artifacts [Memento Mundi]

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====== Artifacts ======
===== What is an Artifact =====
An Artefact is an item which has unusual properties. They are extremely rare in the world, and news of items of this nature tended to spread quickly before the upheaval. Artefacts can either be made by people with the right talents, or very occasionally found. They are almost certainly not for sale anywhere.

Potential sources of power for an artefact include:
  * Magic
  * Divine intervention.
  * Truly exceptional craftsmanship and materials.
  * The Flux
  * Alchemy
===== How are they made? =====
Making an artefact is a difficult business which requires extraordinary measures. An artefact's creation will have involved at least 2 (and probably more) of the following:
  * Exceptional people
  * Unusual or important places
  * Exotic equipment
  * Rare materials
  * Metaphysically important events

An Artifact doesn't have to be made all at once. In fact, the best ones tend to have multiple steps involved in their creation. The creation of artifacts should be a major "on-screen" undertaking and any artefact must have at least some steps of its creation be a focal point of at least an encounter. If you want to do something towards an artifact on an adventure, let the GM know in advance so that they can definitely work it in.

Steps in the production of an artefact:
  * Getting an idea / Obtaining suitable materials
  * A number of forging steps - combining or enhancing your materials though unusual means (i.e. plunging the wooden stake you're planning on using for your staff into heart of a Wyvern). This will be related to the skills of the forger, and the forgers talents will influence the final nature of the artefact (a forging step by a wayfinder will tie the artefact to the flux in some way, where as a forging step by a priest will likely imbue the artefact with divine power of some kind).
  * A final fixing step - Something that finishes and finalises your item.

===== What do they do? =====
An artefacts powers are effected by the materials that were used in the forging, as well as the powers of the people who were involved in the forging, the tools used, and the places that the forging steps were taken. The final abilities that the artefact will have will be decided by the larpo in discussion with the player creating the artefact. These abilities might range from replicating skills or providing access to additional uses of abilities to truly unique and world altering effects.

===== Important Artefacts created in Play =====
====Hammer of Ruin====
A potent artifact, forged in death by the Builder Priest Reginald Drake. The Hammer of Ruin was constructed to shatter the barriers trapping his companions and free them from their imprisonment, and it is known as a tool of destruction, not creation, seemingly unusual for an item of a priest of the Builder. It currently lies in the Church of the Founders. Those seeking to take it will find it lying atop a great silver anvil, the metals fused. It is said that if one's cause is noble, they will be able to take it unimpeded. About the altar acolytes of the builder wait in guard.

To take the hammer one must first pass the guards, though they will be more ameniable to any marked as holy by the Builder's power, as the hammer has been known to mark those it deems worthy. Regardless they will question those who would approach and see if their cause is worthy. 

GM Note The hammer will not be freed unless the cause is important enough. Saving acryn yes, putting up shelves no. Taking this item should involve some roleplaying and not be something people can trivially do (i.e. usually an encounter).

Abilities:

Counts as mastercrafted, counts as any weapon the user could wield, allowing them to use their calls. Grants 1 shatter and 1 mass strikedown per encounter, and is immune to shatters, and indeed most ways of destroying it, being a potent builder artefact. Additionally twice per adventure the user may utilise the hammer's power to attempt to destroy some kind of barrier, metaphysical or otherwise. This will require a time freeze and GM adjudication.

The hammer may fail if used against 'the interests of Acryn'. This includes both the general well being of the city and notably the hammer may fail against those who would seek to restore the rule of individuals, rather than that of a council. The GM may call damage or disarms to the person holding the item as the hammer burns in their grip.


===== Examples =====

  * **The Puppet Master's Knife** - A small silver knife, about the size and shape of a letter opener, with a rope motif on the handle. The knife was crafted before the upheaval  by a mage skilled in both the Rite of Binding and the Rite of Wounding. The knife allows the wielder to place a small mark upon their victim, allowing the wielder to possess their victim for 24hrs, seeing through their eyes and controlling their body.
  * **The Compass of Aetheyta** - One of the sacred items of the priests of Aetheyta the Wanderer. The compass always points to the nearest waystone, unless you are travelling from a waystone where it will point to the second nearest. Enough people have seen this artefact that it is believed that there is more than one, and perhaps the creation of this artefact is a rite of passage for senior priests.
  * **Black Metal Sword** - Crafted by famous sword-smith Marsilia De Luca, the blade was forged from a fallen star and cooled in water brought from a glacier untouched by human hands. The sword itself is incredibly tough, and when wielded in the right hands is said to be so captivating that opponents can see nothing else.
  * **The Soup Stone** - Artefacts created in concert between mages and priests are incredibly rare, by and large because attempts to create artefacts of this type have tended to be deadly for all involved. The Soup Stone is one of only two or three successful attempts. Created by a Consumption Mage and a Priest of the Tender, the stone excretes a substance when placed in water, turning the water into a nutritious (and by all accounts delicious) broth.
  * **The Robes of Elohera** - Crafted by an alchemist with a flair for the dramatic, the robe and cloak combination were extremely tough and comparable in strength to a high quality suit of heavy armour. The robes themselves would gradually knit themselves back together after being damaged. Most notably, the robes would billow at dramatic moments independent of any wind and would often appear to be lit in a manner inconsistent with local lighting.
  * **The Dragon Slayer** - A particularly baleful artefact, the creators were a cabal of mages who believed that the Rites of magic were chains used to prevent mankind from fully wielding the powers of creation. Each of them played a part in its creation, forging items closely tied to each of the Rites into the artefact. They believed that by doing this they could create an item which would allow them to wield the energies used in magic directly, unshackled by the Rites. The final fixing step involved the deaths of nearly every mage involved in its creation, when one of the cabal took control of the nascent artefact and turned it upon its creators. A further, although unconfirmed, element of the story involves a traveller finding an injured man on the side of the road who claimed to be the final member of the cabal. He claimed that the deaths of the cabal had never been part of his plan, that the artefact had a will of its own, and that it had finally discarded him. What is know for certain is that every time a sighting of the Dragon Slayer has been made, carnage has followed.

No flux artefact has yet been created or discovered, but it is assumed by scholars to be entirely feasible. It is simply that the upheaval is still so recent that no-one has yet been skilled enough to produce such a thing.
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