By Dan Chevrier (mistermonkeyman@hotmail.com)
Many of these items are based on religions, including voodoo, and Egyptian mythology, among others. I feel I should make it absolutely clear at this point that I am no expert in the field of theology or history. There may very well be glaring inaccuracies in this text, but I have tried as best I could to conform to what I believe is accurate. I'm only as good as my sources. I hope that no one will take what I've written as gospel truth.
Once inside the hat, the spirit is trapped until the owner of the hat or the Baron says they can go. The owner of the hat can converse freely with the spirit(s) inside. Werewolves and other creatures with Gnosis can attune themselves to the hat without being the owner. If they roll Gnosis (difficulty 8) and get 5 successes, they can actually see the spirits inside the hat and talk freely with them. Wraiths will appear as an aura around the hat with no discernible human features. The more wraiths trapped in the hat, the more colours the aura will have.
The hat is indestructible, no exceptions. It has no limits to the number of spirits it can hold, although it can hold only 10 wraiths and spectres in total. The spirits will all be able to interact with each other in an area of the Umbra that intersects with a remote corner of the Shadowlands. The rules for wraiths within the hat are generally the same.
Werewolves can travel into and out of the hat by stepping sideways with a difficulty of 9 and obtaining 3 or more successes. They cannot bring anything with them, either in or out unless it has been dedicated. (No you can't dedicate a wraith or spectre, although some spirits can be bound into talens or fetishes which can be dedicated.)
The only way to become the owner of the hat is to ask Baron Samedi himself (which means that you'll have to get in contact with someone who can communicate with the Loa). If Baron Samedi lends you his hat, you'll be expected to return the favour either immediately or sometime in the future: the cost of Baron Samedi's hat is always expensive.
If the Maison du Gros Bon Ange is given to another person, that person is now in control of the zombie. If the Maison is broken the soul is returned to the zombie (freeing the slave, if her soul was stolen, killing her if her soul was torn).
The lips will appear to people who have lost loved ones due to a murder which has gone unpunished. The lips are by no means evil; they simply reveal, by means of dreams, the last thoughts of their dying victims, the grief and sorrow of the victim's family, and the damnation that awaits if they do not atone somehow. Most murderers eventually go mad and kill themselves; only the most jaded (Humanity 3 or less) killers are unaffected.
Characters with spirit affinity (Gnosis) can attune themselves (difficulty 5, successes 3) to the lips as though it were a fetish, although it can never be dedicated. When it is attuned to a character it will warn the character of impending danger as though it had the merit: Danger Sense, although its difficulty is only 4. It can also converse with the character. It has Intelligence 4, Wits 3, Manipulation 5, Empathy 5, Expression 5, Subterfuge 2, Intimidation 6 (vs. its target only), Music 3 (Singing only, obviously), Occult 5, Various Lore at 2-4.
The lips are very vulnerable to damage; they have one soak die. If they suffer more than one Health level of damage, they are destroyed. (They cannot soak fire or heat damage.)
He could not figure out how to get into the spirit's world, the Umbra. He contacted a bocor who called forth Legba, the loa of trickery. Jean-Paul managed to convince Legba that by granting him the power to trick anyone, even spirits, that he would be continuing Legba's work as he had been doing all along. Legba agreed, and gave him a mask and told him that the mask would allow him to trick anyone into believing that he was who they thought he was. Jean-Paul used the mask, and he used it well. He was able to put chaos into the lives of the spirits and thereby destroyed a theft ring that spanned the world. The mask, however, fell into someone else's hands and has since fallen into many sets of hands.
The mask grants the ability to deceive viewers into thinking that the wearer is someone else. The wearer must roll Charisma + Acting vs. Difficulty of the viewer's Perception + Alertness (or Awareness). If successful, the wearer looks like he fits into the area perfectly (the difficulty is +2 if the viewer is Ragabash, or + (viewer's Intuition Talent), or +3 if the viewer is Ravnos). If the wearer wants to resemble a specific person he must roll 5+ successes. If the wearer is Ragabash, he has +2 dice to roll; Ravnos have +3 dice.
