Resources for Exalted Second Edition
Please note: You must create separate user accounts for Lore 5 and the ECR forums.The Empty Sapphire of Lost Pasts
By Jukashi
Submitted on 20 Nov 2006 at 02:35:00 PM ESTLast updated on 12 Dec 2006 at 06:32:41 AM EST
Aspect: Sidereal
Level: 5-dot
Trigger: Constant, Touch
(This Hearthstone was partly an attempt to improve the concept of the Gem of Incomparable wellness, and also inspired by Castle Oblivion from Kingdom Hearts.)
The Sapphire’s Manse is the Castle of Misted Recollections
Hearthstone
A round, smooth stone the size of a human eye, the Empty Sapphire of Lost Pasts appears at first to be perfectly clear; only the reflection of light off its surface reveals it. When one looks closer, however, it is seen that objects viewed through the gem appear blurred, their details impossible to perceive.
The Sapphire is a relic of the time before the First Age, said to be built by something more than human or god. It embodies perfect and blissful loss of memory; whomsoever bears the Empty Stone shall, sooner or later, depending on their power and will, forget all people, all places, and all events. So too, in turn, will they be forgotten by those they meet, those who know them, friends and enemies; even Heaven itself will forget that they ever existed. Without memory or record even in the Loom of Fate, how then does the bearer of the stone grow old, be hurt, or die?
They don’t.
System
The bearer of the Sapphire of Lost Pasts loses all conscious memories after (Essence + Willpower) days have passed, unless constantly reminded of them. This forgetfulness is not total; like the Amnesia Flaw, the character retains their skills and capabilities. General and Ability-related knowledge- “That’s a tree”, “The Realm is run by Dragon-blooded”, “This is how you work a warstrider”, “A good army needs this, this and this” – are retained, but specific knowledge – “I’m from Gem”, “That’s my brother” or “I got this off a guy in Nexus” – fades. Characters with Eidetic Recall recall perfectly that short period of time they do remember, but they forget everything after the same period of time as anything else.
Subconscious memories, which manifest in such ways as a vague sense of familiarity or the capability to find one’s way around one’s home town without thinking about it, last much longer; a number of years equal to (Essence + Willpower), but they, too, will eventually disappear if not reinforced. The only thing that might survive is a Driving Passion, Motivation or similarly powerful and personal compulsion, which can remain in the character’s subconscious, subtly guiding their steps without their realizing.
Without a long-term memory, the character will find it impossible to train themselves in Abilities, Charms or Sorcery, unless they keep a record during their training in the form of a journal or similar. Once they have completed their training, however, what they have learned has become sufficiently intrinsic to them that it remains- though the character will still forget how they learned it.
The advantages of the Sapphire, however, are many. Firstly, the character is considered Outside Fate so long as they are attuned to the Hearthstone. The character is also affected as if by Arcane Fate, though this may be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the individual. Everyone who meets them will forget they did so, even as the character forgets them; even written records or images of the character will fade away.
Most powerfully, the character is functionally immortal. Unremembered and unrecorded even by Destiny, increases in age are forgotten. So, too, are wounds both of the mind and body, as the bearer of the stone forgets what caused them. Creation can’t even remember when the character has died; so long as they were in tune with the stone when they perished, they will be forgotten by any who knew of them… and, as they forget, the character’s body and their possessions at the time of death will disappear, returning along with the character themselves as they awaken in some nearby, relatively safe locale, none the wiser of their escape.
Once forgotten, memories consumed by the Empty Sapphire of Lost Pasts do not return, even if the character breaks their attunement to the Sapphire. They may start a new life, though, as they interact with Creation and return to the Loom of Fate; once attunement is gone, they cease to forget. Save for one last memory: that of the Sapphire itself, which disappears.
The Sapphire is the the essence of forgetfulness and release, and as such, the touch of one who wears it is as the touch of Lethe to ghosts; every three ticks they remain in contact with its bearer, they lose their memories, as represented by one temporary willpower, and after that, dots of Passions (highest-rated first). When all Passions are gone, they are banished to Lethe and are reborn. The direct touch of the Empty Sapphire itself is even more potent; it dispels the Restless Dead instantly. Very powerful ghosts are somewhat protected from this effect, but prolonged exposure will, eventually, do to them what it does to normal ghosts.
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