[Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen] Plot Item: The Thrakath Soul

((Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen

Venue: Chronicles of Darkness - Mage: The Awakening (Fallen World Chronicle)

Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Designers: Korri Smith, Mathew Hagen, & Jerad Sayler
All Rights Reserved.))

                                      Plot Item:

The Soul of Thrakath

(aka The Dark Matter Blade)

Item Stats: 12 Dot Astra, Indestructible, Size 5, 23 Mana, Damage 10 Aggravated, +5 Accuracy & +5 Armor Piercing (Magical or otherwise), -5 Initiative.  Current Owner: Casstiel the Archmage

Thrakath is, in a word, Oblivion. It is the void that binds and divides all things, the mysterious fifth element of Eastern myth, the nothingness that once stood as the barrier between man and the Supernal. It was known as the darkness of the caves of Atlantis, the moment of clarity of Awakening, the Axis of the Supernal Realms where the only Truth is that there is No Truth.  It resembles the Abyss in many ways, but it is not a lie, nor is it a paradox; it is the Truth of Nothing. The Abyss is the result of man’s attempt to define its indefinable nature, and make Something of Nothing.

The Soul of Thrakath is none of these things, and all of these things. It does not exist, and has existed since before the first Truth coalesced. It is the shattered memory of the perfection of nothingness that existed before time, and exists past the end of time. It wants Nothing, and through the Golden Roads of the archmagi, it will uncreate nothingness once again.

Casstiel believes that the Soul of Thrakath is a part of his soul, shaped to represent his Golden Road, when the truth is much deeper – Casstiel’s soul has shaped itself to resemble the Soul of Thrakath, as he subconsciously sought to understand the Nothing it represents. What does it say about a man, a child, who only knows Oblivion as a weapon? As he reaches out to draw it forth, it acquiesces, but it is he that is being wielded…

As a weapon, the Soul of Thrakath does not exist in any realm until it is brought forth into the realm in which its “master” stands. 

Sublime Power

Costs 2 mana, reflexive action, Integrity 1 sin

Within the center of Oblivion, all things become possible.  The Wielder may join with Oblivion and reach a temporary state of “enlightenment”.  For the remainder of the scene in which the wielder invokes the Soul of Thrakath’s sublime power, he becomes a detached and soulless vessel of the perfection of Nothingness.  He gains the Oblivion Attenuation Condition and loses all of his Integrity/Morality, and every point of Integrity he loses for the scene acts as a dice bonus to any and all rolls made while in this state.  This Condition is resolved at the end of the story when the blade resheaths into the soul, causing a breaking point to occur and downgrading the Condition to the Conditions mentioned below.

The Oblivion Attenuation Condition this brings about is not that of a true monster; the wielder is not at 0 Integrity/Morality.  Rather, he has no need of such things.  It would be as if the character did not have an Integrity attribute at all.  The catch, then is that the state of mind this brings is free of desire.  The wielder will have little or no interest in pursuing the things that he once deemed important.  If the wielder is successful in his Integrity/Wisdom Score check to invoke this state of “enlightenment,” he may choose one goal or value to hold onto, a purpose to guide his actions while harmonizing with Oblivion.  If he fails, then his only goal will be self-preservation, which can only be pursued by the most efficient and pragmatic means the wielder can conceive.  The wielder still understand cause and effect, and still has a grasp of consequences that can be detrimental.  However, it is possible the wielder will not care.

After using the Blade in a given scene that character takes a Breaking Point with a penalty equal to the dots he temporarily lost.  He also suffers the remainder of the story with the Soulless Condition (Stage 1 Soul Loss).  If Casstiel uses the blade successive times in a single story the progress adds Enervated (Stage 2) or Enthralled (Stage 3) Conditions as well.  The only difference is that Casstiel retains his soul and can still cast magic.  Invoking the enlightenment of the weapon suppresses these conditions until the blade is sheathed again.  Details are below:

Condition References:

·         Oblivion Attenuation - Character summons the blade and his Integrity/Wisdom drops to 0.  Character gains the lost Integrity/Wisdom dots as bonuses to a single goal declared when the blade is summoned.  Resolution: At the end of the scene the blade vanishes.  Integrity returns to normal, character takes a breaking point with a penalty equal to his Integrity dots and gains one of the Soulless stages depending on how many times the blade is used in a story.  Using it once in a Story causes Soulless, using it twice adds Envervated, using it three times inflicts Thrall as well. If the blade is used more than three times in a story the character rolls their further breaking points on a Chance die.  This does not affect the story resolution check.