The mask also has another extremely potent power: Stepping Sideways. The character can step into the Umbra as a werewolf can, although not so easily. The wearer has 3 dice to roll vs. the Gauntlet rating (use the charts in Werewolf: the Apocalypse). If the character is an Adept or Master in the sphere of Spirit Magic, the difficulty is 1 lower. If the character is a werewolf or fomor or whatever that uses Gnosis to breach the Gauntlet, the difficulty is 2 lower and the wearer also has +2 dice!
The mask is unbreakable. It can be dedicated. Werewolves cannot attune to it.
When Jean-Paul Lacroix uses the mask, he has seven dice to roll to breach the Gauntlet, and his difficulty is -3 (minimum 2). He only needs 3+ successes to impersonate a specific person and has -3 difficulty on all impersonation rolls.
In an attempt to balance the offset powers that he himself had wrought, Mictlantecuhtli created a weapon with the power of life and death. The dagger was chosen as the form, because it was easily hidden and the Mictlan were very perceptive. The dagger was carved with the symbol of death by Mictlantecuhtli himself, who then brought the dagger to Quetzalcoatl, who carved the symbol of life.
When held the dagger seems like nothing other than an ornate dagger. It is made of silver. When used the wielder must make a Willpower roll vs. difficulty 10 in order to activate either power.
The first power of the dagger is the power of death. When plunged into a living thing, the user must invoke Mictlantecuhtli's name. The dagger then grows inside the victim inflicting one additional aggravated damage per success on the aforementioned Willpower roll. This damage cannot be soaked by any means, and can only be healed at the same rate as a mortal. Any victim killed by the dagger cannot be resurrected by any means short of directly appealing to Mictlantecuhtli himself.
The second power of the dagger is the power of life. When plunged into a dead thing (including corpses, vampires, and undead zombies) the user must invoke Quetzalcoatl's name. The dagger then transforms into a healing glow which fills the entire body. The dagger will instantly resurrect any dead thing if the Willpower roll is successful. Vampires can resist this forcible restoration, if they so desire, by making a Willpower roll of their own and obtaining more successes than the wielder of the dagger (blood points can be spent to gather extra successes in this case). When the dagger is used in this fashion it inflicts no damage, whatsoever. This use of the dagger cannot heal the living. Also, when plunged into a wraith (in any form) the wraith takes damage as usual (which he can soak with Stamina only). If the wraith is reduced below Incapacitated he will find himself in a Harrowing unlike any other, at the end of which he will find his body lying on the ground at the point in the Skinlands where he was stabbed, alive and younger than he was before his death by as much as 1/3 of his previous age or as little as 1/8.
Then came man. The beast continued to try to emulate the gods she so adored, even as she tried to protect the men in the valleys below. One summer the sun was very hot and the fields were dry, when a stroke of lightning caused the Earth to light on fire. The entire village went to battle the blaze. But to no avail, they fought; the earth was destroyed, the villagers were sent into the jungle to live. The beast appealed to the gods to save the mortals from the cruel fate in store for them, but they refused. The beast constructed a set of feathered wings and set out to fly to the land of the humans, to heal the Earth and the people there. She stepped to the edge of the tallest tree and jumped off. She fell to the ground and was broken. Quetzalcoatl looked down and smiled. The great feathered serpent came down and spoke to the beast. "You have proven to us that man is deserving of a future on this world, for they have evoked a love in you, a noble beast, and if they possess the qualities necessary for you to love them, then they are surely worthy of our love also." and with that Quetzalcoatl fluttered its mighty wings and dropped a feather onto the beast. The touch of the feather healed the beast.
The beast grasped the feather and flew up into the sky with its power. She flew to the land of the humans and healed them with her godly token. Then using the feather, she flew to the fields and called forth Quetzalcoatl's winds and commanded them to summon rain to quench the fire below. Using the feather she saved the humans in the valley from destruction many times. Until finally she gave the feather to the humans so that they could defend themselves. The beast then left the Earth and ventured into the spirit world to seek solace in her dying days. It was there that she discovered the one other gift that was given her by Quetzalcoatl: immortality. She realized that she would not die and therefore she could use the feather to defend humanity throughout the ages. When she returned to Earth she was horrified at what she saw. Corrupt humans had stolen the feather and had used it for evil purposes. She attempted to retrieve the feather but found that it changed hands quickly. She has searched for thousands of years but still has not found it.
