EFAG Test: A Jewel and Naked Flesh

I am halfway through my EFAG test run. Yep, three down, three to go! It seems that you, dear readers, will have a total of six new LotFP(tm) compatible magic items. For the forth item, the dice told me to create a big magic jewel. And here is what else the dice and the EFAG told me about it.

Item: Big Jewel
Material: Crystal
Color Accent: Red
Who made it?: Contemporary Artificer
How?: With the help of Undead Spirits
What for?: As an Insignia of Power or Symbol of Caste/Specialist
Powers: Telepathy; Bare User

At the start, the dice told me to create an Alien Halo made of bone, but I wanted something non-alien and I did not wanted to use bone AGAIN, so I re-rolled these two features (results: see above.)

All in all, the nature of the object and the material will be the last of my problems (not that those are usually the ones to give me a head ache): a “Contemporary Artificer” is easy enough to come up with, but “With the help of Undead Spirits” is (in my humble opinion) the worst entry in all of the “Origin” table. I could re-roll it for sure, but I already had re-rolled two results, and a generator table shall not have you re-roll to often (at least, a good one should not). An “Insignia or Symbol of Power” that allows the user to read other peoples thought while being naked(!) is more than a little odd, too.

The Grace of Venus
With monotheistic religions (be it Christianity, Islam or Judaism) came the virtue of chastity. For some, this virtue that had to be adhered to became a burden. But how to escape this burden when everyone around you expects (or even insists) to adhere to it? Secrecy is the answer, and that which is hidden is often what is forbidden, and the two things become mingled up by this common fact till they become as one.

In a medieval harbor town, there was a woman named Vala (and going by the real name of Harva) that ran a secret brothel. Secret, for it was located right inside of the city walls (instead outside of it, as the laws called for) and right in the house that her husband had left her. One by one she had replaced her servants with “maids” that would serve her trade, and her only manservant was a man who would not speak, for his manners are to be found wanting and his way of speaking would reveal that he is might be more at home on a ship than in a house. Vala used her standing in and knowledge of the more “sophisticated” circles of the city to build up her enterprise. To give it a guise of something more than a mere brothel, she invented her own “Cult of the Venus”, based on a few tidbits she had learned and her knowledge about the carnal desires of men. The attendance to the ceremonies are of course free for the celebrants, but in order to maintain the cult, donations of the members are necessary. Donations she asks them for in private, days after the act, and with the inclusion that she not only asks for them “to provide for the room, the incenses, the spiced wine and the other pleasures” (the women, some of whom are street walkers she washes and perfumes in her house the day before) but also for bribes “to make sure that the church and the inquisition will never-ever learn of this”. THIS is usually enough to scare any freeloader into line. Of course, her expanses are not half as much as she claims. As long as she is the only person that pulls the strings, some may guess but nobody will ever know for sure. And the ceremonies of the Cult of Venus are a TRUE delight.

At one point, a secret wizard going by the name of Deserius joint one of the ceremonies, mostly to learn about this “cult” and what it would all be about. As Vala approached him for “the talk” after the ceremony, Deserius offered her -true- magic instead of coin. What he wanted in return was a woman to be send to him, and that NOBODY should ask for her when she would not return. What he offered was the ability to read the mind of every man and woman at her ceremonies. He proofed to her that he was not a fraud, and threatened her with “all of the plagues hell has to offer” if she would dare to reject this offer. “Priestess Vala” was to scared of Deserius, and arranged for what he wanted, and did so twice in fact. The first time before Deserius gave her the agreed upon price, the second time as he demanded it “to save your soul from what now pays attention to you”. Deserius has summoned evil spirits to empower a bronze hip chain with a diamond at its center (that would rest very low on the groin when worn). When a person wears this jewelry, and nothing but this jewelry, he or she becomes able to read the minds of everybody in the vicinity. The diamond gains a red glint when this power is put to use (which Vala has passed for “the grace of Venus” ever since).

LotFP compatible stats/rules: a character that is aware of the powers of the jewelry (or at least suspects that his or her mind is read) may resist with a successful Save vs. Devices. This takes concentration which cannot be mustered by a magic-user that casts a spell or by any character engaged in combat or sex. The wearer only has immediate access to surface thoughts or knowledge regarding affairs that are either current matters or daily business. Within a turn, the user may gain access to all memories of a target.

As you can see, I did not really included the “Insignia/Symbol” part into the description but turned it into something that the item just happens to be sold as. All is fair in war, love and the creations of good RPG material! So much for number four, the next time it is going to be a spear, and it will not be a mundane +1 weapon!