal owner.

***Note to the unwary: A crystal only provides casual protection against True Power.

CONTRIBUTOR: Marc Craven

NAME: The Jewel of Judgment, The Eye of the Serpent

DESCRIPTION: A red pendant set in silver and hanging from a silver chain. To a cursory examination the Jewel resembles a blood red teardrop with a slight glow about it. Inside the Jewel is a multi-dimensional Pattern, a higher order Power than the Pattern of Amber itself, that rotates in the heart of the stone.

HISTORY: The Jewel was once one of the Eyes of the Serpent of Chaos. It was removed is some way from the Serpent usually by Dworkin or the Unicorn. It was then used by Dworkin to inscribe the Pattern upon a rocky promontory of order sticking up out of the chaos. Upon its creation the Pattern brought into being Shadow, an infinity of worlds created from the interaction of the Pattern and the Logrus. Since that time the Jewel or Eye has been the carefully guarded treasure of Amber for with it the Chaos Lords could bring about the end of the Universe.

GAME INFO: From what we know of the Jewel in the books those attuned to it have the power to alter the weather. Corwin believed that it possessed powers far beyond that, and he was right. The Jewel or Eye is the primal source of Reality, without it the Pattern could not exist. With the Jewel a character has the ability to manipulate Reality at a fundamental level: altering shadows at will, creating and destroying Patterns, altering probability with a thought, moving through space by force of will, and more.

CONTRIBUTOR: J.A. Dettman

NAME: The Jewel of Rebma, The Eye of Symmetry

DESCRIPTION: The Jewel of Rebma is a sea-green pendant set in silver and appended from a silver chain. It is a reflection of the Jewel of Judgment and therefore similar in many of its properties.

HISTORY: The Jewel of Rebma came into existence at the same time that Rebma came to be. It is a reflection of the Jewel of Judgment just as Rebma is a reflection of Amber the True City.

GAME INFO: The Jewel of Rebma possesses many of the qualities of the True Jewel, but not the same level of power. The bearer of the Jewel may control tides, control ocean creatures, sustain life (their own and others) in an underwater environment, and alter the fundament nature of oceans throughout Shadow by force of will.

CONTRIBUTOR: J.A. Dettman

NAME: The Jewel of Tir Na N'Ogth, The Eye of Prophesy and Dreams

DESCRIPTION: The Eye of Prophesy and Dreams is a pale silver-white pendant set in black and appended from a black metal chain. As a reflection of the Eye of the Serpent it is similar in many ways.

HISTORY: The Jewel of Tir Na N'Ogth came into existence with the formation of Tir Na N'Ogth.

GAME INFO: The Eye of Prophesy and Dream is aptly named; it gives one attuned to it the power to peer through time to discern probable futures and possible pasts. The Jewel itself does not allow its user to travel in time or to change the past, it simply makes it possible for someone to see what might have occurred or what might occur. The Eye also allows one to see into the Dreamscapes of others and, with sufficient skill, enter those dreams and communicate.

CONTRIBUTOR: J.A. Dettman

NAME: Pearl of Wisdom

DESCRIPTION: The Pearl of Wisdom is an ancient construct. Originally it was an experiment with Adv. Pattern manipulation to create a Shadow Pocket that contained a Construct powered by Sorcery/Conjuration. Whichever Amberite created it found it lacking and left it in shadow.

The Pearl of Wisdom is an actual pearl with a Shadow Pocket bonded to the inside. The pearl itself was enchanted to be near invulnerable and to have some ability to heal itself. It was not originally given a personality, being made to produce different spells and storing them for latter use. Whoever made the Pearl made it accessible by psyche command and those who have found it have used it to enhance their own magic abilities without knowing its true use.

Over the centuries, the Pearl has gained a measure of awareness from its contact with the minds of those who use it and it now has a purpose. To find who created it and to learn why it was abandoned. To this end, it has created a manifestation form to carry it through shadow on its search for its creator. The manifestation is a young woman called Lita.

GAME INFO: None

CONTRIBUTOR: Marc Craven

NAME: Wandering Mansion, The

DESCRIPTION: The Wandering Mansion is an artifact of unknown origin. No one knows who built it or why. Its appearance in a shadow is random and sudden, staying for awhile, then leaving just as quickly. Its purpose, or reason, for appearing is a mystery. It has been known to display the following characteristics:

Appearance: It seems to come into a shadow appearing as a normal , but antique, building. Very elegant in style, but just behind the times.

Intelligent: It seems to only allow those it wishes into it. Those who are not welcome usually get the hint after they wake up in some far away place in the same shadow.

Healing: The Mansion seems to have the ability to heal those within , but the more people in the Mansion the slower the extra healing occurs.

Invulnerable: Thus far no one has been able to damage the Mansion.

Travel: The Mansion seems to be able to move through Shadow and to carry those within it along.

Magic: The Mansion has been known to cast spells to ward off attackers and aid those it wishes.

The above are just some of the abilities that the Mansion has displayed over the years. It is not known if the Mansion has these abilities or whether someone, or something, is doing this for unknown reasons. What is known is that some rare people have been "adopted" by the Mansion and can seem to get to it where ever it is in Shadow.

Areas of interest:

The Library
The Library contains may books on various subjects, but the contents of the Library are constant. Books may disappear to be replaced by others on different topics. Only 2 books are constant in the Library. One is a primer on Sorcery/Conjuration, a rather large, fragile seeming book which helps those who use magic understand how to adapt to the magic of different shadows. The other book differs in appearance from shadow to shadow, but always contains the history of the shadow the Mansion is in. It is never complete and sometimes contains inaccurate information, but can be helpful for those in the Mansion who journey outside its walls.

The Sitting Room
The Sitting Room is in the center of the Mansion and contains numerous chairs and couches to rest upon. All four walls have mirrors on them which do not reflect anyone or anything in the room. Instead they reflect images out in shadow or images from the minds of those who look into them. Some images are disturbing and some are pleasing; some viewers have seen images in the mirrors that at a later time have occured and some have found where loved-ones are by staring into the mirrors and then leaving the Mansion.

GAME INFO: None

CONTRIBUTOR: Marc Craven