Artifacts
For my version of Ma-Ha-Suchi, who was an antagonist of the Circle of Sun and Moon:
Corpse-Drill, Ma-Ha-Suchi's Spear
It is said that long ago, when Creation was greater than it is in the Age of Sorrows, the boundaries of the world were warded by the artifice and might of the Solar Exalted, that none might pass without leave. The rule of the Deliberative ensured safety and peace for the Realm -- but there were some who were not content with the easy lifestyle of the Exalted. Some of these warred against each other for sport, and some called forth worthy opponents from the depths of the Demon City or the Underworld, but many chose to test themselves against the Wyld itself. Of these, perhaps the most puissant was Ma-Ha-Suchi, Chosen of the Full Moon.
Suchi walked in the Wyld many times, slaughtering fae nobles and monstrous behemoths alike, ever seeking a challenge worthy of his skills. Following dreams and half-understood portents, he came to a certain place within the Wyld where the grass was silver and sharper than steel, and there he met and contended with one of the Unshaped, those of the Raksha who are too powerful to be constrained by form, one step below the shinma themselves. For minutes or centuries they battled, Exalted might against Unshaped power, but Suchi was victorious at last, transfixing the heart of the creature with a blade of silver grass. When he withdrew the unlikely weapon, it had been bathed in the life-essence of the Unshaped, one of the greatest of its kind, and had transcended its form. He held, instead of a simple leaf of silver, a great moonsilver spear, blazing with the Essence of its unlikely forging.
Suchi returned to Creation with his prize and retreated to his Manse. There he spent a hundred years learning the arts of the smith, forging the potential of the spear into one of the greatest weapons Creation had ever seen, a weapon he was to bear until his death at the hands of the Circle of Sun and Moon thousands of years later. In all of Creation, its equals numbered a dozen or less, and in the Second Age the only such weapon known to survive is the blade Soul Mirror, wielded by the Lover Clad in Rainment of Tears.
Corpse-Drill can only be attuned to by Lunar Exalted, for its essence partakes greatly of its maker's. It is Speed +6, Accuracy +4, Damage +8, Defense -1, and costs 10 motes to attune. For 5 motes, the wielder can reawaken the blood of the Unshaped within the weapon, causing the head to burn with silver fire; this causes Corpse-Drill to deal aggravated damage to anything it hits as it partially unmakes its targets. The weapon is particularly inimical to things of solid form due to the nature of the Unshaped it slew, and thus when striking crafted objects its post-soak damage is doubled. The weapon's power is such that only armor made of the Five Magical Materials can provide any protection at all, and even then the wielder's Essence is subtracted from a victim's soak. Finally, the weapon permits its bearer to engage in Sword-shaping combat with the raksha; his personal prowess is considered to be enhanced by half of the statistics of the weapon should he choose to do so, and he is considered to have a Sword soak equal to his soak in regular combat if it is greater than his normal Sword soak.
For a mortal antagonist with a nasty surprise:
Unfailing Tears (Artifact *****)
Commitment: None or 10 motes (see text)
Unfailing Tears was once the personal weapon of the mighty Solar swordmaster
Idrian, called Kinbane. It is said that ten decades passed in the blade's
forging, and that Idrian quenched it, when it was completed at last, in the
blood of each and every person who knew the secrets of its construction. This
must be so, for truly, its like has never been seen again.
Unfailing Tears is a broadsword, with a long, wicked blade of soulsteel --
the first recorded appearance of that dark metal. The hilt is of orichalchum,
married to a crosspiece of moonsilver which itself is decorated with an
impossibly detailed representation of Idrian's face. The pommel is capped with a sphere of starmetal, incised with arcane runes and culled from the body (though none know it) of Katavesho, a greater god of swordsmanship whom Idrian framed for misconduct. Jade was considered too base a material to use in the weapon's construction.
Unfailing Tears has the statistics of an orichalchum daiklave, and drains
Essence as a soulsteel weapon, as well as gaining that material's +1 bonus to accuracy
(total bonus: +2 acc, +1 dam, +1 def, +1 rate/speed). The razor-sharp blade
ignores any nonmagical armor and cannot be parried by nonmagical weapons. In addition,
it imparts a terrible relentlessness to its wielder -- so long as he wields the
blade, he will not succumb to incapacitation from any damage not inflicted by charms
or weapons of the Magical Materials. Wound penalties are otherwise handles as normal, and the character dies when he loses a number of health levels equal to twice his initial allotment.
Scholars claim that some of the bloodlust of Idrian infected the blade,
and truly it drives its owners to kill and kill again. Any character who posesses
Unfailing Tears loses one point of Compassion twice a year -- once on the third
day of Ascending Fire, when Idrian was slain in a duel by his comrades, and once on
the fifth day of Calibration. Exalted characters may make a Temperance roll at
difficulty 3 to fend off this loss. Once the wielder reaches Compassion zero, he becomes the blade's tool entirely, driven only to slay any man, woman or child he encounters.
