Exalted Judge Artifact
I'll be buying this for Bennu eventually, after I deal with some other critical things, just because fun and Judgmental.
Torc of the Just Sun (Artifact ***)
The simple Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light was practically a necessity in the First Age; when Elder Celestial Exalted rub shoulders day by day in the streets of the great cities of the first age, mere competence and prowess is not enough to stand out - neither is dazzlingly perfect hair and clothes, but the lack would be noticed. Many variations on these unassuming artifacts were created over the years, tuned to the natures of the Solars who created or commissioned them.
The Torc of the Just Sun is an elegant neckpiece of braided orichalcum, the pattern thus formed cunningly crafted with Old Realm characters as a prayer to the Unconquered Sun for justice and wisdom. Starmetal taken from the death of a criminal god caps both the ends; the space between them serves as a hearthstone socket. A hinge in the back is crafted of adamant, and locks rigid when attuned. This artifact provides all the powers of a Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light passively, but has a much greater attunement cost, requiring 8 Essence committed; the benefits are commensurate with the cost.
The extra powers of the Torc of the Just Sun function only when fully attuned to the orichalcum, whether natively, with double attunement cost, or with a Fivefold Harmonic Adapter, but the attunement cost is no lower for just the Collar functions. Whenever using these powers, the Torc radiates an obvious light, casting golden rays in a halo of glory and awe around the wearer's head, granting her the aspect of the Judge.
These powers are two: first, fully attuned wearers add two dice as an accuracy bonus to eligible social attacks. To be eligible, the attack must be stunted with thematics of judgment, and the target or targets must be judged by the wearer to be guilty of opposing the good order of Creation. Note that this can benefit attacks to determine guilt. Half of the accuracy benefit may stack with any general purpose social weapon's accuracy, granting an additional one die. It is up to the wearer to determine what 'opposing the good order of Creation' is -- it could be anything from Severity 5 offenses against the Celestial Bureaucracy to 'cutting in line' or 'inconveniencing me', depending on the level of hubris and Curse affecting the judge. It would be unlikely to aid in a truly friendly debate. The wearer also gains two to all MDVs applied against attacks seeking to avoid, evade, or deny judgment.
The Torc also aids in carrying out final sentence on those judged; the wearer can activate an effect identical to Ghost-Eating Technique when in combat against spirits and ghosts whom she judges to have offended against the proper order of Creation. If the bearer knows any permanent expansions to Ghost-Eating Technique, those expansions apply their effects to the Torc's power, including expansion of eligible targets.
Generally, the 'judgment' restriction is only a matter of roleplay and characterization, and should not be interpreted tightly; no discount has been applied for the restriction, since as Solars -- and other Exalted who might use this artifact -- grow in age, power, and Limit, they find more and more of the world to have 'failed' their Curse-corrupted standards. Wildly inconsistent, hypocritical, or self-serving judgments simply indicate the corrupted heart of the once noble Exalt.
Rather, a more telling restriction is that its effects are clearly judgment and very obvious. There are times when even a Solar Judge is better served with a little more ...subtlety; to use this in 'innocent' debate is to prove how seriously you take it.
This entry lives at http://leticia.dreamwidth.org/278741.html - comment either location. Dreamwidth comments:
Torc of the Just Sun (Artifact ***)
The simple Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light was practically a necessity in the First Age; when Elder Celestial Exalted rub shoulders day by day in the streets of the great cities of the first age, mere competence and prowess is not enough to stand out - neither is dazzlingly perfect hair and clothes, but the lack would be noticed. Many variations on these unassuming artifacts were created over the years, tuned to the natures of the Solars who created or commissioned them.
The Torc of the Just Sun is an elegant neckpiece of braided orichalcum, the pattern thus formed cunningly crafted with Old Realm characters as a prayer to the Unconquered Sun for justice and wisdom. Starmetal taken from the death of a criminal god caps both the ends; the space between them serves as a hearthstone socket. A hinge in the back is crafted of adamant, and locks rigid when attuned. This artifact provides all the powers of a Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light passively, but has a much greater attunement cost, requiring 8 Essence committed; the benefits are commensurate with the cost.
The extra powers of the Torc of the Just Sun function only when fully attuned to the orichalcum, whether natively, with double attunement cost, or with a Fivefold Harmonic Adapter, but the attunement cost is no lower for just the Collar functions. Whenever using these powers, the Torc radiates an obvious light, casting golden rays in a halo of glory and awe around the wearer's head, granting her the aspect of the Judge.
These powers are two: first, fully attuned wearers add two dice as an accuracy bonus to eligible social attacks. To be eligible, the attack must be stunted with thematics of judgment, and the target or targets must be judged by the wearer to be guilty of opposing the good order of Creation. Note that this can benefit attacks to determine guilt. Half of the accuracy benefit may stack with any general purpose social weapon's accuracy, granting an additional one die. It is up to the wearer to determine what 'opposing the good order of Creation' is -- it could be anything from Severity 5 offenses against the Celestial Bureaucracy to 'cutting in line' or 'inconveniencing me', depending on the level of hubris and Curse affecting the judge. It would be unlikely to aid in a truly friendly debate. The wearer also gains two to all MDVs applied against attacks seeking to avoid, evade, or deny judgment.
The Torc also aids in carrying out final sentence on those judged; the wearer can activate an effect identical to Ghost-Eating Technique when in combat against spirits and ghosts whom she judges to have offended against the proper order of Creation. If the bearer knows any permanent expansions to Ghost-Eating Technique, those expansions apply their effects to the Torc's power, including expansion of eligible targets.
Generally, the 'judgment' restriction is only a matter of roleplay and characterization, and should not be interpreted tightly; no discount has been applied for the restriction, since as Solars -- and other Exalted who might use this artifact -- grow in age, power, and Limit, they find more and more of the world to have 'failed' their Curse-corrupted standards. Wildly inconsistent, hypocritical, or self-serving judgments simply indicate the corrupted heart of the once noble Exalt.
Rather, a more telling restriction is that its effects are clearly judgment and very obvious. There are times when even a Solar Judge is better served with a little more ...subtlety; to use this in 'innocent' debate is to prove how seriously you take it.
This entry lives at http://leticia.dreamwidth.org/278741.html - comment either location. Dreamwidth comments: