Shade Crystal

By Peter Sears (kinesys@hotmail.com)

Description

Lost in the mists of antiquity, these items are fairly rare. It is said that only thirty of them exist and the methods for creating new ones are forever lost. They are black crystals of extreme hardness and they are flat and unreflective. Often they are found with a silver chain and cage arrangement but others are found alone. The gems have a sort of runic language that is cut into them that is undecipherable. Hermetic mages believe them to be of Egyptian manufacture but some also posit that they might be Sumerian.

Shade crystals have an unusual ability. When worn over the heart that ability can be called into effect. A mage spends a point of his own personalQquintessence (no tass) and the Shade Crystal will massively amplify his ability to be Arcane. In effect, the expenditure of Quintessence causes the mage's rating in Arcane to jump to 5 for one full day and one full night. The Crystal does not require that the mage have Prime 3 to channel Quintessence into it but it also does not have its own store of Quintessence on which to draw. Hermetics theorize that its power derives from some powerful, and partially natural, resonance effect. All that is required of the mage is a point of his Avatar Quintessence and concentration for a full minute. Even those who do not have Arcane can benefit from the power of the Shade Crystal.

The user effectively ceases to exist for a day. Those who have close emotional ties to the user will not forget her but if they are out of sight they will cease thinking about her at all. The user does not become invisible but she becomes so unobtrusive that she might as well be. Antagonists that are shooting at anything that moves will note movement in their line of sight but otherwise may not notice the mage.

To people other than those who are close to the mage the mage effectively ceases to exist. Phone numbers become lost, computer files become corrupted, hard copy files get coffee spilled on them, sneaking into the movies or the subway become easy as pie. Obfuscated vampires will notice something go by . . . maybe and vampires with high auspex might notice you if they happen to be looking.

Continued use of this article causes the mage to unwittingly leave his life behind if he's not careful. If used for more than four days running those with close ties will forget they knew you at all or even convince themselves that you are dead or lost in a paradox realm somewhere. Arch-enemies will get on with their lives. Witch hunters will be confused. Your parents and your children will rearrange their personal histories and all traces of your identity will erase themselves. You may even come home to discover that someone is selling your house. If you aren't prepared for this it could drive you into a seriously deep Quiet.

It is also known that mummies are capable of using these items and power them with Sekhem and in fact use them to leave lives behind them on occasion. It is rumored that they are the creators of these items but that even they have forgotten how to make more. Considering the nature of the Shade Crystals, this is not all that unusual.