The feather is first and foremost a healing instrument. To heal a creature (or oneself) the user need only expend two Willpower points and roll Wits + Medicine (difficulty 8); each success heals one level of damage. If the user spends a third Willpower point, each success will heal a level of damage even if it is aggravated.
The second power of the feather is the power of flight. The holder of the feather and anyone holding onto him/her need only concentrate for one round and roll Wits + Occult to be able to fly for a number of turns equal to their Stamina. For each additional person holding onto the feather holder to succeed in her Wits + Occult roll, the duration is increased by half her Stamina rating. For example: Bonehead, the Redcap is holding the feather and concentrates and succeeds his roll he can therefore fly for 4 turns because he has 4 Stamina. He uses the feather at a later date and has three of his friends holding on (Gorego, the Get of Fenris in Crinos form, Stamina 7, Jackie, Cultist of Ecstasy, Stamina 2, and Blind Willie, the Samedi, Stamina 4), everyone succeeds their Wits + Occult roll except Blind Willie, therefore the duration of the flight is 4 turns + 3.5 turns (half of Gorego's present Stamina, round up to 4) + 1 (half of Jackie's Stamina) for a total of 9 turns, and if Blind Willie had succeeded the duration would have been 11 turns. Simple as that.
The final power of the feather is the ability to summon storm spirits. The user must first be airborne, because storm spirits live high in the sky. Then the user must call them forth, either by name or by title. How the user learns their names or titles is up to the Storyteller; just don't make it too easy. The user must roll Charisma + Occult. Garou may substitute Rituals for Occult, mages may substitute Cosmology (up to the Storyteller), vampires may substitute Thaumaturgy, and anyone can substitute an appropriate Lore Knowledge.
| Successed | Effect |
| Botch | Summons an angry storm spirit, who is most definitely hostile. A particularly horrendous botch (all 1's) may even summon a Wyrm corrupted storm spirit. |
| 1 | The spirit eventually comes and is initially hostile although it may be possible to sway it into performing 1 task. |
| 2 | The spirit arrives quickly but is still initially hostile. |
| 3 | The spirit is initially neutral and may be convinced to perform up to 2 tasks. |
| 4 | The spirit arrives quickly and is initially friendly, will willingly perform 1 task and can be convinced to perform 2 more tasks. |
| 5 | The spirit arrives immediately, is friendly and will willingly perform up to 5 tasks. |
An example of one task can be creating a wind (any intensity), creating precipitation (any intensity, type depends on climate), or creating a sky dark enough, even in daytime, that vampires may roam the streets. Hurricanes and tropical storms count as two tasks. Also, storm spirits will not engage in combat on the summoner's behalf unless he/she is an exceptional orator.
Storm Spirits
Willpower: 8
Rage: 8
Gnosis: 10
Power: 100
Charms: Airt Sense, Cleanse the Blight (manifests as a storm which causes considerable property damage but does not kill anyone), Create Wind, Flood, Freeze (possessed by northern spirits), Ice Shards (possessed by northern spirits), Lightning Bolts, Updraft. Wyrm corrupted spirits may also possess Incite Frenzy.
The Beast (Immortal Balam)
Breed: Feline
Pryio: Daylight
Attributes: Strength 3(5/6/6/5), Dexterity 5(6/8/7/8), Stamina 4(6/7/7/6), Charisma 4, Manipulation 3(2/0/0/0), Appearance 3(2/0/0/0), Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 5. Abilities: Alertness 4, Athletics 4, Awareness 5, Brawl 2, Dodge 5, Empathy 5, Primal Urge 4, Acrobatics 4, Animal Ken 3, Drive 2, Melee 5, Repair 3, Stealth 4, Survival 4, Culture 4, Enigmas 5, Investigation 3, Linguistics 6, Lore (Bastet) 4, Lore (Garou) 3, Lore (Kindred) 3, Lore (Fairy) 4, Lore (Wraith) 3, Lore (Mage) 2, Medicine 6, Occult 4, Rituals 4.
