Book of Bone and Ebony
Book of Bone and Ebony
Book of Bone and Ebony
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EXALTED • BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY<br />
Creation’s smoked mirror are hardier, bolstered by the<br />
negative Essence <strong>of</strong> the Underworld, <strong>and</strong> resist efforts to<br />
remove them.<br />
The Deathlords are particular beings <strong>and</strong> have specific<br />
tastes. When one desires to raise her fortress here, no pitiful<br />
spirit’s echoing cries against death are going to disrupt her<br />
choice <strong>of</strong> locale <strong>and</strong> decor. Easing the Forsaken Memory can<br />
completely erase a single haunt <strong>of</strong> the caster’s choice. For an<br />
additional cost <strong>of</strong> 1 mote per mile, the necromancer can<br />
relocate the haunt to a location <strong>of</strong> her choosing.<br />
There is a similar spell, Congealing the Last Thought,<br />
that can create haunts for those necromancers who appreciate<br />
them as a motif. The haunts created by this spell can<br />
be taken from the mind <strong>of</strong> a cooperating ghost or can be<br />
constructed out <strong>of</strong> whole cloth from the necromancer’s<br />
imagination. Haunts created by this spell in Creation last<br />
a month per permanent Essence <strong>of</strong> the caster, while those<br />
created in the Underworld are near-permanent. Congealing<br />
the Last Thought costs 12 motes.<br />
EMPEROR’S CHAINS<br />
Cost: 16 motes<br />
Target: Varies<br />
The necromancer claps her h<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> the world<br />
resounds with that sharp sound. As it reaches ghosts’ ears,<br />
their corpora become sluggish <strong>and</strong> unresponsive. All ghosts<br />
within 50 yards <strong>of</strong> the necromancer find their movement<br />
rates halved, <strong>and</strong> the costs <strong>of</strong> all movement-related Arcanoi<br />
are doubled.<br />
The necromancer may choose, instead, to focus the<br />
spell’s effect on a single ghost, who must be within 20 yards<br />
when the spell is cast. That ghost is rendered unable to<br />
move at all, <strong>and</strong> any movement-enhancing Arcanoi cost<br />
triple the Essence to use.<br />
FACES OF THE DEAD<br />
Cost: 16 motes<br />
Target: Caster<br />
Casting the spell with two fingers together, the necromancer<br />
brings them apart <strong>and</strong> draws out a wire <strong>of</strong> shimmering<br />
silver. The wire appears to fold outward, growing additional<br />
dimensions <strong>and</strong> facets until it becomes a thin-shafted silver<br />
mace with a perfectly forged, 12-faced head.<br />
The silver mace is <strong>of</strong> excellent quality <strong>and</strong> balance, <strong>and</strong><br />
beneath the stars <strong>of</strong> the Underworld, it winks with reflected<br />
light. Against a ghost, the weapon inflicts additional damage<br />
equal to the caster’s Essence. If a blow with the mace<br />
deals a number <strong>of</strong> health levels <strong>of</strong> damage equal to or greater<br />
than a ghost’s permanent Essence, the mace <strong>and</strong> ghost flash<br />
with a bright blue light as the ghost is captured in one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
faces <strong>of</strong> the weapon’s head. The faces <strong>of</strong> all ghosts captured<br />
peer out from the surface that holds each.<br />
Once an hour has passed, the necromancer forfeits use<br />
<strong>of</strong> the weapon as the shaft dissolves into dust <strong>and</strong> blows<br />
away on a phantom wind. The mace’s head becomes a jar<br />
124<br />
<strong>of</strong> transparent rock crystal, holding all the spirits that were<br />
captured within. The jar has 12L/12B soak <strong>and</strong> can suffer<br />
up to 20 health levels <strong>of</strong> damage before it shatters, freeing<br />
any trapped ghosts. Effective countermagic violently shatters<br />
the jar automatically. Only the necromancer can open<br />
the jar without forcing it. A ghost freed from the jar by<br />
whatever method is bereft <strong>of</strong> Essence.<br />
Faces <strong>of</strong> the Dead was a tool used in first days <strong>of</strong> the<br />
First Age, as the inquisitive Solars <strong>and</strong> Chosen <strong>of</strong> Secrets<br />
began exploring the mysteries <strong>of</strong> the Underworld. Its use<br />
was eventually viewed as distasteful <strong>and</strong> discontinued.<br />
Abyssals use it today to collect souls for the forging <strong>of</strong><br />
soulsteel, as the ghosts are quite pliable once removed from<br />
the crystal jar.<br />
Weapon Speed Acc. Dmg. Def.<br />
Silver Mace -1 +2 +5L +0<br />
FIELD OF FELL DREAMS<br />
Cost: 16 motes<br />
Target: Area <strong>of</strong> effect<br />
The caster drops to one knee <strong>and</strong> channels the heat <strong>of</strong><br />
thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> decaying dead into the earth or stone at her<br />
feet. As the spell ends, the necromancer removes her palm<br />
to reveal a br<strong>and</strong> in the shape <strong>of</strong> her h<strong>and</strong>. At that instant,<br />
skeletal h<strong>and</strong>s burst forth from the dirt, the cobblestones<br />
or the marble floor <strong>and</strong> begin to latch with the strength <strong>of</strong><br />
the dead onto any who come within their grasp.<br />
Any person other than the caster is forced to dance<br />
<strong>and</strong> dodge about to avoid being grabbed by the grasping<br />
claws — he has his Dexterity reduced by one dot while<br />
within 50 yards <strong>of</strong> the br<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> his Dexterity reduced by<br />
two dots with respect to calculating movement. Additionally,<br />
anyone moving through the Field <strong>of</strong> Fell Dreams<br />
suffers one attack for every five yards he moves. Each<br />
attack is a clinch attempt made at an accuracy <strong>of</strong> (the<br />
caster’s Essence + 5). The h<strong>and</strong>s have a pool <strong>of</strong> seven dice<br />
when attempting to maintain clinches, <strong>and</strong> they never<br />
attempt to inflict damage, only to contain their victims.<br />
The bony h<strong>and</strong>s may be destroyed easily — they cannot<br />
dodge or parry <strong>and</strong> are relatively fragile — but a new one<br />
takes the place <strong>of</strong> any h<strong>and</strong> smashed or severed. The h<strong>and</strong>s<br />
can grasp immaterial ghosts as easily as mortals, <strong>and</strong> ghosts<br />
caught by the h<strong>and</strong>s are forced to spend a mote to manifest.<br />
The h<strong>and</strong>s’ animation flees them at the stroke <strong>of</strong><br />
midnight, as measured by the Calendar <strong>of</strong> Setesh.<br />
FIVE GIFTS<br />
Cost: 12 motes<br />
Target: One ghost<br />
Every ghost is afflicted with the mind-numbing bl<strong>and</strong>ness<br />
<strong>of</strong> unlife. When foods taste as dust <strong>and</strong> the rainbow is<br />
different shades <strong>of</strong> gray, when a ghost cannot even dream