Vel reaches into the air and winds a spectral key against the back back of a toy, or similarly human representing golem. The toy animates and grows in size to a friendly helper of Vel.
If there is no toy, starting the process as if there were one will slowly make a basic enlarged teddy bear.
This artifact relies on the cultural idea of toys, and the cultural idea of wind up toys, especially in the minds of children. The basic idea of these wind up toys is that you wind them up, then let them go and they move around doing toy things, seeming almost alive. This artifact takes that idea, and merges it with a few other ideas of ways to create useful servants to make an artifact capable of making a useful friendly minion.
Specifically it creates the unique minion Mr. Bear who animates a toy of Vel's choosing
The ritual to create this artifact relies on a ritual involving
- A variety of children's toys which are popular in the shared imagination
- A collection of stories and myths about the Hebrew golumn
- Mary Shelly's frankenstein
- Carefully shaping the pattern of a wind up key while reading various relevant parts of these stories
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon the one and only Sapient Animate Teddy bear at your location. They last until they move more than 150 feet from you or are destroyed They are controlled by you. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
If killed, you cannot re-summon your minion until after your next Contract.
Summons a night-gaunt, an unnerving creature that appears to be a pitch-black, horned, winged humanoid with no face. While not particularly powerful physically, night-gaunts generate no noise when they move, making them well suited for stealth and recon. Oddly enough, they're quite fond of tickling their opponents or victims.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: ring a bell forged of cold iron whilst murmuring a spell of summoning. You must actively and obviously use a small bell forged from cold iron to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
Summon a single Night-Gaunt at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Maddox waves a shiny trinket in the air, and it sparkles miraculously. She calls for Judas, and he answers the call, fluttering to her aid in exchange for the trinket.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: Raise a trinket to the sky and call for a bird. You must use up an especially shiny object such as a rhinestone, sequin, or piece of jewelry in order to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
Summon the one and only Sapient Judas the crow at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by you. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
If killed, you cannot re-summon your minion until after your next Contract.
Bummer & Lazarus - a pair of mongrel stray dogs much beloved by the denizens of San Francisco who wandered the streets of that fair city at the same time as the illustrious Emperor Norton the First. With the long wait for a successor now over, the spirits of these noble canines may be summoned up once more by the current Emperor, arriving from any nearby dumpster, alleyway, or similar when called. While clearly ghostly, they still yet serve the Empire!
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon the one and only Sapient Ghost Dog at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by you. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
If killed, you cannot re-summon your minion until after your next Contract.
The Wolves of Wall Street do not obey Grace, & will attack whomever they wish...typically the poor.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up Cash or similar currency in order to activate this Effect.
Summon up to 5 Non-Sapient, Animate A Pack of Spectral Wolves at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM, do not follow orders, and only act to further Greed & Avarice. This Artifact may have at most 5 minions active at a time.
Upon finding a corpse:
Nefario Darkus's eyes glow white. He raises his hand, and an evil screech whistles across the wind. The body begins to contort and animate, rising with a grumble, as Nefario cackles maniacally.
Fresh from the realm of the dead, a mindless zombie rises to serve the unholy will of Nefario Darkus. With grey skin and black veins, these creatures are unsightly and vile. They smell of rot and decay.
Any humanoid body or skeleton, including buried ones buried up to 6 feet underground is available to be used as a zombie minion. These undead minions will follow their master until he dismisses them or until they are defeated.
Undead minions cannot enter sacred spaces and are vulnerable to holy water.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect cannot be used unless Available corpse.
Summon a single Zombie at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 2 minions active at a time.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Zombies!.
The mobster knows a guy they can call for a hired goon, who arrives about a minute later. The goons are dumb as bricks, but tough nonetheless, perfect for sending a message when you need to keep your hands clean.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. You must actively and obviously use a cell phone to activate this Effect.
Summon a single goon at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Any successful musician knows the value of a good roadie. The musician calls for a roadie, and one will promptly arrive. The roadie doesn't talk much, and they aren't too bright, but they can sure haul gear.
After a couple hours of work, the roadie will retire to smoke and get some sleep.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon a single roadie at your location. They will last for two hours, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
The Vampire is able to turn one of their victims into a lesser vampire, a pale shadow of a full creature of the night but useful nonetheless. Having drained and killed their target, the Vampire performs a brief ritualistic bloodletting, wherein they spill their own blood into the target's mouth, forcing them to drink, and bonding them together as child and sire.
Shortly afterwards, the fledgling vampire will rise from death, hungry for blood and eager to serve.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last hour. This Effect cannot be used unless you drained the target's blood while they were still alive.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion. The raised creature must consume flesh every day or it will die again.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.