Resources for Exalted Second Edition
Please note: You must create separate user accounts for Lore 5 and the ECR forums.Infallible Notice of Expiration
By Jack
Submitted on 25 Mar 2007 at 02:43:38 PM EDTLast updated on 26 Mar 2007 at 10:14:20 AM EDT
Level 5 Artifact
The lord of the Bureau of Endings, the universally feared Black Puppet Mask and his servants employ many tools in the carrying out of their divinely appointed duties, one of the most powerful of these are the Infallible Notices of Expiration. These powerful artefacts take the form of thin books, bound in black leather; on the front they bear the indigo emblem of the Bureau of Endings. There are known to be at least in five in existence, and four of these are held by Black Puppet Mask. On occasion one of these four may be granted to an agent of the bureau who faces a particularly difficult or important mission. The fifth was lost when Aerael the Astute, a Sidereal agent of the Forbidding Manse was killed in Nexus while carrying one of the notes. It is rumoured among the learned denizens of Yu-Shan that Black Puppet Mask also keeps one note for his own personal use, the powers of which extend beyond the reach of the others.
The notes are extremely dangerous items, despite their simple appearance, possessing the ability to bring to an end the life of any inhabitant of Creation. All the owner requires is the name and face of their intended victim and unless the being is a powerful essence wielder they have no chance of surviving.
To use the note, the owner needs to know the name and face of their victim. Without both, the note’s magic will not function.
Any being that is a native inhabitant of creation (including elementals and other members of the terrestrial bureaucracy) with an essence rating of two or lower whose name is written in the note will die. The owner of the note must write the time of death, and is free to write the cause and circumstances of death, although if he does not the target’s life force will simply be snuffed out as his higher and lower souls are torn from their body. The note functions over any range (even affecting targets if the user is in Yu-Shan).
If the owner chooses to write the cause of death, it may be anything they choose, as long as it is physically possible. (e.g if it is written that Ragara Passing Wind shall die in a boating accident, but it is impossible for Ragara Pasing Wind to reach the ocean within the given timeframe, he will simply suffer the fate of those who have had no cause of death written)
Characters with an essence rating of three or higher have a chance to resist the note’s effects. When the note is used, the loom of fate conspires to ensure that events happen as written, however it is not unheard of for powerful exalts to evade the loom’s judgement, and therefore, the note’s effect is reduced. If no alternate cause of death is written, the note will attempt to tear out their souls as usual, however the target is allowed a difficulty 3 willpower roll to prevent this. If the target successfully resists they cannot be targeted by that note again (another note can still affect them)
If instead, the user attempts to manipulate the cause of death, all dice pools which would lead the target to the appointed fate receive a bonus three successes and all dice pools which would prevent his fate as it is written receive a penalty of three successes. If the character survives beyond the appointed time of death, these penaltes go away, and the character is protected from future uses of the same note.
The note also confers the ability to see immaterial spirits upon its owner.
The note has no effect on beings outside of fate.
Characters slain by the note’s magic have no chance to become ghosts.
For the purposes of these effects a character’s name is considered to be the main name by which a character would refer to himself. Keeping one’s true name secret from the holder of the note is an effective defense.
The Infallible Notice of Expiration has a commitment cost of 15 motes.
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