Flowers from Heaven

By Kenneth Scroggins (scoggins@pulua.hcc.hawaii.edu) (7 Nov 1994)

"What if you dreamed that you walked the fields of heaven, and that you plucked a beautiful flower there?

And what if you woke up the next morning, and you had that flower in your hand?

What then? Eh?

What then?"

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The flower can appear as any flower from as simple as a daisy, pure as a lily, or intricate as a Chysantheum. The color can vary with each person who sees it or it can be the same all the time. It can perform one miracle (as per the Faith Numina) per background point (for talismans, gifts, or fetishes) spent on it. With each miracle performed, the flower loses petals (which dissolve into sweet smelling smoke before touching the ground), but until all the miracles have been performed, the flower is fresh and covered with dew, even if it has been around for hundreds of years.

Characters in contact with the flower may develop Dream skill (from the Sabbat Players Guide) or Dream background (from Mage the Ascension) by paying the appropriate xp cost of course. Characters with Faith have difficulties for rolls involving their Faith are reduced by one whenver the flower is held in both hands and used in prayer.

Possible consequences for the characters who gain possession of the flower may arise: Spirits from the dreamlands or beyond could want the flower for whatever purpose, evil entities may seek to destroy the flower and anyone associated with it. Demons, the faithful, and the unholy all have good reasons to seek out the flower. Unusually, all the thorns and tribulations that go with these holy flowers seem to lead to salvation in one way or another.