Backgrounds: Contacts 5, Kinfolk 4, Pure Breed 4, Resources 3, Rites 5, Trinkets 4 (Lotus Petals, Bastet, Friendship Ring, The Werewolf Player's Guide).
Gifts: Kitten's Cry (1), Hunter's Mists (1), Sense Unmaker's Hand (1), Silent Stalking (1), Banish Sickness (1), Lick Wounds (1), Perfect Cover (2), Ancestral Wings (2), Shriek (2), Eerie Eyes (2), Cat Sight (2), Whisker Sight (3), Wandering Forest (3), Purr (3), Farsight (3), Cheshire Prank (3), Walking Between Worlds (4), Fortuna (4).
Rank: 4
Rites: Rite of Recognition, Rite of Fear, Festival of Dreams.
Image: A beautiful Mexican woman in her thirties. Her hair is cut at shoulder length. Her eyes alone betray her true age, as they show signs of wisdom and sadness that have amassed over the millennia. Her eyes also at times betray her obsession toward the feather. She wears earth tones, and subdued styles of dress. She walks somewhat slowly and always looks as though she were searching for something.
Role Playing Hints: You have very little sense of humour. The feather needs to be returned to its rightful owner: you. No diversions can be enjoyed. No interference can be tolerated. You do not kill anyone who gets in your way, although you may have to cripple them (you'll heal them when you have the feather back). You have no qualms about destroying any undead who get in your way. You have allies in the garou (due to the ring), and a few other immortal beings; they alone can be asked for help.
The water was returned to the shogun who had his samurai command the most talented weapon smith in his territory use the water to forge a great sword. And so the weapon smith did as he was commanded. After a month the samurai returned and paid the smith for the katana which he returned to his shogun. The shogun took up the sword and threatened the vampires who controlled the emperor to do his bidding or he would unleash the rays of sun trapped within his blade. The vampires were proud and did not bow to his wishes. He held aloft his weapon and commanded the sun within to shine, and it did. The vampires were cowed into submission. He manipulated them just as easily as he used the sword to destroy the vampires and mortals sent by them to steal it. When the shogun's most powerful samurai discovered his master's treachery, he sought out the wizard atop Mt. Fujiyama. The wizard was angry that his favour had not been repaid; he was more than willing to help the samurai. He told the samurai that the sword had the powers of sun and moon and that if another weapon with the same powers were used against it, the powers of both could be cancelled.
The samurai returned to the weapon smith and asked him to make another katana to do battle with the first. The smith explained that he had already used some of the water to forge an aikuchi for a wandering traveller and that he only had enough left for a wakizashi. The samurai paid the smith and two weeks later he had a wakizashi of superb quality. He returned to the shogun and confronted him. The shogun was enraged with his samurai's treachery and attacked. The two fought for hours before the shogun unleashed the powers of the sun. The samurai released the spirit of the moonlight. The powers negated each other, just as predicted. The samurai leapt at the stunned shogun and quickly subdued him. He told the shogun that he would reveal his alliance with the vampires that controlled the emperor, but before the samurai could say another word, a vampire appeared and slit the shogun's throat.
The vampire spoke to the samurai: "You have killed your master. You will be hunted by the agents of the emperor. You did, however, release us from the threat under which we lived. If you leave Japan, we will see that you are not captured."
The samurai replied: "What is to stop me from using these weapons to destroy you and your kind?"
"The emperor is a sickly old man. We control him because he is too weak of mind to control himself. If we did not control him, others would do, as your shogun did. We have been in Japan for a thousand years and we promise we will keep it strong."
And with that, the samurai left. He was never charged for the murder of the shogun, only for the theft of the shogun's daisho.
The swords are both fetishes of some power. Each one has two spirits bound into it, a moon spirit and a sun spirit. The swords both shine eerily at night, and blazingly during the day. The powers of the sun can be released at any time. When released, the sun spirits automatically inflict 1 damage per turn to all vampires in the area (soakable only by Fortitude). They can inflict three more damage by flying through the vampires (only soakable by Fortitude). The sun spirits light the entire area that they are in. If the sword is used by a vampire he or she will automatically suffer 1 damage per turn (even if he or she is not using any of the powers of the sun).