·         Soulless (Special - Stage 1) - The character becomes lethargic and cannot attempt an Abjuration, Warding, or Binding (slight deviations from the rules in G-M book pg 231).  The character takes a -2 to resisting possession or mental manipulation.  The character does not regain Willpower through Surrender or Rest and the effects of regaining willpower using his Subvice/Subvirtue are reversed.  In a scene the character can use invoke their Subvirtue to regain 1 willpower point without any risk.  At the end of a Chapter if the character invokes their Subvice in a way that puts them at Risk they restore all willpower points but take a Breaking Point with a -5 penalty unless they are at Integrity 1.  The character retains their soul for the purpose of casting magic however.  Resolution: When the current story ends the character resolves the condition.  The character can also resolve the condition early by losing a dot of Integrity for indulging their Subvice. If the character already has the Enervated or Thrall conditions they cannot resolve this condition early.  Beat: Gain 1XP when the condition resolves at the end of the story or by losing a dot of Integrity but indulging their Subvice.

·         Enervated (Special - Stage 2) - In addition to the Soulless Condition, the character can now only regain Willpower from Subvice by invoking it in a way that causes risk.  In a scene this can be used to regain 1 willpower point, or all willpower at the end of a story.  However, every time the character gains a willpower point they lose a willpower dot.  Resolution: The condition is resolved at end of the story.  Beat: Character gains 1XP when they lose a willpower dot.

·         Thrall (Special - Stage 3) - In addition to the Soulless, Thrall, conditions the character also gains the Broken condition.  They cannot spend willpower points at all and cannot muster enough care to use their defense rating.  Resolution: The conditions resolve at the end of a Story.  Beat: The Character gains 1XP every time they are victimized during the course of a story as a result of these conditions.

·                                             Broken: Occurs during the Thrall Condition.  Whatever you did or saw, something inside you snapped. You can barely muster up the will to do your job anymore, and anything more emotionally intense than a raised voice makes you flinch and back down. Apply a –2 to all Social rolls and rolls involving Resolve and a –5 to all use of the Intimidation Skill.  Resolution: This condition can be resolved while the rest of the Thrall, Enervated, and Soulless conditions persist.  Resolve the condition when you regain a dot of Integrity, lose another dot of Integrity, or achieve an exceptional success on a breaking point.  Beat: You back down from a confrontation or fail a roll due to this Condition you gain 1 beat.

Secondary Functions

Costs 1 mana, instant action

When the Soul of Thrakath is not in the hand of its wielder, it is Nowhere.  It is not in Twilight, nor is it in the Shadow.  Some believe that it is hidden in the soul, but the implications of that idea cause even the most inquisitive of wielders to reconsider.  By spending a point of mana, the wielder can draw it forth from Nowhere, even if there is no entrance or egress from the space/time the wielder is in.  Returning it to Nowhere is as simple as letting go, and costs nothing.

Soul Carving (Willpower and Integrity draining)

Beyond attacking the flesh, the Soul of Thrakath can also pierce the soul.  By forgoing any physical damage on the body, the wielder may instead target the victim’s Willpower, doing damage to their temporary Willpower pool.  The wielder must spend a point of mana to make an attack this way, and still must make a successful Strength + Weaponry (+ Equipment) roll against the target’s Defense.  Damage can only be mitigated by Mental Shield and Armor of the Soul, which stack in this instance. 

Once the temporary Willpower pool is exhausted, any further damage dealt in this manner instead carves into the victim’s Integrity, doing direct damage to their Morality (an Integrity 1 sin).  The effects of an attack are cumulative; if a single attack does more Willpower damage than the victim has in his pool, the remainder of the damage is directly applied to his Integrity.  The victim must then succeed at an Integrity check at their new Integrity level or become afflicted with derangements as their soul perceives a glimpse of Oblivion in all its horrid splendor.  Should their Integrity be reduced to 0 in this manner, their soul is destroyed, which is an automatic loss of Integrity for the wielder.

Excise Memory:

Alternatively, by spending a point of mana, the Soul of Thrakath may delicately remove a memory from the mind of another, as per the spell Breach the Vault of Memory (the delete version only). The Dice pool is 10 + Gnosis resisted by the target’s Resolve + Gnosis.  The wielder’s roll may be raised by 1 per two points of Mana expended, to a maximum of 15 + Gnosis.

Other Traits

The Soul of Thrakath, manifested as a blade, is exceedingly sharp.  It is a 10 Aggravated Damage weapon, has armor piercing 5 that affects magical and non-magical armor alike, and a +5 equipment bonus to attack. This equipment bonus may be raised by 1 per two points of Mana expended, to a maximum of 10.

This sword acts as an Artifact in every other way, including the regeneration of Mana at a rate of one per day.  While not an Artifact its estimated dot rating is 12.