Book of Bone and Ebony

and effectively irreplaceable. Most such designs proved
unduly cumbersome or relied on exotic components they
couldn’t mass produce — until the First and Forsaken Lion
came up with the notion of exploiting not just the powers
of death, but the proclivities of the Underworld itself.
Maelstrom barges are enormous pentagonal platforms, 50
yards across. Around the perimeter of the maelstrom barge
is an array of vast white rib bones, vertical and horizontal,
ranging from 10 to 30 feet long, serving both as spars and
stable posts for tying cargo. The horizontal ribs radiate out
from the barge in perfect symmetry, though their purpose
is unclear until the vehicle sets sail.
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CHAPTER FOUR • CREATIONS OF BONE
MANIFESTATION ENGINE (ARTIFACT ••••+)
The result of centuries of necromantic research and experimentation, a manifestation engine grants a ghost
(or, with larger engines, any contiguous ghostly mass) substance in Creation. Manifestation engines consist of
several nested spheres of soulsteel filigree. Each sphere is painstakingly engraved with necromantic runes of
immense power. A personal manifestation engine is a sphere the size of a fist and can be worn around the neck,
albeit somewhat awkwardly. It must directly touch the corpus of the ghost using it. Rumors abound throughout
the Underworld of immense manifestation engines, 10 feet in diameter, that will maintain the solidity of even
large war machines when the Deathlords make their move on Creation.
When the wearer of a manifestation engine exits a shadowland in Creation, the runes glow faintly blue, and
the nested spheres of the manifestation engine begin spinning, each in its own direction and at its own unholy
frequency, emitting a high-pitched drone as they do so. A ghost wearing a manifestation engine remains solid in
Creation, just as if using the Arcanos Weighted With the Anchor of Flesh (see Exalted: The Abyssals, p. 237).
Manifestation engines require immense amounts of Essence to function. Even the smallest contains an
Artifact ••• Essence-containing gem at its core. While these normally lose their power in Creation, the casing
and shielding of the manifestation engine prevents the ambiance of Creation from touching and destroying the
gem. The strength of this shielding is 5L/3B per level of the manifestation engine’s Artifact rating, and it can take
two health levels of damage per level of Artifact rating before cracking. If the engine is cracked or the seal
otherwise disturbed, the engine’s entire Essence reserve is instantly depleted with a deafening shriek. A
manifestation engine typically contains enough Essence to allow a character (or war machine) to remain solid
in Creation for 24 hours. If a manifestation engine runs out of Essence at night, the wearer simply fades out of
Creation and into the corresponding area in the Underworld (itself a possible hazard). If the device runs out of
energy during the day, it devours its wearer’s Essence, then Willpower and, finally, health levels, all at the rate
of two per hour and fades into the Underworld immediately thereafter. If the manifestation engine is exposed to
the light of the sun while it’s feeding on its wearer, it explodes, dealing 10 health levels of lethal damage to
everyone in a 10-foot radius. The Essence-containing gem at the core of a manifestation engine can be filled using
the Arcanos Filling the Precious Vial (see Exalted: The Abyssals, p. 247). Alternatively, they fill themselves
while in the Underworld or within death-aspected Manses at the rate of 1 mote of Essence per day. The smallest
manifestation engines require 15-mote gems, while the largest ones, those in the Deathlords’ war machines, take
75 motes or more.
Only the Deathlords and extremely powerful, highly skilled ghosts can create manifestation engines. Those
the Deathlords create, they hoard in preparation for their assault on Creation. The black market value for
manifestation engines is astronomical, as there is no shortage of ghosts who want to take care of unfinished
business in Creation.
Rumors are circulating through the Underworld that the Deathlords are looking for a way to create
manifestation engines that run off the Hearthstones of Abyssal Manses in Creation. Such a device would give
them sustained access to Creation and a means of waging an extended war on the living. No such device has been
fielded yet, but a handful of fragile but functional prototypes exist. Currently, the devices are far too delicate and
unstable for battlefield use, but savants labor tirelessly to perfect them.
When a passenger commits 15 motes of Essence into
the maelstrom barge, howling Abyssal winds, black with
spectres and flaying sand, begin blowing from beneath
the platform. When the sails of soulsteel mesh are unfurled
between the horizontal spars, the entire platform
becomes airborne.
Stability Charms embedded in the platform keep it
from bucking on the surging storm winds, in part by furling
and unfurling the soulsteel sails as necessary.
From below, the platform looks like a broad and
impossibly dark void broken only by intricately engraved
glyphs glowing a faint blue or violet (when it can be seen