The spirits of the moon can negate the powers of the sun generated by the other sword. Other than this, the powers of the moon have no other use (although the sight of the moon power in use will restore 1 Rage point in a werewolf and cause it to make a rage roll (diff. 6) or frenzy).
Ryoichi was not always the man who was feared throughout all of Japan. At one time he was a happy farmer with a family he loved. Before this he had been a soldier, but after he had served in many battles his shogun released him from service so that he could rebuild his father's farm. Once this was done, Ryoichi married Sonoko, whom he loved very much. Together they had two daughters and a son. His life was the fulfilment of all his dreams. A perfect life, however, was not Ryoichi's destiny.
One day he was awakened by the sounds of screams. His house was being destroyed by demons. They took his wife and his children before finally taking him through one of the flaming doorways. On the other side of the door was Hell. The demons held him prisoner and forced him to witness the unspeakable acts they performed on his wife and children. They were tortured and raped for three years before they finally died. Ryoichi had lost his mind to madness and grief from three years of begging the demons to free his wife and children, to torture him instead, but they did not. In a fit of rage over the loss of his family, Ryoichi broke the chains that bound him. He destroyed seven demons in his escape. From each of the he stole a piece: two eyes, two ears, a nose, two horns, some skin, some hair, and some teeth.
He used the pieces of the demons to create a helm of unearthly power. With the helm and all his skills, and all his fury, he went on a rampage slaying, demons on the earth. In one of his battles a small demon of violence snuck into him, and began to taint him with his evil influence. Once he was partially corrupted he began to fall into fits of furious rage, in which he would slay all living things in his path. The stories began to be told that he was a samurai who had been banished because of his violent behaviour. His fame spread.
After a battle at a Shinto shrine he was approached by a monk. The monk calmed him and explained to him that he could see a demon was riding him. The monk doused him in holy oils and exorcised the demon. Ryoichi slew the demon, and his soul was purified. He began his atonement by righting the wrongs he had done, but he did not have enough time. He died three years later of old age.
The Ronin's helm has several powers, all of which will only operate when the helm is worn. Each power relates to one of the pieces of the seven demons. All of these powers can be activated by a simple Willpower roll (difficulty 5), and to turn these powers off, the wearer need only take off the helm.
The Eyes: This eyes allow the wearer to see demons with a Perception + Occult roll (difficulty 8, two successes required). Demons can hide from the eyes by making a Willpower roll (each success cancels one of the wearers successes). Vampires and fomori can also be seen for what they are with the helm by making a Perception + Occult roll (difficulty 8, four successes required).
The Ears: The ears allow the wearer to hear demons with a Percption + Occult roll (same difficulty as seeing a demon), and moreover, with a successful Wits + Enigmas roll (difficulty 8) the wearer can understand the language of demons.
The Nose: This nose allows the wearer to smell demons, without any kind of roll. This power also lets the wearer know whether the demon is bleeding or injured. With a successful Intelligence + Medicine roll (difficulty 10) the wearer can determine how many Health levels the demon has remaining.
The Horns, Skin and Hair: These allow the wearer of the helm to masquerade as a demon. With a successful Manipulation + Acting roll (difficulty is the demon's Wits + 3, the number of successes required is equal to the demon's Perception). This masquerade is difficult to maintain, however; for each turn, a roll must be made, and if even one roll fails, the demons will see through the charade and attack the wearer (demons are not well known for their forgiveness and understanding). The skin also helps the wearer heal himself. While wearing the helm, the wearer regenerates as though he were garou (anything that would inflict aggravated damage on the wearer still inflicts aggravated damage, i.e.: don't worry mortals, silver won't aggravate your wounds). Garou with the helm will regenerate as usual, regardless of the form they wear.
The Teeth: They allow the wearer to inflict aggravated damage with any attack they make (except for firearms). The teeth also allow the wearer of the helm to speak the language of demons, with a Willpower roll (difficulty 9).
Note: it is up to the Storyteller to decide what constitutes a demon. I include banes, Baali, and Nephandi in this category.
The Followers of Set believe it will awaken Set if it is used to corrupt a pure mortal.
