Three Artifacts that have been floating around in my head for awhile.
Chopsticks of All 'Round Coolness
These are a pair of ordinary-looking chopsticks, eight or so inches long, and made out of wood, with a Power of -5. Malakim of Creation get their standard bonus, if they make the Precision roll to activate their attunement.
So you're not a Malakite of Eli? Not to worry. There's one other thing that the Chospticks of All 'Round Coolness do. They're Dodge Talismans. But what thery do is more appropriately called a parry. Furthermore, any material object can be parried with them, even bullets. And if the Dodge roll reduces the damage to 0, the weapon is caught between the chopsticks at the owner's option, snd requires winning a contest of strength for the opponent to pull free, and the chopsticks won't help you "dodge" while holding something. Grinning evilly afterwards is optional.
Chopsticks of All 'Round Coolness cost 2 points/level.
Celestial Filter
Celestial Forms don't reflect photons. Instead, they are apparently seen by a reaction between the mind and the Symphony that gets processed as vision. One of the things this means is that Celestial Form images cannot be refracted by lenses (so they don't show up in photographs, or appear any larger through telescopes), or seen in mirrors (so binoculars and periscopes are useless) It's incredibly hard to prove that a bat-winged snake appeared in your office and mind-controlled you to shoot your boss if the security cameras didn't pick it up. Hence the Celestial Filter.
A celestial filter is a filter made to fit over the end of a camera, telescope, binoculars, or other such instrument. A Celestial Filter resolves a Celestial form and converts that appearance into photons for the instrument, so you can take a picture of that Balseraph, and get it on "Inside Edition." Should you decide your life is worth that. .
A Celestial Filter resolves a form as if it had a perception of twice its level, but still has to roll like everyone else. If the filter has a higher perception than its owner, it mightIts owner can spend Essence to improve these chances, but unlike most Relics, a typical Celestial Filter has no Essence reservoir.
Celestial Filters cost 1 point per level, be they built for a camera, video-camera, glasses, or other optical device.
Dissonance Sinks
These are Celestial Artifacts with one purpose, and one purpose only. They allow the owner to shift Dissonance from himmself into the artifact, permanently. One point of Dissonance per level of the artifact can be shifted, and this Dissonance can never be removed from the artifact. Note that a Dissonance Sink doesn't prevent a Celestial from Falling, Being Outcasted, Going Renegade, or Gaining Discord, it just removes the Dissonance after the effects have been suffered. It's also a pretty dangerous artifact to posess.
Every note of Dissonance subsumed into a Dissonance Sink is a note of Dissonance that you aren't making amends for, a note you aren't telling your Superior about, and a note that isn't hampering your chances of success should you decide to go Renegade or Outcast. These are not things to flaunt when servitors of Judgement or The Game stop by. Most commonly, these items are found in the hands of Outcasts and Renegades, who need them more, and are in enough trouble already.
Dissonance Sinks come in a number of forms, such as checkbooks (For that "Bribing the Symphony" look), and "Get out of Jail Free" cards. By far, the most common version of these rare artifacts is a 17" cuddly plush doll that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Archangel Dominic. There's aslo an Asmodeus version, but whoever is making these things doesn't make nearly as many.
Dissonance Sinks cost 3 points/Level.
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Nana-Yaw "The Fish" Ofori, Freelance Soldier of Heck, presenty serving
Jaraith, Shedite Baron of Nightmares, the Demon of NONONOAUUUAARRGGGHHH!!!
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Elizabeth McCoy <arcangel@io.com>
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