By Andrew Weitzman (aweitz@cam.org)
Umbral travel: Luggages possess an innate ability to break through Gauntlets, Horizons, and Pericarps. "Bash through", actually; a Luggage shifting to the spirit worlds literally smashes its way through the barriers. Luggages cannot botch this sort of roll.
Owner link: The Luggage always knows which direction its master is, no matter how far away she is. At worst, the Luggage with have a general sense in which direction to go to rejoin its owner.
At rest, a Luggage appears to be an ordinary steamer trunk made from a blondish wood that resembles pine. The sole indication of its unusual characteristics is a tendency to stare; though they have no eyes, Luggages have a peculiar ability to give one the sense that they are regarding you with the same attention a pin has for a butterfly. Their bizarre qualities make themselves clear when the Luggage begins to move. Stubby wooden legs, like those of a centipede, sprout from the base. These allow it to trot -- or, if angry, charge -- across almost any terrain imaginable. When in battle, Luggages have a disconcerting habit of licking their chops with a tongue the color of mahogany.
These abilities stem from the material Luggages are made from: sapient pearwood. This plant grows in areas left unstable by magickal Effects; as far as can be determined, they "solidify" the reality of areas of their native Realm that have become too chaotic for any other form of life to colonize. Sapient pearwood has been likened to Primium in the way it can shrug off magickal interference. Sapient pearwood also has a primitive intelligence that prefers stable situations -- a "rootedness" if you will.
This trait carries over into goods constructed of sapient pearwood. Curious mages who have used Mind to delve into the alien psychology of the Luggages have discovered that they form a close bond with their owners. To serve its owner is the reason for a Luggage's existence; the absence of the owner from its life causes a Luggage great mental distress. In the usual run of events this simply means that a Luggage will always trail on the heels of its master unless specifically ordered not to. This does not mean that a Luggage likes its owner, merely that it is supremely loyal. Luggage owners have likened the experience to owning a rather grumpy dog.
The notorious reputation of Luggages stems from their fanatical devotion to their masters. A Luggage will follow its master to Hell...literally. Nothing will stop a Luggage from finding a lost owner. The longer it misses its owner, the angrier and more stubborn it will get. Anything that gets in its way -- people, Umbrood, mountains, continents -- with be summarily trampled over if the obstacle even hints at getting in the Luggage's way. Luggages have trouble with the concepts of "over," "under," and "around." The meaning of "through" is crystal-clear.
Luggage combat is pretty forthright, involving a frontal assault that leaves its opponent in small pieces. They are capable of low cunning when the situation demands it; most Luggages simply don't go to the trouble. One nasty trick is their use of their vast internal volume to...well...eat their enemies. Opponents gulped down by a Luggage are never seen again. No one knows where they go -- presumably they are banished to a far region of the Luggage's innards. Attempts to find them end in failure as the Luggage innocently shows the owner's clean underwear instead.