The device is a level 6 fetish (with 7 Gnosis) which can be activated by anyone using Willpower, Gnosis, Quintessence, Glamour, or Pathos. It can be attuned to a person by spending a point of Gnosis/Quintessence/Pathos, and getting 6 successes on a Gnosis/Arete/Pathos roll. When attuned to the ankh, the difficulties of both powers are 1 less, and only a person attuned to the ankh can use the second power.
Every time the ankh is used, the user must make a Willpower roll (diff. 7). If successful, there is no problem, and the ankh functions normally; if the roll fails, the ankh functions normally, but the user gains a Corruption point; if the roll is botched, the user gains 2 corruption points, and the power works as though the user got one extra success on the activation roll. When the user gets 10 corruption points, he will become a willing servant of the Followers of Set. When the user has 11 corruption points, Set will supposedly rise up and embrace the user. No more than 11 corruption points can ever be accumulated.
The first power of the ankh is the locust swarm. By spending a Willpower/Gnosis/Quintessence/Glamour/Pathos point, the user can summon a swarm of locusts. Roll 7 dice (diff. 5) for the number of turns that the locusts will be around. Each turn, the locusts will devour everything in the area, inflicting 5 dice of damage (diff. 6) per turn, which can only be soaked by Fortitude, Life Magic, similar Garou gifts, etc.. This damage is not considered aggravated for purposes of healing. The locusts will fill an area up to 50 ft. x 50 ft. for each success on a Willpower roll. These locusts are magical creatures which can only be damaged by fire from the gift: Create Element, Forces 3 effects, etc. although, they can be repelled by Movement of Mind, the gift: Cutting Wind, etc.
The second power of the ankh is Majesty. When the user spends a Willpower point, he rolls 5 dice; if he obtains 5 or more successes (diff. 7, and you can spend Willpower for extra successes), the effect is equivalent to the level 5 Presence power, Majesty. If the roll botches, everyone in the area will feel a violent, irrational hatred toward the user (werewolves must roll Willpower and obtain 4 successes (diff.=the werewolf's rage rating), vampires must roll self-control and obtain 3 successes (diff. 8), and everyone else must roll Willpower (self-control for mortals) and obtain 2 successes (diff. 8) or else fly into a fit of fury.
The necklace can be destroyed if it suffers 10 levels of damage.
Some five years of chaos passed, wherein all of England became the object of many surrounding nations' desire. Merlin, seemingly returned from the dead, took it upon himself to forge a new Excalibur. Using some of the shards of the first Excalibur, and some metal scrapings from Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, as well as new silver for the steel of the blade, using the water given him by the Lady of the Lake to cool the blade, and using fire created by his own magic, he forged the new Excalibur.
The new Excalibur was first used by King Richard the Lionhearted during the Crusades, although it was lost to him when it was stolen by the Moors. The sword then passed through many hands including. The first was thought to be an Assamite named Sufir the Miserable. Temujin (Ghengis Khan) owned the blade until his death in 1227. Two years later James the First of Aragon was known to have used the blade during the capture of Majorca from the Moors. In 1306 Robert the Bruce is known to have used Excalibur for a short time in battle against the English. It was known to have been used by a Garou Galliard against a great bane-dragon, but this owner died of the Black Plague in 1349. The mongol leader Timur (Tamerlane) is believed to have been the next owner of the sword; if so he must then have owned the sword until his death in battle in China (in 1405). This might explain how, in (or about) 1408, an Akashic brother is thought to have used Excalibur in battle against an Umbral monster. The second Excalibur remained lost in the Umbra for centuries, and was not found until a Nuwisha came across it and returned it to Earth in 1718. It came into the possession of the Freemasons at that time and has since been lost.
One important fact about the second Excalibur that has been lost to all but the oldest garou and magi, and a handful of kindred is Merlin's prophecy about the sword. The wizard stated that the sword was not indestructible, but that it would not be destroyed until its owner had slain Caine himself some time in the distant future (it has been theorized that this might be in the year 1999, although another school of thought suggests that this event already took place in 1913). The sword would then be destroyed by its owner in "the purity of a holy inferno." (This last quote has never been fully explained with any degree of acceptability.)
