The Gemstone That Betrays

Occassionally I find an audio source with so much useful material that I can’t properly cut out the plot hooks. Here’s a hook that comes from two little fragments of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Kunz. The readers for Librivox, in these sections, were Dustim Thomas and Mike Golcyzinski.

I may revisit this book for further material: it seems richly festooned with treasures, vis sources, and material bonuses. It is also the first time I’ve seen the word “vis” in the wild: it refers to the animal-spirt of a diamond as vis adamanticum.

“The opinion given in 1609, by Anselmus De Boot, court physician to Rudolph II of Germany, regarding the power inherent in certain precious stones,2 embodies the ideas on this subject held by many of the enlightened minds of that period.

The supernatural and acting cause is God, the good angel and the evil one; the good by the will of God, and the evil by His permission…. What God can do by Himself, He could do also by means of ministers, good and bad angels, who, by special grace of God and for the preservation of men, are enabled to enter precious stones and to guard men from dangers or procure some special grace for them. However, as we may not affirm anything positive touching the presence of angels in gems, to repose trust in them, or to ascribe undue powers to them, is more especially pleasing to the spirit of evil, who transforms6 himself into an angel of light, steals into the substance of the little gem, and works such wonders by it that some people do not place their trust in God but in a gem, and seek to obtain from it what they should ask of God alone. Thus it is perhaps the spirit of evil which exercises its power on us through the turquoise, teaching us, little by little, that safety is not to be sought from God but from a gem.

***

Here’s an obvious plot hook, presented as simple naration:

At the trial, in 1232, of Hubert de Burgh, chief justiciar, one of the charges brought against him was that he had surreptitiously removed from the English treasury an exceedingly valuable stone, possessing the virtue of rendering the wearer invincible in battle, and had given it to Llewellyn, King of Wales, the enemy of his own sovereign, Henry III of England (1207-1272). This must have taken place about 1228, when Henry was engaged in a war with the Welsh.

Order: Spirit of Deceit

Infernal Might: 20 (Terram)

Characteristics:
Int +2, Per +2 , Pre n/a, Com +3, Str n/a, Sta Tireless, Dex n/a, Qik n/a

Size: -5 (tiny stone)

Virtues and Flaws:. It’s a small rock – everything that suits.

Confidence Score: 3 (5)

Personality Traits: Deceitful +6, Vain +2.

Reputations:  Killer of noblemen (Infernal) 2.

Combat: powers only. The stone can make itself glass-sharp, but it lacks the leverage to do serious damage.

Soak: +6: made of a single crystal.

Wound Penalties: Dead (1+)

Abilities: All suitable for story, but this demon is well-versed in mortal culture, and uses its dream powers to teach Intrigue, and give plausible, but eventually injurious, counsel.

Powers:

Envisioning, 1 point, Init  0, Mentem: For 1 point, allows the demon to enter and twist dreams. If used to terrify, the victim can ignore it with a Brave Personality trait roll against an Ease factor of 9 or more. Failure to resist leads to a profound physical reaction, like a seizure. This creature prefers to the give evil counsel in dreams, either to harm the dreamer, or to teach them how to hurt others.

Forked Tongue of the Serpent: 1 point, Init -1, Mentem: The target believes a single lie, no matter how outrageous, until they attempt to  spread it to others, which breaks the effect. An Int roll against Ease Factor 9 is made after one hour, and then every subsequent hour, to end the effect.

Infest Gemstone, 0 points, Init 0, Terram: Infests a real gemstone by preference, but can create a false stone if necessary to stalk a victim.

Mask illness: 1 point, Init -5, Mentem: This power prevents a character from suffering any ill effect, mechanichal or cosmetic, of a single illness or type of injury. While the power is in effect, the creature’s maximum temporary Infernal Might is reduced by 5.

Obsession: 1-3 points, Init -5, Mentem: May force characters to make Personality Trait rolls to resist a temporary trait, Adoration, which has a score equal to the Might points spent.. If the roll is successful, the trait vanishes. If it fails, they gain the trait permanently at +1, although they can remove it by the usual means of reducing traits. Adoring the spirit of the stone is heresy.

Trust of the Innocent: 1 point, Init -1, Mentem: The target believes a single lie for as long as possible, until presented evidence to the contrary.  An Int roll against Ease factor 6 allows a character to resist this effect.

Weakness: Cannot harm those who refuse to touch the stone.

Vis: 4 pawns, in the powder of the destroyed stone.

Appearance: A gemstone of unusual size and brilliance.