The blade can be wielded by a heroic mortal, and indeed prefers such
characters as they are easier to corrupt and enslave. It may burn the hand of any wielder it does not approve of, inflicting 2 levels of unsoakable lethal damage per turn. Conversely, should it encounter a desirable wielder, it can exude a compulsion;
if Unfailing Tears so wishes it, any mortal within line of sight must make a
Temperance roll at difficulty 3 to avoid attempting to posess the weapon. A botch means that the mortal will do whatever is necessary to own the blade, no matter how heinous the crime.
As a mortal wielding a blade of the Five Magical Materials attracts attention,
Unfailing Tears can at its option appear to be a broadsword of normal
construction (though exquisite craftsmanship) to any being of less power than a Celestial Exalt.
The blade's most terrible power is also the cause of its relentless
bloodlust, for the memories -- and the Solar Essence -- of Idrian sleep within the blade, which is a carefully designed receptacle. The motes of Essence drained into Unfailing Tears cannot be regained by any means. Once the weapon accumulates 300 motes of Essence, the Essence and spirit of the ancient Solar is channeled in a blinding flare of Solar power into the mortal wielder, crushing his own personality, and Idrian
Kinbane is reborn. So long as Idrian's lifeblood soaks the blade of Unfailing Tears,
his spark and persona will come to rest within the blade, waiting for another
wielder.
Should Idrian be destroyed without a chance to suicide upon the blade of
Unfailing Tears, his Essence will depart and his higher soul will be dragged screaming to Oblivion. The representation of his face on the blade will fade, leaving a featurelessmask. At this time, any Solar who commits 10 motes to attune the blade may gain all of its benefits without the slow moral decay it embodies -- including the ability to store his soul in the blade upon his death, should his lifeblood soak the blade.
For a sorceror with the will to wield it:
Unfettered Will (Artifact *****)
Orin Shamedras was surely one of the mightiest sorcerors of the First Age.
A warrior-mage without peer, he soon found that only his strength of will
limited his abilities on the field of battle, for as devastating as the
Adamant Circle was, even he could cast no more than three spells before his
mind reeled with exhaustion. He researched this problem for several decades,
then undertook a journey within his own consciousness, walking bodily within
his own mind, searching for the power of his will in manifest form. It is
said that he vanished for sixty days and sixty nights, and at twilight on the
sixty-first day he reappeared, haggard and worn, carrying the staff called
Unfettered Will.
Unfettered Will is a quarterstaff made of purest orichalchum. It is
patterned with strange symbols whose meaning has been lost -- perhaps only
Orin Shamedras understood them. The head of the staff is shaped into an
exquisite image of a phoenix, mantling protectively. The firebird's feathers
and the symbols on the shaft are inlaid with starmetal. The staff costs ten
motes to attune.
The function of Unfettered Will is to amplify and bolster its posessor's
willpower, particularly while spellcasting. Its primary function is the
storage of additional Willpower points. The staff can hold up to ten points
of Willpower, and as long as at least one remains it will regenerate them
each dawn, rolling Conviction for Willpower regain exactly as though it were
its owner. These Willpower points may only be used to invoke sorcerous or
necromantic spells, unless a power of Unfettered Will demands otherwise.
Unfettered Will may also impose the caster's will upon Creation (or
equivalent location), opposing the potency of attacks against him. For 5
motes, as a reflexive action, the wielder may activate a persistent defense
with his own Willpower as the die pool. This defense manifests as strong
telekinesis or, in extreme cases, Wyld-warping; it is considered either a
parry or a dodge at the wielder's option. (It must be considered one or the
other, and thus it cannot stack with two active persistents.) This power may
only be activated while the staff has a point of Willpower remaining.
As a final ability, Unfettered Will cannot be broken by even the most
extreme forces, and any attempt to separate it from the wielder must win an
opposed Essence roll with the wielder.
Should Unfettered Will ever lose its last Willpower point, it becomes
nothing more than an orichalchum staff of highest quality. To revive it, the
wielder must feed it ten points of his own Willpower over the next seven
days, revitalizing and reattuning it. Should the wielder lose his last
Willpower point while holding Unfettered Will, a single point of Willpower is
drained from the staff and returned to the Exalt; it is thus unwise to tax
yourself and the staff too far unless in dire need.
Unfettered Will was lost when Orin Shamedras died in battle, but some say
it yet waits Elsewhere for his shard to be reborn. It is known that the
Abyssal necromancer Silent Whisper has somehow created an equivalent tool, a
grim stave of bone and soulsteel called Will of Oblivion.
Quickly dashed off, for the Solar Exalt Tarnished Sword:
Final Rest (Artifact ****)
A short, lethal weapon, wider than a normal blade. Made of black iron, with an edge of orichalchum and inset runes of orichalchum and gold. The pommel is capped with a solar disc of orichalchum.
Powers:
--No being slain by Final Rest will leave either a ghost or a hungry ghost. The body collapses into dust.
--For five motes of Essence, a Solar using Final Rest may add his Essence in successes to any damage roll.
Stats: Speed +1, Accuracy +1, Damage +6, Defense +3