The sword itself inflicts Strength+6 aggravated damage, which can only be soaked with Fortitude or Life Magic or similar effects. The sword grants the user 6 (six!) automatic dice of anti-magic. When using Excalibur, the user has one extra attack with the sword (with half of his Dexterity+Melee pool).
George travelled to the land of the Dark Mountain and sought out the Dragon. The Dragon knew human nature well and was waiting for a dragon slayer to arrive and challenge him. When George arrived, the Dragon fell upon him instantly and attacked him with ferocity unparalleled. George was horribly maimed, but still fought back with all the strength he could muster. He lifted his shield and tried to defend himself against the dragon's next breath. As he lifted his shield, he saw the charred remains of a small child. In that moment it is said that he realized that his mercenary life was wrong, and that he decided to continue to fight, but only for good causes. In that moment he was saved from damnation, as the power of God filled his every pore with heavenly might. But it was too late, the dragon crushed the life out of him. George's blood spilled on the shield and in that moment a small part of his soul was imbedded in the shield. The dragon was burned by the holy light of the shield and fled back into the sea, never to return.
The villagers returned to the village after the paladins of the holy king returned with the news of George's valiant sacrifice. The people raised George's shield high on a monument as testament to the holy Dragon slayer's noble deed. Over the years, the story of St. George's actions on that day has gradually changed to the present day conception that he was a holy knight who slew a dragon to save a Libyan princess. The truth of St. George is that he was a mercenary who repented too late.
The power of St. George's soul fuels the abilities of the shield. The shield is considered a holy artefact with a True Faith rating of 5 (for the purposes of repelling evil and undead creatures). The shield provides five dice of protection, with no dexterity penalty.
The greatest powers of the shield, however, only come into play when dealing with dragons, be they spirits, chimerae, Wyrm minions, or marauder allies. The shield lets the owner know of the presence of dragons through the use of telepathic imagery. Dragons attacking the bearer of the shield have a -3 die penalty due to the immense distraction and pain caused by simply being near the shield. This -3 die penalty is not applied to the damage roll. The bearer of the shield has 9 additional dice to soak all fire and heat based attacks.
Once every scene the bearer can use the final power of the shield, but only if she knows about the final power (Intelligence + Research, difficulty 9, three successes required, or meditating at a Knowledge caern, Perception + Enigmas difficulty 8, three successes required). With a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) the bearer can unleash a small part of St. George's soul. If the roll is successful, the dragon suffers twice the number of successes in aggravated damage. If the roll is unsuccessful, the dragon suffers one quarter the number of successes in non-aggravated damage (ignore decimals, round down, minimum 0). The dragon is not able to soak this damage in any way. Using this power depletes the remaining amount of soul essence in the shield. While this has no effect on the game mechanics of the shield, it does reduce the amount of times that the shield can be used after. At present the shield has five to ten uses left, after the last piece of soul is released, the shield will lose all magical properties and St. George will be at peace.
This shield cannot be used by evil (nephandus evil, Black Spiral Dancer evil, not just school yard bully evil), undead, or draconian creatures. Any such creature attempting to touch the shield will suffer one aggravated damage per turn (soakable by Fortitude or similar abilities).
The old boyar, by this time had become a ghoul of an elder Brujah who had plans for Russia that did not include this so-called 'Ivan the Terrible'. The vampire sent one of his trusted progeny to obtain the diamond from the czar. The childer confronted Ivan in his palace and attempted to use his Dominate discipline to convince Ivan to hand over the diamond and forget that he ever saw it. To the young Brujah's surprise, his (rather powerful) Domination attempt failed. The czar called for his guards who rushed into the room and quickly cornered the vampire. The Brujah attempted to Dominate the captain of the guard, but his power again failed him; at this point he changed tactics and went on the offensive. He quickly slew seven of the ten men before the czar himself attacked with one of the fallen soldiers' swords. The czar proved to be too great a swordsman for the Brujah. Ivan the Terrible was victorious. He had the Brujah's body hung outside the palace, and when dawn arrived the body disintegrated.
After seeing the body dissolve, Ivan became worried that demons were trying to kill him. He also became convinced of the diamond's holy power. He became obsessed with studying the diamond. He let affairs of state to his underlings, which lead to the downturn in the Livonian War. Ivan died in 1584 at the age of 54, never having discovered the secrets of the diamond.
