One of the embers upon the lighter's engraving seems to glow. It is not your time yet... the flames of life still roar within you yet.
I have lent man the gift of life
of fire and flame
and as they burn bright
their flame does too.
No longer embers,
but a roaring beauty.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.
While Incapacitated, you may Exert your Mind to take a single action.
You may move at your normal speed and still maintain Concentration. Taking an Injury less than Severity 6 no longer interrupts Concentration.
Every time Sycamore gets hurt, when they would feel pain or strife, they instead hear a surge in the voices that follow them as their responsibility creeps closer and they tune into what they're meant to be. They cringe and try to smile it off, but they honestly have no idea why they can't feel their injuries, and it's terrifying. Close passerby hear faint whispers- "Get up", "Help me, please" "Can't you hear me?" "It'll be over soon, please, over here..."
Grandpappy Van Brunt figures Syc's getting up on their way, finally, and has decided to give them a helping hand in their line of work. Even if it's not what he expected, he'll try to accommodate for the ingrate- kids these days aren't tough like they used to be.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries is reduced to 0. Does not reduce Stress from Mind Damage.
Through ancestral training in his dreams, the husband-for-hire learned to tame the beast within, mastering the relentless urge to kill and devour. This mastery granted him an unintended gift—supernatural resistance to pain and suffering, a testament to his enduring control.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.
Eric has become so pumped full of different kinds of drugs, painkillers and stimulants that he no longer is phased by the limitations of his mind and body.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Stimulant Abuse.
At one time, Amaryllis's arms were normal, unscarred, and white as a dove. She would wrestle with her brothers, surrounded by soft and fluffy couches, plug protected outlets, and edge protected tables. They were safe, mostly, until one gave another a shallow scratch with their fingernail. From even a single scrape, the children would ruin rugs and throw pillows as the Fleischer Family Curse took its toll, forcing them to make a sizable plasma donation to the house. They all knew the risks, of course, they had the band-aids and medical bandages on hand to stop the bleeding. They continued their roughhousing beyond earshot of their parents...
Amaryllis's mother, Dahlia, knew the truth of their family's curse. She understood that time was running short as Sorin had already passed away years before. She and her husband studied the occult, making a fortune by reading futures, holding seances, and investigating hauntings. The greatest ritual they ever developed was one to break their curse. She knew Amaryllis, the first-born, would need to be saved first, as soon as possible, before she followed Death to meet her husband.
Something was not right, Amaryllis had passed out early in the bloodletting phase of the ritual. She struggled against her bindings and exasperated the new cuts on her wrists. The long gashes and otherworldly lettering on her arms wept until they went blue. Dahlia completed the runes and smeared a circle in blood around her daughter before realizing that the ritual was faulty. She then realized that her baby girl was on Death's door. She rushed Amaryllis to the hospital in heavy bandages, but her body would refuse to close her wounds. Dahlia would die a year later, consumed by the knowledge that the ritual failed.
She was wrong.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.
While Incapacitated, you may Exert your Mind to take a single action.
You may move at your normal speed and still maintain Concentration. Taking an Injury less than Severity 6 no longer interrupts Concentration.
The most painful times in Hezalea's life has left her indifferent to the pain. If she tries hard enough, she can tune it out as if it's background noise.
On pain:
One might say suffering is part of being human. Does that mean those who have yet to suffer are yet to be fully human? If that were true, if pain and sadness were a prerequisite for recognition, Hezalea would rather shirk it all.
On willfulness:
Muting any of the senses takes more than being told, "Just deal with it." But now... Hezalea can indeed say that to herself and expect herself to stop being so flustered by the incessant agony that hovers around her. It's all just a placebo. She's incredibly annoyed that this very power has validated all the insensitive words thrown her way.
On heroism:
Was numbness always part of being a hero? She doubts it. Often the most questionable heroes are ones who have become desensitized from the horrors that plague their lives. She wishes she could feel visceral disgust at all the atrocities in the world again, she wishes she could say that was the drive for her ambitions, but really, why does she continue moving forward?
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0. Lasts three hours.
The mobster's been through tougher scrapes than this. A few cuts and bruises won't stop them.
You gain the following benefits at all times.
Your Stress from Injuries is reduced to 0. Does not reduce Stress from Mind Damage.