The czar's Diamond is presently on display in a renowned museum in whichever city the Storyteller decides. The diamond is about eight inches in length (height) and five inches in diameter. It is of near flawless cut and has only traces of colour in it. In modern currency, the diamond is worth many millions of dollars and it his guarded by an insane amount of security features. This in addition to the many legends of its mystical power, is more than enough temptation for any thief. So far there have been more than twenty attempts to steal it in its ten years at the museum, all unsuccessful.
It is important that the Storyteller attributes multiple powers to the gem without revealing the actual power. The only power of the gem is that it confers an absolute immunity to any magical attempts at Domination (including vampire disciplines, Garou gifts, Magic effects, Wraith arcanoi, but not Changeling Glamour). This means any attempt at domination of any level, by any rank user, instantly fails on all people within the area where the diamond is, unless it is a Glamour being used by a changeling or chimerical creature. (The fact that the diamond does not affect changeling powers suggests that it was created by fairy hands, although no one knows for certain.) The drawback of owning the gem is an increasing obsession with it and its history, as well as a growing paranoia towards any person who has contact with the gem or any person who the owner thinks may have contact with the gem. I do not have a system in place for Willpower rolls to resist or whatever. I feel that this taint should be purely a role-playing experience. If the diamond is taken away by any means, the obsession will gradually fade over a number of months, 1 month per two weeks the diamond was owned.
When donned, the belt will instantly transform any human into a wolf (use Lupus Attribute modifiers from Werewolf: the Apocalypse). If the human succeeds on a Willpower roll vs. difficulty 9, he retains his human mind, although he will have animalistic urges which may last even after the belt is taken off (Willpower vs. difficulty 6 to resist the first urge after the belt is taken off, difficulty 5 for the second, and so on, the difficulty goes back up to 7 if the belt is put back on, and 8 the next time until the difficulty is 10) as a result of the demonic influence within the belt. If the human gives into the animal urges voluntarily, the effect is the same as if he had not succeeded his Willpower roll when donning the belt which is this: his mind is swallowed by a savage demon who then takes residence in the body.
If a mage dons the belt, he takes his chances as a regular human. Each time the mage wears the belt (without giving in to the demonic influence) his Quintessence pool is drained of 2 points of Quintessence, which the Avatar automatically spends in order to defend itself. If the mage's mind is swallowed, his Avatar is destroyed in a burst of Prime which may destroy the body (damage level equal to Arete rating). If the mage is possessed, he can no longer perform magic, obviously. The only advantages the mage has over a human with the belt are the following gifts: Beast Speech, Heightened Senses, Sense the Unnatural, Call of the Wyrm.
Vampires without Protean will find the wolf strap has no effect on their physical forms although they still suffer from the other, negative effects. Vampires with Protean will find they have the ability to transform into a wolf even if they hadn't before (use Lupus Attribute modifiers on top of their regular physical modifiers, that's Str.+2, Dex.+3, Sta.+3) although they may not retain their human mind, as humans. Each time the vampire submits to an animal urge (by failing his Willpower vs. urge roll) he is considered to have frenzied and gains an animal feature. Difficulties for vampires to resist urges are the same as humans, although Gangrel resist at difficulty +1. Vampires with the strap automatically gain Auspex 1.
Werewolves with the strap find their Lupus form grants double the Physical modifiers (Str.+2, Dex.+4, Sta.+4). They also risk the same effects as humans when they don the belt, however when they give in to the animal urges (difficulty is +2) they fly into a Rage; the third time (and each time after) they fall into the thrall of the Wyrm.
Anyone trying to Sense Wyrm on the wearer of the belt will find definite traces of the Wyrm's corruption but also traces of some other kind of evil that they cannot describe. Mages with the belt may be mistaken for nephandi. Mages using Mind magic will find they cannot penetrate the wearer's mind unless they are Masters of Mind (or better). If the wearer is possessed (Welcome to NPCVille) he will become evil beyond reason, he will radiate with Wyrm aura if Sense Wyrm is used; even fomori with Sense Wyrm will feel uncomfortable.